who
we are
I (Max) am a “child of the Bay” - my great-grandparents on my mother’s side moved here to the East Bay in 1929 to grow strawberries. I was born in Oakland, and moved to Fremont in the early 90s. My wife Monica moved to Hayward with her family from Peru when she was just a few years old. We’re honored and blessed to be have roots that run deep here in the special place - we’ve lived our lives here, started our family here, and we’re honored to have the opportunity to plant Living Hope Church.
I enjoy cycling, reading, growing things, and collecting stuff. Monica is passionate about hospitality, and loves to be curled up in bed with a good book. We would love to meet you!
our vision
Our vision is to be a church together on God’s mission in our place and time.
Together was God’s plan for us from the beginning; to be together with one another and with God is what we were made for! Yet the Fall separated us from Him, and the Scriptures tell the story of the lengths to which God went to bring us back TOGETHER with Him through His Son. And now we live together as His people, eagerly awaiting the day that we will be together FOREVER with Him!
But we’re not just together to be together - we are together on God’s mission. And what is His mission? Among other things, Jesus tells us this about his purpose: “The Son of Man came to seek and the save the lost” (Luke 19:10). And how does He want to do that seeking? Through His called-together people: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Be we are not called to that together-mission in a vacuum - we do it in our place and time. What is our place? The East Bay Area - a place of natural beauty, opportunity, diversity, and need. A place that we love, and have a heart for!
And we live our this together-mission in our time - a time when, in the midst of profound challenge, division, and disconnection, God is stirring and working to draw people to Himself, here in the Bay particularly. And we want to be a church that is faithful to God’s calling upon us in seas
our
values
HOSPITALITY
We have been rescued and redeemed by a God who welcomed us, and so we welcome one another, embracing a spirit of warmth and invitation in everything we do.
expectancy
We worship, we pray, we serve, we preach, we love, we act in faith believing that our God is not dead, but alive! That empty tomb on Easter Sunday means that nothing is too hard for Him!
AUTHENTICITY
God cannot meet us somewhere we’re not. He rejoices with the truth, and in the light there is freedom. We strive to live and lead from a place of openness, honesty, and vulnerability in everything we do.
joy
“You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine” (Psalm 4:7). Because the victory of Jesus marks our stories, we can choose joy, even in the face of trials of many kinds, knowing that our Risen King has secured the victory (James 1:2-4)!
