New Bethel Church of God in Christ
1520 Little Rock Road Charlotte, NC 28214
PH:(704) 391-0365
email: www.newbethelchurch.com
Pastor Tommie A. Murphy & First Lady Doris Murphy
Services:
Sunday Morning Worship Service: 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Sunday Evening Worship Service: 5 p.m.
Monday Mountain Moving Prayer: 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday Prayer/Bible Study: 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday Pastoral Teaching: 7:30 p.m.
Saturday Prayer: 7: 30 a.m.
What makes your church unique?
I would say one of the specific things that we talk about as far as church is concerned, and that is a church where all nations are welcomed. Whatever uniqueness you find in that, openness is the one we want to portray, and that also, one that demonstrates and actually embraces the requirement of loving and embracing and loving whom God loves, which are the people of God. One of the things that we believe in is that any vision that we have as a ministry has got to be consistent with what God requires of us and that’s a vision that embraces and that prospers people because that’s really the only concern that God has is for the people of God. Anything you see in the Word of God, going back to Genesis, Moses called to go to Egypt to bring the people of God out, it was a mandate, not focused so much on the man of God, Moses himself, but it was a mandate that focused on taking the restrictions off of God’s people. That was a response to the call and the cries of the people of God. So if we learn from that that, that has got to always remain the focus; that’s the thing that we always like to do. In doing that, also in demonstrating love and compassion for people, we’ve poured and actually demonstrate as a church, the desire to give something back. A lot of things that we believe in, first of all, is the in-reach and then certainly outreach, ensuring that the people are part of this ministry. We like to have people that don’t cost anything to be involved in ministry. That is demonstrated by if you’re part of a ministry, if you’re in the dance team, we’ll purchase the dance uniforms. If you’re riding somewhere for ministry outreach, you’re not paying any money to get on a bus or transportation, we’re covering it. The ministry that believes in giving to the people of God so that it’s not a one-way street but it is a mutual relationship that’s designed to let people know that they are blessed and that they are, in fact, the apple of God’s eye and they are loved, physically and spiritually, which is what God’s desire is for their lives.
What is the church’s vision?
The vision is, as I shared, is designed and centered around empowering people. The word that we share with the body of Christ is an endeavor to empower and equip for effective evangelism. This is a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching ministry whose purpose is to empower with the word of God, equip through teaching and developing, cultivating gifts for the purpose of, not just becoming wowed by the presence of God’s ability and grace in their lives, but coming into an understanding that, according to Ephesians 1:18 that “the eyes of our understanding are being enlightened.” And what that says is you are now walking with the empowerment of God’s word for one purpose and that’s to reach God’s people. So the equipping and empowerment for evangelism; God’s going to equip you, prepare you to go out and tell someone else about what great things the Lord has done in your life, because that’s the purpose. He’s not equipping us for our self-gratification, but He’s equipping us and empowering us because somebody needs what He has given us to become what God wants them to become.
What are the church’s beliefs?
There is a litany of things that we share that I think encapsulates the belief of the church. We believe that Bible to be the inspired and the only infallible written word of God, we believe that there is one God, eternally existed in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling, the Christian or the child of God, is able to live a holy and separated life in this world, which is critical because our blessing doesn’t just come or victory doesn’t come in the here and now or in the later, but its present now and that’s what the Holy Spirit does, empower us to live a victorious life now. We’re not just looking for heaven; we’re living victoriously right here in the earth which are several of the real key things that we believe in.
What type of ministries and programs are offered?
We think a fairly comprehensive ministry offering here: singles ministry, married couples ministry, men’s ministry, women’s ministry, children’s ministry. We have outreach ministry: there is prison ministry, men’s shelter, women’s shelter, nursing home. There is an indigent care ministry. We also have ministry that caters to developing and cultivating an entrepreneur spirit, as the economic empowerment ministry. Of course there’s a van ministry that we use for people that do not have transportation to get to church or other places. The van ministry helps to undergird those individuals as well. There’s a counseling ministry we have as well.
What are the greatest strengths of the church?
How do you foster spiritual growth for individuals in the church?
I think the principal focus is an understanding. The bible says that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” We really believe that, and this may sound a little bit preachy, but the ear, which is how you hear the word of God, is literally considered the birth canal, that’s the part of us that receives the word for the purpose of empowering or equipping us. That is the apparatus that we have for equipping us to hear and to respond to the word of God. We’re convinced that the only way a person is literally going to fulfill God’s mandate for us, is through literally hearing, and that word hearing means “to hearken” and hearken means not only the hearing but the responding to what’s been heard. So we do that through teaching the word of God. And we like to look at it from this perspective: the Bible says that, “the whole earth groaneth and travaileth and waiteth with expectation for the manifestation or the presentation or the revealing or the unveiling of the child of God. So the world is waiting on us to be presented as that mature child of God that the Lord sent us in the earth to become and what he sent us to in the earth to call other people to see.
So how are we manifesting? This is the thing that we encourage and that we teach: how do we reach the point of manifestation is by first sharing information. Information is the word of God, the “logos.” Now once we’ve heard the “logos” once we’ve heard the information, then there must be an inspiration. You’ve got to be motivated through the spirit of God, the spirit of God is always going to speak to you and encourage you, now do what you’ve just heard, do this. The Bible said in Romans 8:6, he declared that, our mandate is to be spiritual minded not carnal minded. He said, to be carnal minded is death or detrimental to our spiritual growth and development. That means that we’re not connected to responding to the word of God that we’ve just heard. So we get information, the “logos,” and then there is an inspiration through the spirit, there is unction to respond to the information.
Once you respond, the third thing happens, that’s application. So you go from information, inspiration to application. Once you’ve applied the word of God, James said don’t just be a hearer but a doer. And once you’ve done the word then what doing the word of God does is bring about a transformation. That’s where the change occurs in our life. When I’m walking by through the application of the word of God because we teach that no ministry is worth its salt if its teaching of our application, or applying the word of God, is not a mandate in the ministry. See a lot of people matriculate to institutions of higher learning, seminaries and other places, to become experts in the letter, but the Bible says that the letter killeth but the spirit is what maketh alive, its what brings life. Not just knowing the law but doing the law, doing the word of God. So when there is application, then there is a change, that’s when the applier is now changed.
Now when you’re changed, transformation is what ushers in the fifth thing, which is where we want to be, the whole world is waiting for the manifestation. So once transformation occurs, then manifestation occurs, because when you’re changed, the whole world sees. And that’s what the world is waiting for, but what brought you to that manifestation was the hearing, then being inspired to apply what you heard, which resulted in the transformation and then manifestation ,which is where God wants you to be. It all started with giving your ear to the word of God.
