Welcome to HopeTree
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” – Matt 13:31-32
We are a church seeking to play our part in God’s Kingdom plans. Like a small seed grows into a large tree, God’s kingdom on earth started small and has been growing since. Today we find ourselves a small part of God’s great kingdom, like a branch of a great tree reaching across the earth. We are excited that God uses people just like us to to continue growing His Kingdom across the earth and we’d love for you to join in the journey.
3 DISCIPLESHIP FOCUSES
UP
As disciples of Jesus we follow the way he spent time worshiping and communicating his Father. We believe that through Jesus, we can get to know God as well. As such, we put time and effort into hearing what God is saying to us and spending time in prayer.
IN
As disciples of Jesus we spend time with one another, helping one another grow. This involves sharing the scriptures with each other and asking two key questions.
1. What is Jesus saying to us?
2.What are we going to do about it?
OUT
As disciples of Jesus we want to share him with those that don’t know him.
We see Jesus proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom to the world around him, and loving and caring for those that weren’t yet his followers.
Our Story & The Gospel of Jesus
We believe the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to be the central event of all of History. We believe that when Jesus died, he did so out of love for us. By taking the punishment deserved by us (earned by disregarding God and choosing to live our own way), he opened the opportunity for anyone who would believe in him to be able to know God personally.
The work of Jesus on the cross has opened to us a raft of blessings and promises as outlined in the Bible, and so we are overjoyed when someone comes chooses to believe in and follow Jesus.
Jesus is therefore a central part of our story. His work has reconciled us back to God, and by doing so, opened up a new way to live as one that hears from and knows God.
Life Together
Jesus followers thrive best by living life alongside other brothers and sisters in the Lord. We encourage everyone involved at HopeTree not to go it alone. We believe that setting up predictable patterns as a community allow us to spend more time together and more easily allow those that aren’t yet a part of the community know when and how they might be able to join in.
Life moves quickly, let’s not go it alone. We are made to do life together.
HopeTree Communities
A key part of the way we do church is by forming and living in Missional Communities. We know there is more for us as God’s people than running or attending services (as good as they are). Having the formation of community as one of our key goals helps us keep the relational dynamic involved in following Jesus front and centre. We are going after the “extended family” dynamic in our communities – knowing one another to a depth that allows us to give and receive help and support in life when we need it.
Why “Missional” Communities? Our heart is that we would hear what God is doing in the world and join him in it. We want to build communities not only that know and love one another, but communities that hear what God might want to do in a place or among a group of people and join him in it. By aligning ourselves with the mission of God, we believe we will have the excitement and joy of seeing his Kingdom grow and people come to know and trust in Jesus.
Gospel Partner
Although HopeTree has its own unique focus and community, we are blessed to be a congregation of Forest Lake Baptist Church.
CHURCH IN COMMUNITY
We work with GOD to build communities – in the community. The communities we build are centered around the work and words of Jesus.