Core Beliefs
What We Believe
BIBLICAL & HISTORICAL ROOTEDNESS
We are rooted in the biblical and historical Christian faith. The faith has once and for all been delivered to the saints in the Scriptures, and it has been passed down to us from previous generations. The Bible is our source of truth and the only final standard for what we believe. As Christians in the twenty-first century, we are not the first readers of the Bible. For the last two thousand years, the Holy Spirit has been at work in his church to faithfully proclaim and preserve the message of the Scriptures through the writings, creeds, confessions, and traditions of the Christian faith. We want to humbly receive the biblical faith passed on to us. We also want to continue to proclaim the truth of the Christian faith in our generation and preserve it for the generations to come. Thus, we are biblically and historically rooted in the Christian faith.
GRACIOUS & ENCOURAGING RELATIONSHIPS
None of us are as mature and godly as we should be; None of us have it all together. But as Ray Ortlund Jr. has said, “The Gospel + Safety + Time = A church where anyone can grow.” We want to be that kind of church. We want to help one another along in growth in the Christian faith. But we want to do so with a posture of grace and patience, since growing up in maturity as God’s beloved children is a process—not an event. True growth happens in a community where people are loved and encouraged into growth. Growth doesn’t happen in communities that are exacting or legalistic; We cannot be shamed or shouted into growth. For that reason, the ministry of encouragement is a huge deal in the New Testament, as we are repeatedly commanded to encourage one another. A primary purpose for our speech and life together as a church is to build up and encourage one another. And since no one in our church or city is overly encouraged, we want to approach every meeting and interaction we have as a church with a posture of seeking to encourage and affirm one another, for the glory of God.
FERVENT & PATIENT MISSION
Jesus has given his church a mission and vocation to fulfill until he comes. We want to be about our Master’s business, zealously and passionately serving his gracious purposes in the world. However, we also want to be patient in our mission, knowing that the fruit we desire to see will take time. Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed that will eventually turn into a tree or a little bit of leaven that works it’s way through a lump of dough. So we desire to be fervent and patient in mission, not frantic or complacent in
mission.
SIMPLE & DEPENDENT MINISTRY
God has promised to bless his church and has ordained to do it through the ordinary means of grace. The means of grace include the Scriptures, the Sacraments, prayer, and the fellowship of the church. These are the gifts of God for the people of God. of 5 90Therefore, as a church, we are devoted to a ministry of simply availing ourselves of these simple practices and depending upon the Holy Spirit to accomplish what he wills.
CONSECRATED & WHOLE-HEARTED DISCIPLESHIP
We are loyal followers of Jesus Christ. That’s what is means to be a disciple. This discipleship is not a mere add on to our otherwise preoccupied lives. Instead, we desire to devote the entirety of our lives and our very selves to Christ and his purposes. This means
that we subject every other calling and vocation in life to our identity as disciples of Christ. It also means that we seek to not just outwardly conform to Christ’s will for our lives, but seek to give our very hearts to him. Biblical discipleship to Christ finds its source and summit in loving devotion and unrivaled affection to the Triune God.
PURPOSE: Why we exist
We believe that God has created us in the beginning and redeemed us in history so that we might eternally exalt, enjoy, and imitate him together as his beloved children through his beloved Son.
In the beginning, God created a beautiful world and flawless world (Genesis 1-2). He then created humanity in that world, as his sons and daughters, in order to image and represent him (Genesis 1:26-28), as well as to glorify him and enjoy him (1 Corinthians 10:31). Tragically, humanity rejected that purpose and rebelled against God’s designs (Genesis 3). This has led to the sin, fallenness, and injustice that characterizes our world and our lives (Romans 3; Ephesians 2:1-3). As a result, all of us live in the world as sinners and sufferers. But God, being rich in of mercy, did not leave us in our fallenness (Ephesians 1). He designed to rescue and redeem us for his good purposes. For all of eternity, God has loved and delighted in his Son. But, amazingly, he has now sent his beloved Son into the world and into human history so that, through him, we might become alive to him again and become his adopted children (Ephesians 2). The Son of God is none other than Jesus the Christ, the one who lived and died and rose for our salvation. Now, because of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done, God delights in us as his beloved children as he delights in Jesus as his beloved Son. Moreover, God the Father has called his sons and daughters to come together into families known as local churches (Ephesians 4). These local churches are households of God, meant to be made up of God’s beloved children who imitate God, delight in him, and worship him together. One day, Christ will return to make all things new and bring the fullness of his kingdom to the earth. When that day comes, we will perfectly image God, enjoy God, and exalt him forever as his beloved children. This is why we exist. This is why we have been created. This is why we have been redeemed. And this purpose will endure forever and ever. For now, we are not perfect. But we are seeking to grow and live into our identity and calling as God’s beloved children.
VISION: Where we desire to go
A people resting in God, representing him in the world, all for his renown.
There are three parts to our vision: rest, representation, and renown. To begin, we want to be a gospel preaching community that helps people come to find rest in the God of the gospel. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins and have now been brought into right relationship with God. In Christ, God is now our Friend and Father, who lovingly cares for and
shepherds us. Our new relationship with God and our freedom from guilt brings rest and satisfaction to our hearts. Therefore, we want others to increasingly experience this rest. As we grow in resting in God, we believe God’s people will grow in faithfully representing him in the world. We do not exist only for ourselves, but so that those outside of Christ—from our neighborhoods to the nations—might also experience the rest we have found. Therefore, we want to represent God as his children by conducting ourselves with love and good works, as well as proclaiming the message of God’s gospel to a world that needs it. This means that we seek to love one another as we have been loved, to love our neighbors outside the faith as ourselves, to evangelize the lost, to plant and strengthen other churches, and to engage the hurting and needy with compassion and care. Finally, in the end, we’re doing this all for the renown of God, existing to see him be glorified in the world through the knowledge of him and the spread of his fame. God deserves renown simply because of who he is, as well as because of what he’s done for us in the gospel. We long for him to be adored and known in our city and to the ends of the earth.
MISSION: How we will get there
Helping God’s beloved children grow through God’s bestowed gifts.
If our vision is to ‘help one another rest in God, represent him in the world, all for his renown…’ how do we plan to get there? With each other’s help. As Christians, we are not meant to go it alone. Rather, when God saves and adopts us, he saves and adopts us into a household with brothers and sisters through whom he helps and equips us. Therefore, as a church, we endeavor to grow God’s children, both through multiplication and through maturation. Growth by multiplication means that we desire to help outsiders become God’s beloved children in Christ. Humanity, apart from Christ, is fundamentally lost and orphaned. Without God, we do not have the guidance and assurance of the Father for whom we were made. Thus, we must propagate the gospel of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, so that outsiders can become God’s beloved children. Growth by maturation means that we want to help those who have already become God’s children grow in living as God’s beloved children. Imitating God as his beloved children does not happen by happy accident. We need one another’s presence and help to foster that kind of community. And we do that by applying the gifts and means God provides.
MEANS: The Gifts Christ Provides
God has given his people the ordinary means of grace. They are the instruments that God has promised to bless and use for the salvation and sanctification of his people. We call them “ordinary” because while God is free to work outside of them, we can also depend on him to use these particular means because he has promised to do so in his word. What are they? The Scriptures, the Sacraments, Prayer, and Community—all empowered and made effective by the Holy Spirit.
SCRIPTURE
We believe that the Scriptures are a precious gift since they are God’s very own words to us. As such, they come with his authority in all that they address and with his power to accomplish his will. Therefore, as a church, we continually give ourselves to the confession, preaching, teaching, study, meditation, and discussion of the Bible. The central message of the Bible—and thus the central message of our church—is the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Therefore, all of our engagement with the Bible is ultimately to point us to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SACRAMENTS
God has also given us two essential testimonies of his gospel. The Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are emblems of Christ’s gospel and salvation. Together, they are God’s ordained means of grace that offer us assurance and testify that we belong to him as his children. Baptism is the sign associated with entrance into the family of God and the Lord’s Supper is the repeated sign that testifies to our continued belonging. As such, we observe and celebrate the Sacraments with gravity and gladness. Furthermore, since the Sacraments testify to the reality that we belong to God and his people, we seek to observe the Sacraments in the context of close and accountable Christian community. The Sacraments call us to keep short accounts with God our Father and one another as siblings in Christ.
PRAYER
The prayers of God’s people are a vital means through which God accomplishes his will in the world. Thankfully, God is a Father who loves to hear and answer the prayers of his children. And as a church who desires to see God rested in, represented, and renowned in the world, we are committed to praying for one another, for the lost and hurting, and for God to be glorified in the world.
COMMUNITY
As Richard Lovelace once put it, “Among the most vital means of grace are other Christians.” The regular corporate gathering, the comforting presence, the listening ear, and the encouraging words of our brothers and sisters are precious gifts in the Christian life. We need one another if we are indeed going to grow in becoming and living as God’s beloved children.
THE SPIRIT
The third person of the Trinity—Holy Spirit—has been sent and given by God to empower and effectuate his work in the church and in the world. The Scriptures and Sacraments, community and prayer, are tools through which he works. But the Holy Spirit is the Master Craftsmen.
RHYTHMS: How we apply it
EXALTING IN WORSHIP
We have been made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This chief end is meant to be lived out in the ordinary rhythms of every day life. However, it also involves gathering weekly to exalt our Father in praise together, and engaging in practices of private worship and family worship. Through our worship of and communion with God, we adoringly glorify him and he lovingly shapes us to more faithfully bear his image.
Practices: Gatherings, Members’ Meetings, prayer meetings, Private and Family Worship
EQUIPPING IN LEARNING
Jesus commissioned his church with the task of helping people follow him and live as beloved children of God. This necessitates our equipping the church to follow Jesus by teaching the whole counsel of his word. Through the preaching and teaching of his word, we behold God and his saving work. Through our beholding him, he graciously transforms us from one degree of glory to the next, shaping and forming us to be more like his beloved Son.
Practices: Gatherings, Equip Classes, Sundays School, Men’s & Women’s Ministries, Cohorts
ENCOURAGING IN COMMUNITY
Life is hard. We all need others to strengthen us and help us take heart. God designed the church as a network of close relationships to be an instrument of his doing that very thing. By living together in this way, we have the privilege of living into God’s purpose for the church. We get to live out our identity as siblings who share God as our Father and help one another grow in maturity as God’s beloved children.
Practices: Gatherings, Community Groups, Members’ Meetings, Spiritual Friendship, Cohorts
ENGAGING THE HURTING
Everyone experiences wounding, pain, and need at some point in life. Our Savior is one who always moves toward those in pain and in need. As his people, we want to follow in his footsteps. There are two main ways in which we seek to engage with those who are hurting: One is through the mutual listening and care that takes place among our members, as well as pastoral care from competent leaders. The second is through serving to promote justice and mercy in our church and city. In this rhythm, by God’s grace, we have the privilege of representing him in the world and displaying for the world what kind of gracious God we serve.
Practices: Outreach Team & events, Mercy Team, pastoral care and mutual-member Care
EVANGELIZING THE LOST
Without Christ, we are all like sheep without a shepherd—lost. Without knowing God as Father, we are like orphans wandering through this world without loving guidance and care. Since our God the Son has looked upon such people with compassion and has come to be their shepherd, we joyfully take up the task of seeking to lead others to him. This includes evangelizing those in our daily lives who don’t know Jesus, taking the gospel to peoples yet to be reached by the gospel, and planting and strengthening other churches.
Practices: Outreach Team & events, Missions Team (sending, supporting, and educating about missions)
BIBLICAL & HISTORICAL ROOTEDNESS
We are rooted in the biblical and historical Christian faith. The faith has once and for all been delivered to the saints in the Scriptures, and it has been passed down to us from previous generations. The Bible is our source of truth and the only final standard for what we believe. As Christians in the twenty-first century, we are not the first readers of the Bible. For the last two thousand years, the Holy Spirit has been at work in his church to faithfully proclaim and preserve the message of the Scriptures through the writings, creeds, confessions, and traditions of the Christian faith. We want to humbly receive the biblical faith passed on to us. We also want to continue to proclaim the truth of the Christian faith in our generation and preserve it for the generations to come. Thus, we are biblically and historically rooted in the Christian faith.
GRACIOUS & ENCOURAGING RELATIONSHIPS
None of us are as mature and godly as we should be; None of us have it all together. But as Ray Ortlund Jr. has said, “The Gospel + Safety + Time = A church where anyone can grow.” We want to be that kind of church. We want to help one another along in growth in the Christian faith. But we want to do so with a posture of grace and patience, since growing up in maturity as God’s beloved children is a process—not an event. True growth happens in a community where people are loved and encouraged into growth. Growth doesn’t happen in communities that are exacting or legalistic; We cannot be shamed or shouted into growth. For that reason, the ministry of encouragement is a huge deal in the New Testament, as we are repeatedly commanded to encourage one another. A primary purpose for our speech and life together as a church is to build up and encourage one another. And since no one in our church or city is overly encouraged, we want to approach every meeting and interaction we have as a church with a posture of seeking to encourage and affirm one another, for the glory of God.
FERVENT & PATIENT MISSION
Jesus has given his church a mission and vocation to fulfill until he comes. We want to be about our Master’s business, zealously and passionately serving his gracious purposes in the world. However, we also want to be patient in our mission, knowing that the fruit we desire to see will take time. Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed that will eventually turn into a tree or a little bit of leaven that works it’s way through a lump of dough. So we desire to be fervent and patient in mission, not frantic or complacent in
mission.
SIMPLE & DEPENDENT MINISTRY
God has promised to bless his church and has ordained to do it through the ordinary means of grace. The means of grace include the Scriptures, the Sacraments, prayer, and the fellowship of the church. These are the gifts of God for the people of God. of 5 90Therefore, as a church, we are devoted to a ministry of simply availing ourselves of these simple practices and depending upon the Holy Spirit to accomplish what he wills.
CONSECRATED & WHOLE-HEARTED DISCIPLESHIP
We are loyal followers of Jesus Christ. That’s what is means to be a disciple. This discipleship is not a mere add on to our otherwise preoccupied lives. Instead, we desire to devote the entirety of our lives and our very selves to Christ and his purposes. This means
that we subject every other calling and vocation in life to our identity as disciples of Christ. It also means that we seek to not just outwardly conform to Christ’s will for our lives, but seek to give our very hearts to him. Biblical discipleship to Christ finds its source and summit in loving devotion and unrivaled affection to the Triune God.
PURPOSE: Why we exist
We believe that God has created us in the beginning and redeemed us in history so that we might eternally exalt, enjoy, and imitate him together as his beloved children through his beloved Son.
In the beginning, God created a beautiful world and flawless world (Genesis 1-2). He then created humanity in that world, as his sons and daughters, in order to image and represent him (Genesis 1:26-28), as well as to glorify him and enjoy him (1 Corinthians 10:31). Tragically, humanity rejected that purpose and rebelled against God’s designs (Genesis 3). This has led to the sin, fallenness, and injustice that characterizes our world and our lives (Romans 3; Ephesians 2:1-3). As a result, all of us live in the world as sinners and sufferers. But God, being rich in of mercy, did not leave us in our fallenness (Ephesians 1). He designed to rescue and redeem us for his good purposes. For all of eternity, God has loved and delighted in his Son. But, amazingly, he has now sent his beloved Son into the world and into human history so that, through him, we might become alive to him again and become his adopted children (Ephesians 2). The Son of God is none other than Jesus the Christ, the one who lived and died and rose for our salvation. Now, because of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done, God delights in us as his beloved children as he delights in Jesus as his beloved Son. Moreover, God the Father has called his sons and daughters to come together into families known as local churches (Ephesians 4). These local churches are households of God, meant to be made up of God’s beloved children who imitate God, delight in him, and worship him together. One day, Christ will return to make all things new and bring the fullness of his kingdom to the earth. When that day comes, we will perfectly image God, enjoy God, and exalt him forever as his beloved children. This is why we exist. This is why we have been created. This is why we have been redeemed. And this purpose will endure forever and ever. For now, we are not perfect. But we are seeking to grow and live into our identity and calling as God’s beloved children.
VISION: Where we desire to go
A people resting in God, representing him in the world, all for his renown.
There are three parts to our vision: rest, representation, and renown. To begin, we want to be a gospel preaching community that helps people come to find rest in the God of the gospel. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins and have now been brought into right relationship with God. In Christ, God is now our Friend and Father, who lovingly cares for and
shepherds us. Our new relationship with God and our freedom from guilt brings rest and satisfaction to our hearts. Therefore, we want others to increasingly experience this rest. As we grow in resting in God, we believe God’s people will grow in faithfully representing him in the world. We do not exist only for ourselves, but so that those outside of Christ—from our neighborhoods to the nations—might also experience the rest we have found. Therefore, we want to represent God as his children by conducting ourselves with love and good works, as well as proclaiming the message of God’s gospel to a world that needs it. This means that we seek to love one another as we have been loved, to love our neighbors outside the faith as ourselves, to evangelize the lost, to plant and strengthen other churches, and to engage the hurting and needy with compassion and care. Finally, in the end, we’re doing this all for the renown of God, existing to see him be glorified in the world through the knowledge of him and the spread of his fame. God deserves renown simply because of who he is, as well as because of what he’s done for us in the gospel. We long for him to be adored and known in our city and to the ends of the earth.
MISSION: How we will get there
Helping God’s beloved children grow through God’s bestowed gifts.
If our vision is to ‘help one another rest in God, represent him in the world, all for his renown…’ how do we plan to get there? With each other’s help. As Christians, we are not meant to go it alone. Rather, when God saves and adopts us, he saves and adopts us into a household with brothers and sisters through whom he helps and equips us. Therefore, as a church, we endeavor to grow God’s children, both through multiplication and through maturation. Growth by multiplication means that we desire to help outsiders become God’s beloved children in Christ. Humanity, apart from Christ, is fundamentally lost and orphaned. Without God, we do not have the guidance and assurance of the Father for whom we were made. Thus, we must propagate the gospel of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, so that outsiders can become God’s beloved children. Growth by maturation means that we want to help those who have already become God’s children grow in living as God’s beloved children. Imitating God as his beloved children does not happen by happy accident. We need one another’s presence and help to foster that kind of community. And we do that by applying the gifts and means God provides.
MEANS: The Gifts Christ Provides
God has given his people the ordinary means of grace. They are the instruments that God has promised to bless and use for the salvation and sanctification of his people. We call them “ordinary” because while God is free to work outside of them, we can also depend on him to use these particular means because he has promised to do so in his word. What are they? The Scriptures, the Sacraments, Prayer, and Community—all empowered and made effective by the Holy Spirit.
SCRIPTURE
We believe that the Scriptures are a precious gift since they are God’s very own words to us. As such, they come with his authority in all that they address and with his power to accomplish his will. Therefore, as a church, we continually give ourselves to the confession, preaching, teaching, study, meditation, and discussion of the Bible. The central message of the Bible—and thus the central message of our church—is the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Therefore, all of our engagement with the Bible is ultimately to point us to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SACRAMENTS
God has also given us two essential testimonies of his gospel. The Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are emblems of Christ’s gospel and salvation. Together, they are God’s ordained means of grace that offer us assurance and testify that we belong to him as his children. Baptism is the sign associated with entrance into the family of God and the Lord’s Supper is the repeated sign that testifies to our continued belonging. As such, we observe and celebrate the Sacraments with gravity and gladness. Furthermore, since the Sacraments testify to the reality that we belong to God and his people, we seek to observe the Sacraments in the context of close and accountable Christian community. The Sacraments call us to keep short accounts with God our Father and one another as siblings in Christ.
PRAYER
The prayers of God’s people are a vital means through which God accomplishes his will in the world. Thankfully, God is a Father who loves to hear and answer the prayers of his children. And as a church who desires to see God rested in, represented, and renowned in the world, we are committed to praying for one another, for the lost and hurting, and for God to be glorified in the world.
COMMUNITY
As Richard Lovelace once put it, “Among the most vital means of grace are other Christians.” The regular corporate gathering, the comforting presence, the listening ear, and the encouraging words of our brothers and sisters are precious gifts in the Christian life. We need one another if we are indeed going to grow in becoming and living as God’s beloved children.
THE SPIRIT
The third person of the Trinity—Holy Spirit—has been sent and given by God to empower and effectuate his work in the church and in the world. The Scriptures and Sacraments, community and prayer, are tools through which he works. But the Holy Spirit is the Master Craftsmen.
RHYTHMS: How we apply it
EXALTING IN WORSHIP
We have been made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This chief end is meant to be lived out in the ordinary rhythms of every day life. However, it also involves gathering weekly to exalt our Father in praise together, and engaging in practices of private worship and family worship. Through our worship of and communion with God, we adoringly glorify him and he lovingly shapes us to more faithfully bear his image.
Practices: Gatherings, Members’ Meetings, prayer meetings, Private and Family Worship
EQUIPPING IN LEARNING
Jesus commissioned his church with the task of helping people follow him and live as beloved children of God. This necessitates our equipping the church to follow Jesus by teaching the whole counsel of his word. Through the preaching and teaching of his word, we behold God and his saving work. Through our beholding him, he graciously transforms us from one degree of glory to the next, shaping and forming us to be more like his beloved Son.
Practices: Gatherings, Equip Classes, Sundays School, Men’s & Women’s Ministries, Cohorts
ENCOURAGING IN COMMUNITY
Life is hard. We all need others to strengthen us and help us take heart. God designed the church as a network of close relationships to be an instrument of his doing that very thing. By living together in this way, we have the privilege of living into God’s purpose for the church. We get to live out our identity as siblings who share God as our Father and help one another grow in maturity as God’s beloved children.
Practices: Gatherings, Community Groups, Members’ Meetings, Spiritual Friendship, Cohorts
ENGAGING THE HURTING
Everyone experiences wounding, pain, and need at some point in life. Our Savior is one who always moves toward those in pain and in need. As his people, we want to follow in his footsteps. There are two main ways in which we seek to engage with those who are hurting: One is through the mutual listening and care that takes place among our members, as well as pastoral care from competent leaders. The second is through serving to promote justice and mercy in our church and city. In this rhythm, by God’s grace, we have the privilege of representing him in the world and displaying for the world what kind of gracious God we serve.
Practices: Outreach Team & events, Mercy Team, pastoral care and mutual-member Care
EVANGELIZING THE LOST
Without Christ, we are all like sheep without a shepherd—lost. Without knowing God as Father, we are like orphans wandering through this world without loving guidance and care. Since our God the Son has looked upon such people with compassion and has come to be their shepherd, we joyfully take up the task of seeking to lead others to him. This includes evangelizing those in our daily lives who don’t know Jesus, taking the gospel to peoples yet to be reached by the gospel, and planting and strengthening other churches.
Practices: Outreach Team & events, Missions Team (sending, supporting, and educating about missions)