What makes us, us.

Of course, it’s our people who make us, us. But here is a collection of resources that tell something important about who we are as a church. We are just one part of Jesus’s universal Church. For the Church to fulfill its work in the world, every part needs to participate well, according to its calling and design.

Mission | what we do.

Reach people and help them walk with God.

  • REACH

    Reach refers to who we’re willing to care about. Reach requires awareness. We don’t sit back and watch or even attract.  We reach.  We extend ourselves, our hearts and our hands, to offer people something to grab, something to trust, something to hold onto. 

    PEOPLE

    Every person is made in the image of God. Every person is made for God.  So we aren’t trying to target a specific demographic, but rather pay attention to those around us in our city, in our region, in our world and to those He’s brought into our lives.  We believe that God is making us into a beautifully diverse body by which we become His people.

    HELP

    When we reach out in love to help people towards God, we are never working against what He is doing and what He intends. This is characterized by a responsive posture. We are positioned to be ready to enter in and help.

    WALK

    Your walk is your journey with God. It is a relationship consisting of steps of faith by which we learn to trust Him more and more in order to understand the Life we are created to live.

    WITH

    We want to experience life WITH God. We are helping people take steps of faith as an expression of their walk WITH Him and participation in His work. 

    GOD

    God is the object of our pursuit and the One who is worthy of our lives.  The God we worship is the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, revealed to us most clearly in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is what God is like, so we look to Him as our King and His Presence remains with us through His Holy Spirit.

Vision | what we see.

  • LIFE WITH GOD

    Life with God is expressed in the way we abide with Him.  Our daily lives are defined by remaining intimately connected to Him and walking in His way.

    Life with God is the beginning place for God’s redemptive plan as we learn to live in and enjoy His presence. 

    TOGETHER 

    We are intended and designed to live Together as a people loved by God.

    Together is a way of life in which our lives are not only changed, but the Life of God is exchanged as we give ourselves to one another.  This expression becomes our collective display of His love that reveals God to the world.  Together, we bear the integrity of His image and the influence of His love.

    FOR THE WORLD 

    God’s heart is for the world, so ours is too.

    We appeal to the world as we live as those who are loved. As a distinct people, we actively work with God for redemption and human flourishing, to bring His Kingdom to bear on the world around us.

Life with God together for the world.

C.A.R.D. | our values.

  • C-ONTEXT

    Everything has a context.  Nothing happens in a vacuum. When we are helping someone walk with God, we must pay attention to the circumstances, background, and perspective of that person. When we fail to pay attention to context, we miss what God is doing at that moment. In fact, there is so much to miss when we fail to consider context.    

    Always pay attention.

    A-UTHENTICITY

    Authenticity is seeing and relating to one another according to who God created us to be.  We are created to live as image bearers.  This value uses the image of God as our standard and as our lens.  As followers of Jesus, we are being formed into His image so that we don’t settle for any lesser version of the way we view ourselves and relate to one another.  

    Always pursue truth.

    R-ELATIONSHIP

    Relationships are defined by the way we see ourselves connected to one another.  These connections provide opportunities to exchange God’s love. The exchange of His love is the hallmark of those who follow Jesus and is the way in which the Kingdom of God is revealed. 

    We have a responsibility to consider the people at the table more valuable than the issues on the table.  

    Always see the person.

    D-ISCOVERY

    Discovery is the willingness to step into the process of trusting and knowing God more. It requires curiosity and implies uncertainty.

    Discovery positions us to learn from God and it ensures that we are leading others, and ourselves, on a journey of faith. 

    Always think next step.

R.E.A.L. | our hopes.

  • R-ELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST

    We want for every person to have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Christ. 

    How are we helping others pursue Jesus?

    E-NGAGED IN COMMUNITY

    We want for every person to be VITALLY CONNECTED to the Body of Christ. 

    How are we helping others feel safe enough to engage?

    A-CTIVE IN SERVICE

    We want for every person to have a sense of SHARED RESPONSIBILITY for our church .

    How are we inspiring others to participate?

    L-EVERAGE YOUR LIFE FOR IMPACT

    We want for every person to FULFILL THEIR CALLING. 

    How are we inviting others to use what they’ve been given?

Get the R.E.A.L. Devotional Journey

Be Helpful | our promise.

Even in complex and confusing situations, we can find ways to be helpful.

Helpful to knower.

Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3). Through our words and actions, we can help people experience eternal life by helping them come to know God in life-changing ways, and then make him known to others.

Helpful to neighbor.

All people have needs and struggles. Whatever their situation, we can find ways to be helpful. And who are our neighbors? According to Jesus, they might be family or friends. They might be acquaintances or even enemies. Often, they will be widows, orphans, the poor, or strangers.

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We Confess | our core beliefs.

We identify with the historic Christian Church, which has confessed the early creeds as statements of faith across centuries, geographies, cultures, and traditions.

THE NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

As a local church, we further believe that:

THE BIBLE

The Bible is a collection of writings demonstrating God’s love, pursuit, and promise of redemption. God-breathed and sovereignly preserved, it reveals to us who God is and what he has to say, ultimately pointing us to Jesus Christ as the clearest revelation of God.

(John 1:1-5, John 5:39, Acts 17:11, 1 Tim. 4:13, 2 Tim. 3:15-16)

SALVATION

Eternal life is found in knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Salvation is by God’s grace and is received by faith; it cannot be earned, only grasped with a heart of gratitude, love, and humility.

(John 6:47, John 6:68, John 17:3, Rom. 6:23, 1 Tim. 6:12, 1 John 1:2, 1 John 3:15)

SANCTIFICATION

We belong to become; our shared communion with, allegiance to, and dependence on Jesus is the means to our sanctification.

(Matt. 4:19, John 15:4-5, Acts 26:17-18, 1 Cor. 1:2, Col. 1:13-14, 1 John 1:3, 1 John 3:1)

HOLINESS

The politics of Jesus and his kingdom are God's right and beautiful way for all humankind; the Church is God's called-out, set-apart people meant to live this way before the world.

(Eph. 2:19-20, 1 Pet. 2:9, 1 Pet. 4:16-17, Rev. 15:3-4)

THE CHURCH

Jesus’s universal Church consists of local churches; the local church is a received, multi-generational family of faith that worships, prays, grows, serves, mourns, and rejoices together.

(Ps. 78:1-8, Ps. 145, Acts 16:5, Rom. 12:15, Rom. 16:4, 1 Cor. 12:12-27, Gal. 6:10, Eph. 3:14-15, Heb. 2:11, 1 Pet. 2:17, Rev. 2:7, Rev. 22:16)

THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer to equip and empower men and women alike for abundant life and fruitful ministry.

(John 10:10, John 15:5, Acts 2:17-19, 1 Cor. 3:16, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, Gal. 5:13-26, Col. 1:9-12)

EVANGELISM

The ministry of God and his Church is a ministry of reconciliation; the Church reaches out to gather all people of every age, culture, ethnicity, religious background, and social position, honoring each one's equal and unsurpassable dignity and worth.

(Gen. 1:26-27, Matt. 28:19, 2 Cor. 5:18, Gal. 3:28, James 2:1-7, Rev. 22:17)

MISSIONS

The Church is compassionately for the world, not against it; arising from faith, our activity for good in the world looks like salt, light, yeast, and a pleasing fragrance.

(Matt. 5:13-16, Matt. 9:36, Matt. 13:33, John 3:16, 2 Cor. 2:14, Gal. 5:6)

En-F-Ex | our process.

In life, everything we come across shapes who we become. It starts with an encounter of sorts, and from that, we form thoughts and beliefs that are eventually expressed in our words and actions. This is the process of Encounter -> Formation -> Expression, which is how we become who we are.

  • ENCOUNTER

    The collision of our PERSPECTIVE with REALITY.

    We need an encounter that will awaken our eyes to see God as God. Too often, our perspective is skewed. We have reduced God to something manageable and containable. So, we need a collision-an encounter- to see God for who He is and to be awakened to the life that we have been created to live.

    FORMATION

    The submission to the TRUTH that effects CHANGE.

    Formation is the process by which we become who we are made to be. We align our lives with truth and are formed by God’s Spirit. So, we must remain in a heart set that allows our faith to change us. Our faith shapes our views and our understanding of the world around us. 

    EXPRESSION

    What’s happening on the INSIDE is seen on the OUTSIDE.

    Expression is how we convey to others what is being formed in our minds and hearts. Who we are becoming in Christ flows from us naturally, our actions and behaviors reflecting Jesus to those around us. Our expression then is evidence of our encounters with Jesus and the unfolding formation of us into a people who bear His image. 

Gauges | our dashboard.

God’s will for us is our sanctification ⏤ our growth in Christlikeness. The things that are most essential should be measured and celebrated. Often, these most important things are the most difficult to measure. We use five gauges to help us self-assess.

  • HUMILITY

    God is great. God is good. And God is near.

    Everything starts with God and his self-revelation. Do we live humbly before him? Do we love him as he really is, in openness, surrender, and obedience?

    RESPONSIBILITY

    We are faithful stewards of the many forms of God's grace.

    God’s gifts to us, his graces, are innumerable. Do we handle his gifts responsibly for the sake of others, even as we appreciate them ourselves?

    ACCLIMATION

    People like us (new identity) do things like this (new culture). or As God's treasured possession (new identity), we live Jesus-like lives (new culture).

    The Father has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and has relocated us in Jesus’s kingdom. No two realms could be more different, and we need to adapt. How are we adjusting to the new identity God has given us? How well are we releasing the old culture and embracing the new?

    IMITATION

    We so love the world that we give our first and our best.

    Jesus showed us what God is like, and he showed us what a complete, sinless human is like. We aim to be more like him. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that he gave. He gave his first and his best: his Son. Can we see all the brokenness in the world and still love it as God has?

    MISSION

    Our everyday story is for God's glory.

    We finish where we started: everything begins with God. How well do we live our minutes and our years displaying God’s greatness, goodness, and nearness? How well do we nudge every sphere of society towards the beauty of God’s kingdom?

Definitions | our understanding.

  • A disciple is a friend and follower of Jesus, being trained and empowered by Him to love.

  • Discipleship is training myself and others to be trained by Christ.

  • The discipleship pathway is “deny yourself, take up your cross every day, and follow Jesus”. (Luke 9:23, Gal. 2:20)

  • Faith is trust that’s able to take a step. Faith Formation is perceptible growth in that trust.

  • Grace is the unmerited God-given desire, ability, and resources to participate in our Father's economy (purpose, plan, activity) as His beloved.

  • Sin is a rule and reign that is opposed to God, and ultimately a breach of trust. Sin separates us from a right relationship with God, resulting in bondage and death. But on the Cross, God-in-Jesus defeated sin, took our sin on Himself, set us free, and overcame death on our behalf.

  • Worship is an instinctive and necessary response to God’s glory in every area of our life.