Hope Baptist Church
Pastor Paul Vander Vliet
50 Flanders Bartley Road 
Flanders NJ 07836
Phone: 267 934 2482
http://www.hope-baptist.co
information@hope-baptist.com


Our Flag
Hope's Flag Prayer

by 

Kyle McFarland

We fly our flags proudly so that all who see them will know that Hope is a church that prays for the salvation of the people of our nation and the furtherance of God’s Kingdom!  

We draw insight on how to pray for our nation and God’s Kingdom from 1 Timothy 2:1-6 where we read, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”  

We know that a nation is simply a collection of many people and their leaders and we see that as believers, we are urged to pray for all people, including those people in authority that govern our lives. We understand the power by law that those in authority have to alter our lives drastically for better or worse.  We often disagree with their decisions and actions and rightfully so when they do that which is displeasing to God, but we do know that this authority has been dispensed by God: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1).

In a nation founded on the Word of God, we as Americans are very uniquely blessed among many nations to have many of those in authority to be followers of Christ themselves; however, it is also true that we live in a world where “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, it is no surprise that in this fallen world we are under the rule of governing bodies that more often than not promote and mandate by law, things that are displeasing to God. Yet we see in 1Timothy 2:3 that it is our responsibility to pray for the salvation of all, including those in authority as it “is good, and pleases God our Savior.” For we see that just as surely as “all have sinned,” we also know that God “wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” According to 1Timothy 2:2, this is the key for all nations to live “peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”  

We pray for those who have steered our governments in a direction that more than ever persecutes and infringes on the rights of those who follow Christ. In Matthew 5:43, Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He goes on to say in verse 46: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” It is interesting to note that Jesus uses government officials themselves as examples when speaking of those who we should yet love. 

In verse 48 Jesus tells us to love in this manner so that we may “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Christ speaks of this kind of love as a demonstration to us of how to be like the Father because it is precisely this kind of love that Jesus gave up his life for while we were still enemies of God in sin. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). 

As our nation increasingly turns its back on God, we pray that our leaders and citizens turn towards God. In Luke 11:17,Jesus says, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” However, returning to 1 Timothy 2:5, we are reminded that there is hope in prayer that our nation will not be further divided, but instead be united always in the greater Kingdom of God by the “one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people."

Our flag raising ceremony - pictures​​


"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Matthew  16:18