The IPHC will host its second Arise in Hope service online this Sunday at 8pm Eastern. Pastor Anthony Craver of Upward Christian Fellowship in Flat Rock, NC, will be the guest speaker.
“Pastor Anthony Craver is an outstanding pastor and leader in the IPHC,” said Presiding Bishop Doug Beacham, who planned the series. “When the executive committee considered someone to speak to IPHC pastors, he was at the top of the list. Susan and I look forward to his ministry this Sunday night, and the encouraging Word of the Lord that Pastor Craver will bring.”
The session will also feature music from One Voice, a vocal group from Southwestern Christian University.
The Council of Bishops, chaired by Bishop Beacham, conceived Arise in Hope to have “preachers preach to preachers.” It came about as the COB considered the struggles ministers have faced in 2020.
“For many IPHC ministers—pastors, evangelists, those who serve in a variety of ministry roles—this has been a very difficult season,” Bishop Beacham said in the first session, which featured Dr. Mark Rutland of Global Servants.
Dr. Beacham chose the series title—Arise in Hope—purposefully. “We are orienting much of what we do as a movement around the theme of Isaiah 60:1—‘Arise, shine, for your light has come,’” Beacham said. “And that includes Arise 2033.” The IPHC’s Arise 2033 vision looks ahead to the 200oth commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. “By 2033, we are praying that God will use the IPHC to reach 150 nations around the world,” he continued. “And that we’ll see an IPHC presence in 75% of the counties in the United States.”
Achieving that goal would more than triple the denomination’s US presence, currently at 20% of counties—a very ambitious goal. Dr. Beacham agrees, smiling: “It is a big goal, but God can do big things.”
Arise in Hope, then, aims to encourage pastors to trust God for big things. That He is building His church. That He is with them as they make disciples in their communities. That the Holy Spirit still empowers Christians to live in a kingdom that is presently available.
Pastors may feel insignificant, Mark Rutland said in his first message, but God says differently. Pastors can have hope though they “live in a fearful world, the Lamb is our elder brother.”
Arise in Hope will stream live at IPHC.org/live, on the General Superintendent’s Facebook page (facebook.com/iphcgso) and at YouTube.com/IPHCommunications. More information about Arise 2033 is available at iphc.org/arise.
Edit: The first version of this article did not include the information about One Voice.
