You may be familiar with church and have a close relationship with God. Or, you may just be on a spiritual search and wonder if God even sees you or knows your name. Or, you may just be seeking a fresh start. Please know that God wants to meet you wherever you are. Also, know that we'll meet you wherever you are on your journey to find and follow Jesus.
OUR MISSION
- Love God [1]
- Love People [2]
- Make Disciples [3]
[1] Matthew 22:37-38, Romans 8:28, Deuteronomy 6:5, 1 John 4:19
[2] Matthew 22:39, John 13:34-35, John 15:12-14, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 John 4:7-8, 11; Galatians 5:13-15
[3] Matthew 28:19, Matthew 4:19-20, Acts 1:8, Colossians 1:28, 2 Timothy 2:2
Our passion is to be a church that looks more like Jesus by means of our love for one another and by embracing his heartbeat for people and the mission he gave his followers. We are committed to the process of making disciples of Jesus.
Jesus is our model for what disciple-making should look like. He explained the model in Matthew 4:19 when he called his first disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
A disciple is someone who is:
1. Following Jesus by being in relationship with him and submitting to his authority ("Follow me ").
2. Being changed by Jesus by spending time with him through Bible study and prayer ("I will make you")
3. Committed to the mission of Jesus by fulfilling his command to make disciples of all nations ("fishers of men")
Jesus gave his disciples the important mission of making disciples when he told them, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)
This is the mission he has given us. We want to learn to be a group of on-mission disciples of Jesus who are all about seeing people come to saving faith in Jesus, grow in spiritual maturity, and embrace Christ's mission as their own. We want to see people from all backgrounds come into our lives and through our doors and, rather than facing scrutiny for their appearance or spiritual condition, feel loved by the church body because we see them as people in need of the transforming love of Jesus. This involves personally sharing the Gospel with friends, co-workers and fellow students and spending one-on-one time with other believers to help them grow in their Christian walk.
We invite you to join us on this journey. Maybe you think God could never use you to make disciples. Every Christian - no matter how young or how old - can learn to be a committed disciple of Jesus and have a vital part in helping others learn to be disciples. Jesus Christ can be trusted to equip us to do what he has called us to do.
JOIN A LIFE GROUP An important first step in learning to be a disciple-maker is to join one of our Life Groups. We place a high priority on gathering in small groups because this is the model and method Jesus gave us as he himself primarily spent time with a small group of his disciples. Life Groups are a great place to engage in relationships that help us become more like Jesus and learn how to disciple others.
OUR VALUES
- Christ is the theme and goal of all of Scripture.
- Christ is the sovereign Lord over the world.
- Christ is the head of the Church.
- The call of discipleship is to follow Christ, be changed by Christ, and join Christ’s mission.
- The Christian life is a process of being conformed into the image of Christ in character and action.
We missionally engage our culture and the world as the gospel transforms our lives.
- Our church grows through people putting their faith in the Lord Jesus.
- We grow individually by continually applying the gospel to our daily lives.
- We make proclamation and celebration of the gospel central to every ministry.
- We invite everyone to come as they are to be transformed into the image of Jesus.
- We meet people where they are.
- We remove unnecessary barriers to The Gospel.
- Our church is inviting and safe.
God transforms us though knowing and applying His Word.
- We grow in our knowledge of God’s Word in order to love him more.
- Use a historical/grammatical approach.
- Be doers not just hearers.
- Read and share with each other.
- Embrace the Scriptures as authoritative for all life issues and Church practice.
- Implement the following interpretation principles:
Where the Scriptures are clear and prescriptive, we follow no matter how countercultural it may be. Where the Scriptures show patterns, we will generally follow. Where the Scripture sets forth principles, we will adapt those principles to our current culture.
We seek to make disciples who make disciples in all we do.
- We help one another grow into the Lord Jesus’ image through the five stages of spiritual growth:
1. Spiritually Dead (unbeliever)
2. Infant (brand new believer)
3. Child (growing believer)
4. Young Adult (contributing believer)
5. Spiritual Parent (disciple-maker) - We provide an attainable step-by-step path to leadership.
- We develop and maintain high function and high spiritual impact leadership culture.
- We believe many leaders bring strength from diverse perspectives.
- We believe maturity is expressed in spiritual parentage.
- We identify, invite, equip, release, and support members of the church.
We are designed to grow closer to the Lord in community.
- All serve, and all grow by serving.
- Together, our church is whole.
- Everyone has a unique role.
- The person and work of the Lord Jesus unifies us.
- We celebrate communion weekly.
- We work together in the Lord and each other.
- We fight for relationship.
- We grow together in authentic relationships.
We humbly seek input from the Holy Spirit and others.
- Make room for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.
- Seek and receive input from others.
- Understand that this character trait is essential for unity.
We are defined by Christ’s love in our hearts for each other, our “enemies,” and the lost.
- Our Elders/pastors/leaders lovingly shepherd the church.
- We love each other and live life together.
- We experience the life of Christ through living sacrificially for others.
- We abide in the love of the Triune God.
- We love him back.
- We love through obedience.
- We love the church.
- We love the lost.
- We love our enemies.