Purpose

HOPE on the Hill is a church with a stated purpose. Why is this important? What does it matter? 
Purpose is important because it speaks to God given identity. It all starts with knowing who I am in Christ and who Christ is in you. The Holy Spirit is the agent of those answers.
We will give ourselves to our purpose. Various churches give themselves to their purpose in a variety of ways. Purpose drives ministry. Unfortunately, activity is not enough if we want to have a lasting impact. Purpose sharpens the focus of a church. For us at HOPE on the Hill, our unique purpose is informing the strategies and goals of our ministry. We rejoice when other churches see success but we are not compelled to imitate their methods. We are free from trying to keep up with other churches. We understand God has us where He wants us. Our prayers are focused on being filled with His Spirit to do the work He has called us to do and to see fruit from our labors. 
Pastor Lynne and I are the founding pastors. We began this church in the early 1990's. However, our Purpose was written after discussion with members and friends in the church. These discussions helped us to see what was important to us and identify the passion of our church.
The purpose of HOPE on the Hill is to embrace, cultivate and demonstrate the advancing movement of the Holy Spirit and the hope of Christ for the church, community and our world. 
The Person of the Holy Spirit is advancing in the believer through forgiveness of offense, bold witness, participation in world missions, denying of self, and wholehearted service in the church, are just scratching the surface. The Christian life is marked by the Holy Spirit making inroads into hearts and attitudes. This is a process He has promised to continue if the Christian will have fellowship with Him.      
The Asuza Street (California) outpouring, Latter Reign revival, Charismatic renewal, the Father's blessing received in Toronto, Canada are useful expressions of His advancing movement in the church. These moves of His Spirit leave a spiritual impartation for the local church to apply within our context. We rejoice in the Father's enduring love for His church.
God is opening doors of ministry in divers places. Professional sports, entertainment, government, business and beyond. I am celebrating a one year anniversary as chaplain for a local company. In other words, I am endorsed by the client company to serve Christ and the employees with a Christian witness within every aspect of this plant. This marks the Holy Spirit advancing within our community. We pray for more open doors of effective ministry.
the HOPE Shoe Project seeks to collect 200 pairs of shoes to be given to children of our community. Some ministries in our community distribute appliances and others provide care and material assistance to unwed mothers. God bless them! Shoes is how His Spirit led us and we look forward to meeting young families with the hope of Christ.
Purpose is so important. It frees you to be the person and the church God has created you to be. For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do! (Ephesians 2:10)