Pastor's Thoughts: September 2026

Fall is right around the corner, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready for it. There's something about that first cool morning that makes you want to sit on the porch a little longer with your coffee. While we'll likely be sweating through a few more weeks of Texas summer before it actually arrives, September always feels like the turning point of the year — and this September, God has given our church family a lot to look forward to.

One of the things I care about most as your pastor is that no one who comes to faith at New Hope is left to figure out the Christian life on their own. In Acts 2, right after three thousand souls were added to the church in a single day, we're told that “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship.” Coming to Christ was the beginning of their story, not the end of it; the church immediately went to work grounding them in the truth.

That's exactly what we want to do this month. Starting Sunday, September 6, and running through September 27, we're offering a four-week New Believers' Class in place of our regular Sunday School hour. We'll walk through what it means to follow Jesus, what we believe as a church, and how to take your next steps here at New Hope: baptism, membership, and getting plugged into a community group.

This class isn't just for people who recently prayed to receive Christ. If you've never had a chance to sit down and go through the basics, or if it's simply been a while since you thought carefully about what you believe and why, I'd love for you to join us. Come to one week or come to all four; either way, you'll walk away better equipped to grow.

Church family, I continue to be amazed at what God is doing through our partnership overseas. Through our connection with Ryan Lindsey, our IMB missionary partner in Northern England, and Hope Church in Easingwold under Pastor Edward Fenning, New Hope has a real, ongoing role to play in seeing the gospel take root in a part of the world where it has grown cold.

On Sunday, September 20, right after morning worship, we'll hold an interest meeting for anyone who wants to learn more about what's next for this partnership and what a future trip to serve alongside Hope Church could look like. If your heart has ever stirred at the thought of the Great Commission, of literally going and making disciples of the nations, I want to encourage you to come. Attending doesn't commit you to anything. It simply gives you the information you need to pray, and to ask the Lord honestly whether He might be calling you to go, to give, or to intercede.

Jesus told His disciples that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, and that we should ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Missions has never been a task for the few; it's a calling for the whole church. Some of us will go. Some of us will give sacrificially so that others can go. All of us can pray earnestly for the work in England. I hope you'll begin asking the Lord now what your part will be.

I'm especially excited about something brand new we're launching this month: our very first Next Steps Lunch, on Sunday, September 27, right after service. If you've visited New Hope in the last several months, are still getting to know us, or have been attending for a while but have never taken the step toward membership or a community group, this lunch is for you.

We want this to be a low-pressure, high-value hour where you can meet me and other leaders in our church, ask whatever questions you've been holding onto, and hear more about who we are and where we're headed as a family of believers. If God has brought you to New Hope, we want to help you take the next step toward truly belonging here. I'd love to sit at that table with you.