Blessed Hope Community Church

We had our first service this week. An illness in the family kept many away from our first service but I’m thankful for the people who were able to come. This really means a lot to me.

But your wondering, “What does this have to do with the church search?” Well on Friday, a church location I had inquired about several weeks ago called and told us we have been approved by their council. We are just waiting for the result of the congregation’s vote.

This potential facility is luxurious compared to our current facility. But, we would have to have our service at an inconvenient time. Pray for wisdom and the Lord’s direction.

How do I know if I’m saved? Is it just magical prayer I said in vacation bible school? Paul Washer preached this message on just that issue. Its a very convicting sermon that shows how we, as Americans, have neglected God and how far more people have a false belief in a personal salvation.

When I first hear this message a few weeks ago it was so moving that I had to leave the room and pray. My wife came home came and I couldn’t convey the emotions I felt. I realized how I’ve been taking advantage of my salvation. I pray that this has a similar meaning to you.

Addendum: Blessed Hope is a non-denominational church. We find no fault with denominations that teach the Word of God. Paul Washer is a Southern Baptist preacher that speaks the truth in this message.

This should be one of the most commonly asked questions of anyone who professes to believe in Jesus. The term Christian means “belonging to Christ” and is derived from the Greek noun Χριστός Khristós which means “anointed one.”¹ So now I know I need to ‘belong to Christ’. What does that mean?

I hold the belief that to truly call yourself a follower of Christ you need the fully believe the following five core values as put forth at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church² of 1910:

1. The inerrancy of the scripture (II Tim. 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, 18)
2. The authenticity of the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, 24, Luke 1:27-35) and deity of Jesus (Philippians 2:6, Hebrews 1:8)
3. Substitutionary atonement through God’s grace (Isaiah 53:4-11, II Corinthians 5:21) and human faith (Acts 16:31, Romans 3:22)
4. The bodily resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24: 36-39, John 20:27)
5. The authenticity of Christ’s miracles and prophecy (Acts 2:22-24, Acts 4:10, Matthew 2:23, John 1:45).

I hold many more beliefs that are based on my personal studies of the scriptures and guidance of the Holy Spirit. These five core values though are what differentiate Christianity from any other religion. To deny any of these would invalidate Christianity.

Here are a couple of examples to help express my point. If you believe that the bible has errors in it then you’ve automatically invalidated the primary text of Christianity. If you doubt the miracles and prophecies of Jesus then He was just a man. If He was just a man then there was no messiah and the entire New Testament was no more then a few nice stories.

1. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian
2. Blessed Hope Community Church is not affiliated with any other church. In this instance we agreed with General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of 1910

Hello to everyone,

Our first service is coming up soon. While there will not be a test, I’m sure by reading ahead it would help you to understand the context of the message. This message will be from Luke, Chapter 8. For additional materials I would also recommend a message preached by C.H. Spurgeon and that you listen to an MP3 from a Skip Heitzig’s sermon on Luke, Chapter 7:18 - 8:15*.

Aside from the first message, all other messages will be taught expositorial, that is to mean we’ll study chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our planned study after this first week will be through Mark, starting in chapter 1. Of course if the Holy Spirit leads otherwise, then we will break from our planned pattern.

* Please Note: This MP3 is from a collection of sermon called the 729 Project. This MP3 has been posted for educational purposes.

We now have a facility; its the Comfort Inn East on Navarre Ave. in Oregon, Oh. Sunday services will be 10:00am. Our first service will be April 22nd, 2006.

Our future plans are to start a mid-week service sometime this summer.  For this to happen we will need a more permanent facility solution.  As with all things as the Lord wills in the Lord’s time.

Thank you all for your prayers.

I had a bid on one location, but the approval process is extremely slow and may be over our budget.  While we’re waiting for that bid to come though a local hotel I had contacted 3 months eaerlier has answered our call and is willing to work with us and our budget.  Please pray that we get one of the facilities.