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From Pastor Steve
June, 2009
Hopes Core Values
Evangelism
We value invitation and hospitality as primary acts of loving service
We who have been baptized into this community of hope gather to hear the gospel proclaimed, to share the Lord’s Supper, and to be built up for service by fellowship with God and with one another. In all of this we experience the presence of God with us which renews us and shapes the way that we live. In participation in worship, learning and Christian fellowship we receive a blessing which softens and shapes our hearts. We are transformed! Then what? Well, then we give away what we have received!
We should all think of ourselves as evangelists. I know that word has a lot of baggage with it, but we should not be afraid of it. The word simply means one who brings good news. This is what Jesus referred to as “fishing for people.”A basicworking definition of evangelism suggests that it is two things - invitation and hospitality. I think we need to learn to be more deliberate and intentional about this.
Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." In grateful response to this summons we might:
1. Prayerfully list people we know to whom we can extend an invitation to worship or somehow share our faith. Who might you invite? How might we share our faith story?
(Continued...)
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