Testimonies

We asked our congregation, "Why do you come to Hope?", and this is how they responded. We even asked the kids what they thought! We welcome your own testimony - please email us and let us know why you come to Hope!

“Carpe Diem!” a Latin term which means “Seize the day,” comes to my mind when I think of Hope Community Church. There is a richness of feeling which permeates our church experience – to live deliberately. This general feeling of living richly in the moment comes from several key facets.

Leadership is focused on Jesus and His true Word of love and forgiveness (1 Corinthians 13). Brian Lother, our pastor, is genuine and wise, a true leader giving not only awesome sermons loaded with humorous stories, well researched information, and rock solid Bible teaching – but also giving good daily direction and advice. He and the servant council deal directly and effectively with negative or painful situations. There is a freshness in Brian’s bravery to be honest about his flaws which provides a real freedom for each of us to be transparent about who we really are as well.

Brian’s desire to know God and the fact that he is a Master’s degreed classical pianist makes the worship leave you hungry for more. It’s not just singing – it’s worship that really moves your spirit. The worship team has gifted musicians, several of whom are professional or have been.

There is a strong feeling of love and acceptance within the church body. People really matter. A strong support network exists for people dealing with issues as our church body is generally open due to various people who have redeemed their lives and made extreme behavioral changes. There is a real lack of judgmental attitude which comes down from the leadership. Progress not perfection. A church that is actually a safe place to heal!

Our kids love Sunday School and Wednesday Night FaithWeaver Programs. The Nurseries and classes leave you feeling confident that your kids are in good hands.

We feel our tithe dollars truly make a difference in the world. We see a modesty of lifestyle which unfortunately we don’t see much in the charismatic Christian leadership in the U.S. these days.

The goal of Brian and Jacque Lother is to really love and help others – even pierced, tattooed unbelievers – find God and His hope and peace. We’ve been worshipping with them since 1990 because they are direct communicators, unpretentious, modest, kind, gifted, accepting, and imperfect. Because of the way Brian lives his daily life, his words carry meaning and his congregation is the richer for hearing them. The rest is icing on the cake.

Hope Community Church is miraculously united in love, prayer, fellowship, purpose, and worship. This wonderful family of God’s children welcomed us with open arms and open hearts.

I come to Hope because I feel like I’m part of a community of friends all of whom love the Lord and are real with each other. Hope is a community of compassion that looks out for its own through the good times and the rough times. The worship is great because the emphasis is on the heart’s expression not on form. Finally, Pastor Brian speaks with he believes God wants him to share rather than what might tickle our ears: strong but good Medicine from the Scriptures.

I asked God what to say & He said . . . Goose Bumps was okay. So I’d say Goose Bumps when I feel God’s presence.

Hope Community has brought healing to my life from a family split and a church split. I see it as a healthy family and church (not perfect because we’re all human) where people are not judged but helped to maturity in Christ. Our pastor and his wife count it as a privilege to serve the Lord in this capacity and it shines through their lives and ministry. The Lord speaks to me through their worship music and sermons.

Hope has never given up on me when others have or they should have. I have run from God and the people of Hope never let me run too far. They have always loved on me and have shown me that God loves and knows my repentant heart. The people of Hope have shown me that I am okay.

We come to Hope because of the overwhelming presence of God that we experience in every service. We have always felt a part of Hope since its beginning. . . After serving God for 13 years in the inner city and North Branch, obeying God’s call to us, God has seen fit to bring us back to our roots. We know it is God’s plan for us to spend our senior years worshipping God and being a part of Hope Community Church. We thank God for the wonderful servant council, and the wonderful church family God has put us in.

We come because of the warm, caring atmosphere that Hope Community Church provides not only for us but for our children and grandchildren. We are always touched by the sweet sense of God’s presence and leave inspired to serve Him and others.

Hope Community Church is a gift from God to our family.
Some 12+ years ago, Marston was invited to take a trip to Haiti. He was to help supervise a construction project, the building of an orphanage. This conservative Methodist came home changed, after spending 10 days with a group of singing, praying, hand raising, tongue speaking, fun & loving people from Calvary Temple. God used those people to bring us into a family of believers that became our family. It was both scary and exciting when God pruned us out of Calvary and planted us into His new work called Hope Community Church.
Hope is a family that loves Jesus. They have a heart for His people and especially for those who don’t know Him. The people of Hope stand by each other, living the life that God has given them, together. His work, in us, our gifts are made to shine – individual gifts, which, when put together in His perfect plan, create the most awesome package. The Lord is teaching us that although we are not perfect, He is. Although terrible things can happen, He is still Lord. He is also showing us His great love for us and joyin us, as we celebrate victories that only He could orchestrate.
At a recent service, I was given a great word picture – God delights and dances over us!
That’s what we love about Hope – the family of Hope loves to delight the Lord! We love this family and we love what happens here!

Hope Community Church is love. Hope is where you find loving, caring Pastor Brian and Jacque, his wife, and loving people, special worship and messages. Hope is where the Lord’s presence is as He is in our hearts and His love flows for everybody.

I guess in simplicity, we prayed, we heard, we acted, here we are. But we keep coming to Hope because God has made known to me how important it is to be faithful and planted in one spot serving and being served. He’s the vine and we gotta pick a spot to be grafted in or we die. We all gotta deal with the wounds in our heart somewhere and Hope is our place. But I wouldn’t keep coming if I hadn’t seen and experienced the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the services and the private lives of leaders. I don’t think I’m that strong. I too have issues! Mankind can put on a pretty good show and say all the right things, but the true fruit of a changed life cannot be faked. I see and experience the real deal here. No, not perfection! I see real love, repentance, forgiveness, acceptance, mercy, kindness, gentleness and real men crying because the living God is here moving among us changing hard hears, healing broken ones, changing bad attitudes and selfishness into humble generous men and women. I see real joy on most faces, genuine care, and freedon to have a bad day. I’m here because it’s the real deal. Not perfection, but working together in love under one name “Jesus of Nazareth.”

The presence of God is at Hope every time I walk into church. The family atmosphere, the great Sunday service, but most important is the leadership of Pastor Brian, the music, and the Word. I look forward to Sunday every week.

About a year ago, we decided to give Hope a try. We were greeted immediately upon entering the church. We were also approached by one of the elders as we sat in the sanctuary waiting for the service to begin. He introduced himself and gave us some information about Hope. Everyone was so inviting and friendly. It made us feel welcome.
When the service began, we were delighted with the worship music as we sat watching everyone dance, wave flags and sing to God. After the music, our kids went to their classes and we sat and listened to the sermon. When our kids returned, we couldn’t believe how excited they were. Their first words were "Can we come here again?" We started coming every week because we believed it would be beneficial for our children, but during that time, we realized how much we needed and loved coming to Hope and having God in our lives. In the past year, I think we have only missed 2 or 3 Sundays.
We also have been attending other classes and gatherings. Recently we have committed ourselves to help out serving coffee, greeting and ushering. Our children attend Faith Weaver Friends on Wednesdays and thoroughly enjoy it. We have made many new friends at Hope and continue to meet more each week. Everyone we’ve met has been very friendly and is very candid about their feelings about Hope and their faith in God. We feel at home here. One of the main reasons is that everyone at Hope is straight-forward about themselves, their lives and their mistakes. It’s comforting to know that we all struggle in life and that we all seek love, compassion and guidance from God.

And here's what the kids have to say...

I like to come to Hope because everyone is nice and funny.

I like to come to church because we learn a lot in class. My teacher is nice and friendly.

I like to come to Hope because of the music and some kids from school go there.

I like our teacher. He is fun. And also that people like you just the way you are.

I like to come to Hope because everyone is nice.

I like to go to Hope because it is fun.