By faith
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
“This is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God to be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to unto men.” Titus 3:8
New Hope Community Church of Ayer is a multicultural church that has grown out of a vision from God to provide a local place of worship for an underserved community. This month the church celebrated its 33rd anniversary. What a testimony to the glory of God! What a mighty God we serve. A small group of people’s faith in the power of God’s word is evident in the church today. The church testimony has held firm: “We’ve come this far by faith”.
A four-alarm fire destroyed the New Hope Baptist church building in April of 1995, leaving a useless shell in its wake, but a hope-filled, faith-driven pastor and congregation continued on. The congregation watched as the fire burned and sang with conviction “We’ve come this far by faith”. The church never missed a Sunday service, Sunday school, or VBS that year. The Calvary Baptist Church of Ayer welcomed them into their building, and for exactly 2 years New Hope Baptist continued by faith. In 1997, the congregation marched into a brand-new building and dedicated it to God.
The congregation watched as the fire burned and sang with conviction “We’ve come this far by faith”.
This little church has withstood the test of by time by trusting in the Lord. In fact, it feels impossible to capture this legacy of faith! We have been blessed to witness marriages being restored, children graduating from college, and ministers and missionaries going forth to share the Gospel throughout the world. New Hope also developed a Hope Center in another town designed to minister to people’s needs in a depressed community.
In these last four years, by God’s grace, the church has established a fully accredited college program to help equip the saints for ministry. Before and during the pandemic, it has provided home-cooked meals for families in homeless shelters. The church also feeds an average of eighty families each week with grocery deliveries or grocery pickups.
We celebrate the gift of the church (ecclesia) and the giver, God with us (Emmanuel). May we treasure the beauty of what God can do when we come together in unity. Let us all remember that He promised to be in our midst when we come together in His name. Here’s a closing story to demonstrate the inclusive love of God. A conversation between one of our beloved Caucasian leaders and an inquisitive friend went something like this: The friend asked if she attended the “Black Church”. Her response after thinking about it was “No, I think our church [building] is white”.
The church continues to be a place where all are welcomed and we pray you will feel the love of God more than the color of our church. We hope to maintain good works and glorify our Father who is in Heaven. By faith, we encourage all believers to keep walking by faith and maintain good works because faith without works is dead being alone.
Dr. Brenda Palmer has ministered in Central Mass for many years and serves as one the co-founders of the New Hope Community Church of Ayer, MA.
