Love god. Love others. Make disciples.
YOU ARE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY...
because of Christ's sacrifice on your behalf.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE...
and need others to help you experience Christ's love.
YOU ARE IMPORTANT...
and have a place of service in God's family.
YOU CAN KNOW THE TRUTH...
by abiding in God's word.
Our Beliefs
Our Purpose: To become fully alive in God by experiencing and expressing His unconditional love.
Becoming fully alive in God is a life-long journey with many struggles but the struggle is worth it! To aid us on our journey, we have identified several core values we believe are non-negotiable:
#1) You are Loved, unconditionally. The good news of Jesus is that you are loved because of his performance, not yours. Our status with God is not based on our ability to please God by our good works either before or AFTER becoming a Christian. When Jesus willingly suffered and died in our place 2000 years ago, He did so because of love. Every theological term we might use to describe Christ’s substitutionary atonement for our sin is rooted and grounded in God’s unconditional love. John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 3:14-19; Exodus 34:5-7
Main Thought: There are two ways to live the Christian life- for the love, smile, and acceptance of God or from it. We believe the best way to live the Christian life is from the love of God and not for it. Living for the love of God creates exhausted, ineffective, and embittered Christians. Living from God’s love creates secure, rested, and hope-filled Christians. Becoming fully alive in God stems from an ever-deepening awareness that we are loved, regardless of our religious performance.
“If you are a Christian, God made you so that He could love you. His embrace of you is the point of your life.…..your growth in Christ will go no further than your settledness, way down deep in your heart, that God loves you.”
(D. Ortlund, Deeper, pp.70, 75.)
#2) You are Not Alone. The good news of Jesus is that the struggle to become fully alive in God is not something we have to (or should) endure alone. The moment we embrace Jesus as our Savior, we become a part of His forever family. In this new family of brothers and sisters, we find a place where we can practice transparency, experiencing our Father’s healing and strength. 1 Corinthians 12:13-14; Galatians 6:1-2; Col. 4:12-14; 1 John 1:7
Main Thought: Spiritual formation involves letting others into our lives (and hearts) where we are loved and exhorted. The invitation to follow Jesus is always an invitation into a community, into a family of brothers and sisters in Christ. The fact that Christians often “knead” one another does not negate the truth that we still “need” one another. :) Too often, the adversary of our souls has told us we can follow God w/o other believers by our side.
“A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, which hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died; the face of a forgiven sinner.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
#3) You are Important. The good news of Jesus is that the struggle to become fully alive in God produces a fruit-bearing life. Becoming fully alive in God is a process initiated and sustained through the indwelling power of God, the Holy Spirit. At conversion, God gives each of His children special abilities that make them indispensable to the advancement of his kingdom on earth. Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 1st Peter 4:10-11
Main Thought: Becoming fully alive in God involves acts of service that flow from God’s unmerited favor. We do not work to gain God’s approval but because we already have it. Every believer God gives to our church has both the responsibility and privilege of using their gifts for the glory of Jesus and the good of others. Grace is opposed to earning, not effort.
“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”
― Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship
#4) You can know the Truth. The good news that we are loved, not alone and important to God does not come naturally. Our intuitive, natural inclination is to believe God loves conditionally, that we can live without others and that we are not important in the big scheme of things. In short, we judge truth and the nature of God by our feelings, the culture around us and/or our life experiences. That is why we need a Bible. The Bible corrects our thinking and guides us into the felt love of Jesus. Ezra 8:1-4, 8; Psalm 119:103-105; Matt. 24:35; 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Main thought: In a world filled with competing religious (or spiritual) voices, we desire to place ultimate trust in the voice of God through the Bible. The writings of the Old and New Testaments are sacred, saving, and universally relevant for all believers in all generations concerning matters of faith and practice. Handled rightly, the Bible helps us understand, experience, and apply the satisfyingly rich love of God in Jesus Christ.
“If you are ignorant of God’s Word, you will always be ignorant of God’s will.” – Billy Graham
