What to Expect
What to Expect
“No Distractions — Just Interactions.”
As an all abilities family founded and forged by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Hope Community Church exists to embrace and embody Gospel hope in every arena of life. This means our Sunday mornings may look and feel different from a “traditional” or “conventional” worship experience: we prioritize people of all abilities to not simply participate in worship but to captain and lead how we worship and embrace Gospel hope.
For this reason, we lean on the idea that there are no distractions — just interactions with one to another and one another to Jesus. So if the music isn’t what you’re used to or if a friend has something to share in the middle of service, we welcome it and embrace it as we embody the Gospel together.
Kaleidoscopic Worship
As for the flow of our Sunday morning service, we pursue a kaleidoscopic worship experience using Acts 13:1-3 wherein Luke describes the first “Christian” church (that is, the first church where Jesus followers were called “Christians”) as an incredibly diverse and yet missionally united group of people gathered in Antioch. Like a kaleidoscope, this church (and our worship) is characterized by four distinctives:
COLOR
Composed of “colors” of all kinds, the leaders listed in Acts 13:1-3 represented a diversity of culture, class, creed, generation, education, and more.
As much as colors intensify a kaleidoscope and capture the church in Antioch, we long to be a people from all places, gathered for one purpose: to embrace and embody the Gospel of Jesus.
GATHER
Some of these leaders remained in Antioch, faithfully gathering together to eventually build the church to become one of five ancient Patriarchates prior to the East-West schism.
Similarly, our worship begins with a time of gathering under a Call to Worship from Scripture, responding to God’s Word drawing us into worship and centering us like the focal point of a kaleidoscope.
GROW
As the church faithfully gathered, they were responsible for growing historic leaders like John Chrysostom (said to be the history’s greatest preacher) and Bishop Ignatius (said to be a disciple of John).
Our worship proceeds with opportunities to grow in the Gospel through celebrating Jesus in song, trusting Jesus in prayer, and savoring Jesus in the preaching of Scripture like the interwoven colors of a kaleidoscope intensifying one another.
GO
The church in Antioch did not simply “commission” Paul and Barnabas but supported them as they planted churches and shared the Gospel.
As the colors of a kaleidoscope not only move inward but simultaneously move outward, our service ends with a commission to join in the mission of God for the church to make disciples by embracing and embodying the Gospel in all of life, with all abilities, and for all nations.
