Using Your Influence To Make A Difference

Dear Friends,
I want to talk to you specifically this week about influence. All of us have a sphere of influence. When the demoniac in Luke 8 was healed, he begged Jesus to go with him and join the disciples. Jesus realized he would have a much greater influence among his own friends and family. He responded to his request in verse 39 "Go back home and tell people how much God has done for you." So the man went all over town telling how much Jesus had done for him.” I think His advice to us would be the same. The Christian with influence is not the one who knows the most about the Bible, but the one who has invested in relationships and is passionate about what Jesus has done in his life.
One of the three markers for spiritual maturity at New Hope is increased influence with the world. On a recent Sunday during our Go Fish series, Pastor Brent and I asked you to invest in relationships in your sphere of influence. We gave you Invest and Invite cards to give out the next week. The following Sunday there was a visible increase in guests at church that indicated the reason they were there was because someone had specifically invited them with the card the week before. It is fun to watch as we are becoming what Jesus told us to become, “fishers of men.”

The good news is that you do not have to go it alone. Your church family and staff are here to partner with you in sharing the good news with your friends and family. One way we do this is to speak to the issues that are shaping our world. In the coming weeks, we will be touching on concerns that people care about deeply, churched and unchurched alike. This Sunday we will attempt to bring a Biblical framework to this politically tumultuous time with the message, The Kind of Leadership America Needs. The bottom line is that Jesus is the only real hope for people, and to put our hope and trust in a political candidate or party can only lead to disappointment. It is easy to get swallowed up in the climate of political animosity and lose our opportunity to become salt and light. All of us have leadership influence that we can use.

Whether you have a lot or a little, money and financial stability is a concern on everyone’s mind these days. There has never been a more uncertain or troubling time since the Great Depression. Partnering with resources from Dave Ramsey and others, we will be presenting a new series “Mind Your Own Business.” The Bible clearly shows us a way to financial peace and freedom. You will learn how to survive and thrive in spite of the frightening circumstances we face. This is an excellent opportunity to share these resources with those outside our church. Sunday we will be giving you Invest and Invite cards to share with your friends for this new series. I have personally witnessed many people come to Christ as a direct result of Biblical financial teaching.

Perhaps the greatest way we influence the world is to become a servant leader, and love and serve as Jesus did. On Sunday, October 26 we will join together to give the gift of life to one of our very own, Sherry Holz. Sherry is suffering from cancer, and without a life-saving bone morrow transplant, there is no hope. You can participate by getting a cheek swab that morning at church to see if you match, or by donating $25 to help pay for the test for you or someone else, or both. The new process is very pain free and only involves a little discomfort. Find out more at our front porch this Sunday, or call, or email Trudy
trudy@newhopecommunitychurch.org.

In November we will serve by focusing on our newest build for Habitat for Humanity as we volunteer time and give resources in this life changing venture. This will be the second Habitat House that New Hope has partnered with this year.

In December we will be touching the lives of prisoners and their families through project Angel Tree. Our church has a tremendous influence in the lives of prisoners through our prison ministry under the leadership of David Overby. We will also be partnering with the Advent Conspiracy and other churches to provide a Christmas Gift to our City. Mayor-elect Sam Adams has asked the faith community in Portland to partner with the city in helping homeless families and adults, and high risk, low-income youth. What a tremendous opportunity for us to have increasing influence with our city as we become Christ’s hands and feet to our city. We will show love to our world by building a house for aids orphans through Open Arms International. You will hear much more about these service opportunities in the coming weeks.

One final note, I want to mention two people of influence at New Hope whom we will greatly miss. Thursday we had a memorial service for Don Leslie. Don and Gloria have been actively involved in New Hope the last 17 years. Don was deeply loved by everyone who knew him, and used his influence to serve the Lord. We also recently said goodbye to Al Gadberry, another long time member of New Hope. We give honor to these wonderful people who have loved and served in the life of our church.

Don’t forget that your influence can make a difference in someone’s life this week. See you this Sunday!

Pastor Ray