By Larry P. Stover
Stover lives in Valley Grande and is pastor at Praise Park Ministries Church of the Nazarene.

Hope is something that all believers hold on too.  Romans 12:12 reminds us to “Rejoice in hope.” This attribute of the Christian life is not always something we can see or hold on to, but is very real and essential to making it through any life issue or even a period of time.

I would like to look at an acronym for the word HOPE as we look ahead to 2016. The thoughts that I want to share will not only affect our personal lives but can make a big difference in our community.

In a nation that has made hopelessness an all too common way of thinking, may I make some suggestions to make 2016 the best it can be.

Let’s begin with ideas for the letter “H.”

From a spiritual perspective I want to HEAR and obey God’s word. I am also determined to spend more time in the HOUSE of God this year. Lastly, I want to make the church a HOME for HURTING people. Too many people have been turned off by the church for one or more reasons.  We all know the church is not perfect but it is an awesome place for HURTING people to find help during troubling times.

I have some goals in mind for our community as well. We all need to get involved in HELPING the HURTING people that abound in Dallas County. If we all get involved be can bring HEALING to the broken lives we run into all the time. Jesus Christ is still the answer to their every need

Continuing with the letter “O.”

To Christians, here are some key issues. We need to OBEY the voice of God. We can also OPEN our lives to his leading. OBSERVING His commandments would be beneficial as well. It all boils down to being OBEDIENT to what God wants in your life in the year ahead.

We can also make a difference in our community.  Begin with OUTREACH into the community.  We are ORDINARY people serving an extra ORDINARY God who wants to work through us to change our little corner of the world.

Next, we have the letter, “P.”

I have numerous admonitions for people of the faith. We need to realize that we are PARTNERS with God. God needs us as much as we need him.  As a fellow believer, I want everyone to PREPARE to meet God. We don’t know when that will happen but we know it will happen one of these days.

Personally, I want to work at PERFECTING my relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to be the Christian He wants me to be. I also want to be POSSESSED with a PASSION for God. My desire is that the people I meet will know that I walk with the Lord.

When I look around at the community, I want to live at PEACE with everyone.

Most of all, I want to be PERSISTENT in my love for people of all races and backgrounds. That is the Christian thing to do.

Lastly, let’s look at the letter “E.” For the Christian, I want to EVANGELIZE our county.  People need the Lord! I want to ENTER church every week with praise and thanksgiving leading me to worship. I want to EDUCATE and EQUIP Christians to be the people of God. I want to be an EXAMPLE of a Biblical Christian.

To the people of Dallas County, I want to EMBRACE our communities with the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter what is going on in your world, make a relationship with Jesus Christ the foundation of it all. I also want to be an ENCOURAGER to everyone I meet. We all choose whether or not we want to be positive or negative every day.

Let’s all enjoy our walk with God during 2016. It will make life “Simply Beautiful.”