Giving

Jesus taught that where our heart is our money is also. Scripture consistently calls us to worship with our hearts, our minds, and our money. Whether we give our tithe and our offerings online, through the mail, or in the public worship service, we consider giving an act of worship and a crucial part of every Christian's life. God wants us to give joyfully and without compulsion. In honor of that we do not pass an offering plate in our Sunday morning worship service. If you desire to make your tithe or offering during  the corporate worship service, we have set offering boxes in the hallways and at front of the auditorium near the places we will be taking communion during the service. There is no expectation of you giving as a visitor; please relax and be our guest when you come.

Your Participation

We encourage you to get involved in the different worship elements we use in our corporate worship service. Find out for yourself who God is and why we love to worship Him. We respect the need of some to remain seated or move slowly, but encourage you to join us with your whole heart.

Your Response

We suppose you are hear for a reason. It is our prayer that something in our corporate worship service would show you more of God's love for you and answer some questions in your heart. After the message, you'll be given an opportunity to respond to Him. Two main ways are through communion and prayer.

COMMUNION

We participate in communion every week and seek to keep it deeply meaningful. Since the evening 2000 years ago when Christ instituted this practice, Christians throughout the centuries have met together to share these sacred elements and remember His sacrifice. We join with them in observing and honoring the body and blood of Christ. Amazing!

PRAYER

We believe that prayer is a deeply spiritual and mysterious activity - people talking to God... and God talking back. Can we possibly understand that? We confess both the mystery and the absolute necessity of engaging in prayer. Prayer will occur throughout our corporate worship services; including the opportunity to receive prayer during communion.

Prophetic Etiquette

"Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way."
1 Corinthians 14:40

At Hope Community Church we submit to the exhortation of the Apostle Paul to "be eager to prophesy." In order to exercise this gifting for its intended purpose of strengthening, encouraging, and comforting the church, we agree to the following etiquette.

Prophetic words for the congregation
1.    We will share prophetic words in an orderly fashion in public. A host elder will be appointed for each service and will sit on the front row in front of the pulpit. During the service, if you feel you have a word from the Lord, you may approach him and share your word with him.   Both men and women are encouraged to prophesy.

a.   The Host Elder will assist in judging the word, determining if this word is for you personally or for the congregation, and helping you record it if it is for the congregation.   
b.   The Host Elder will then make a determination as to how the word should be shared:  posted on the Hope prophecy blog, sent to the elders, shared with similar words that have been received, or shared individually by you.
c.   If he feels the word is to be shared in the service, he will approach the pastor leading the service during the time of worship after the sermon and a final determination will be made for it to be shared. Even the Host Elder will yield to the leader of the worship service.

2.    Prophetic words for the congregation that are corrective, harsh, or negative will automatically be sent to elders for testing before being shared publicly.

Prophetic words for individuals
1.    Under Authority: If you cannot be under the appropriate authority: local church, parents, or husband, do not share prophetic words with individuals.

a.   You must be willing to be held accountable for what you say, meaning you are in accountable relationships and are known by others.
b.   Corrective, warning, or judgmental words are always submitted to authority before even being shared.

2.    Ask permission: Ask to share the word. The source of the word does not give you license to dishonor someone. Be careful to not interrupt someone's worship experience or corner them in awkward situations. Do not pull them from preaching, teaching, or class to share your word.
3.    Make it a Gift: Share your word and leave it gracefully as a gift.
4.    Ask them to Judge: You take the initiative to encourage the receiver to test the word before the Lord.
5.    Don't be reckless: You do not prophesy dates or mates. That is reckless.
6.    Hold your peace when angry, stressed, or overly emotional: You restrain from giving words when under excessive emotional stress or to someone that you are angry or hurt by.
7.    Don't self authenticate: It is seldom necessary (because they also have the Holy Spirit) for you to say, "Thus saith the Lord," or, "I, the Lord, say to you tonight."
8.    Reflect love in your tone: Your tone is significant. Use a peaceable tone. Do not yell.
9.    Just do your part: Share the revelation - hold back on the interpretation or the application.

Worship Resources

A MUST-VISIT SITE! Go to Sacred Space for an incredible daily prayer guide. PROFOUNDLY helpful for those seeking to speak freely to God and learn to hear His voice.

Are you interested in building your worship music library? Visit www.worshiptogether.com to find cds by some of our favorites: Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Delirious (Martin Smith), David Crowder, to name a few.

While you're at www.worshiptogether.com, why not register to receive their weekly newsletter? Even if you're typically not a fan of email newsletters, this one is easy to read and navigate through. You'll look forward to it each week. Get Bible studies, meaty articles from well-known lead worshipers, free chord sheets for current songs, and the video series, "New Song Cafe."  Enrich your lifestyle of worship by taking a minute to register.

Looking for the chords to your favorite new worship song? Check out www.worshiparchive.com.

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