Everybody is Welcome Here
To all who are weary and
in need of rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her heart
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Friend of Sinners.
Friends, you are welcome here.
In all
we say and do, our ambition is to lift Jesus high. Jesus said, “And I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). Jesus is
worthy of our whole life. And our ambition is to surrender all to Christ as
King.
Every
Sunday we come together to worship the Savior and grow deeper in our fellowship
with God and man. We believe God is reconciling the world to Himself through
the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. We strive to walk faithfully with
one another through the many joys and sorrows of life. We offer a live service
on Sundays 10:3o am that is also available on our watch live page
with the Sunday School hour starting at 9:30 am for all age groups. It’s our
prayer that your life will be changed as you come in contact with the good news
of Jesus. We’d love for you to join us at our worship service this Sunday. If
we can serve you in any way, please contact
us and someone will be in touch with you soon.
As you
enter the church, a member of our friendly Welcome Team will warmly greet you
and answer any questions you have about the church and direct you to the
appropriate location. After the service ends, you can hang out and meet some
people.
Sunday Worship Service
Visiting
a church for the first time can be a confusing and intimidating experience but
having an idea of what to expect can help. The general atmosphere of our
worship service offers a casual and friendly atmosphere in which we aim to
share the good news of Christ. There are four main components to a typical
Sunday worship service: Music, Prayer, Kids, and Message.
Music
We
aspire to sing songs that celebrate and proclaim the many glorious attributes
of the One True and Living God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth (typically 3-4
songs). All of the music will be centered around who God is, what He has done
for us and will be in reflection of the doctrine and beliefs of our church. On
most Sundays the general style of music is arrangements of traditional songs
with some contemporary songs as well, with the lyrics projected on the display
screen at the front.
Prayer
Our
prayer during Sunday services allows us to acknowledge our dependence on Christ
for building his kingdom and in our personal lives. We offer prayers of
supplication and thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1-8; Acts 2:42; 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
At
Living Hope, we believe in the power of prayer and that God still responds to our
requests. The Bible makes it clear that we are to pray without
ceasing: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ). Furthermore, God commands us to pray
for one another.
Message
We are
committed expositional preaching, which means the purpose and meaning of the
passage of Scripture is the purpose and meaning of the sermon. All of the
pastors at our church seek to teach the Bible in a compelling and relevant way
while being faithful to the meaning and intent of the Biblical text. We often
teach through entire books of the Bible and occasionally include interspersed
topical teaching series. We seek to be Christ-Centered in all of our teaching,
which means that we focus everything on the Person and work of Jesus. And while
you will certainly learn some things about being a better person, having a
stronger marriage and managing your finances wisely, those things are not the
primary focus of our teaching because all of those things are secondary to what
Jesus has done for us. It is only through knowing Jesus that we can be enabled
to move forward in meaningful and sustainable ways in all other areas of life.
Kids
Nursery for Infants through Kindergarten. If you have children, we offer
childcare during our Sunday School and Worship Services. When you arrive on our
campus, a member of our welcome team will greet you and direct you to our Hope
City Kids check-in station. Once there, our friendly team will help you
check-in and assist your child to the appropriate class.
Communion
Communion
is practiced on the every other month as a holy time of worship in remembrance
of Jesus Christ’s life, death on the cross and resurrection. Bread and “fruit
of the vine” (usually grape juice) are unchanged elements, symbols of Jesus’
body and blood. And we experience grace from God as we commune with Him.
Offering
We
give generously as an act of worship, not under compulsion of any kind but out
of a joyful heart. Checks may be placed in the offering boxes on the walls of
the sanctuary on Sunday mornings so people can give at their discretion coming
in or going out or mailed to: Living Hope Community Church, 1310 Hargett St.
Jacksonville, NC 28540. Also, online giving is available which makes it easy to
tithe at your convenience, look up your contribution records and schedule
future gifts.
Dress
You’ll
see a wide variety of attire at our worship services. We believe that the most
important clothing you wear is internal (Colossians 3:12) –
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. You’ll find some
people dressed in their “Sunday best” and others in different degrees of casual
clothing, but no particular attire is expected or required, in fact, we invite
you to be yourself and make yourself comfortable.
