Belong, Believe, Become

We endeavor to create a community for belonging, believing, and becoming.

First, we desire to be a community where all are welcomed by Jesus and find true belonging, regardless of what you believe or where you are in your spiritual journey. Second, in that open welcome and broad invitation to relationship, we also desire to see everyone come to true faith and deep trust in Jesus, marked by repentance in mind, heart, and lifestyle, overflowing from the great joy of knowing Jesus. And third, the biblical record is clear that true belonging and true belief lead into growth and change, becoming like Jesus and following his way. Therefore, we are all invited to belong, believe, and become — to come to Jesus, find rest for our souls, and live increasingly under his empowering lordship as his disciples.

Theological Distinctives

Gospel-Centered:

We are passionately committed to the centrality of the gospel in all of life.

The gospel is the good news of what God has graciously accomplished for sinners through the sinless life, sacrificial death, bodily resurrection and promised return of his Son, Jesus Christ — namely, our forgiveness from sin and complete justification before God resulting in our adoption as his sons and daughters, and the inauguration of his Kingdom rule in the world. This gospel is also the foundation for our confidence in the ultimate triumph of God’s kingdom, and the consummation of his purpose for all creation in the new heavens and new earth. This gospel is centered in Jesus Christ, is the foundation for the life and mission of the church, and is our only hope for eternal life. This gospel is not proclaimed if Christ’s penal substitutionary death and bodily resurrection are not central to our message. This gospel is not only the means by which people are saved but also the truth and power by which people are sanctified, enabling us to genuinely and joyfully do what is pleasing to God and to grow in progressive conformity to the image of Christ. In Jesus, we find rest from the self-justifying demands of both religion and the world as we come under His empowering lordship.

(Mark 1:1; Luke 24:46-47; John 3:16-18; Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-26, 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, 2:2, 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, 9:13; Galatians 1:6-9;1:6-9; Ephesians 1:7-10; Colossians 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:8-14; 2 Peter 3:11-13; Jude 3-4; Revelation 21:1-22:21)

Missional:

We embrace a missionary understanding of the local church and its role as the primary means by which God establishes his kingdom.

The Scriptures reveal a God on mission, sending his Son to seek and save what has been lost, and then sending his Spirit to empower his people to carry on his mission. The church is the community of blood-bought and Spirit-empowered people who are the hands, feet, and mouthpiece of Jesus, going about his disciple-making mission in the everyday stuff of life. Mission is not an optional program in the church but an essential element in the very identity of the church: We are the church, and we are called to form disciples in our homes, our neighborhoods, and our relational networks. As a church of missional communities, we fulfill this mission through making disciples, training leaders, forming new missional communities, and planting churches that plant churches. Our aim is that Jesus Christ would be more fully formed in each person through the ministry of those churches God enables us to plant around the world. We also believe we are responsible neither to retreat from our culture nor to conform to it, but with humility, through the Spirit and the truth of the gospel, to engage it courageously and serve it sacrificially, especially in remembrance of the poor.

(Genesis 3.8-24, 121-3; Isaiah 52:7; Matthew 10:5-25; 28:18-20; Luke 4:18-19; 24:46-47; Acts 1.8, 28:31; Romans 10:14-15; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5; Galatians 2:10; Ephesians 3:10, 4:11-16; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10)

Reformed:

We celebrate the sovereignty of God and his grace in saving sinners, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

We affirm that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, unconditionally, according to his sovereign good pleasure and will, which humbles us. We believe that through the work of the Holy Spirit, God will draw his children to faith in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, graciously overcoming their stubborn resistance to the gospel so that they will most assuredly and willingly believe, which empowers us. We also believe that those he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son will persevere in belief and godly behavior and be kept secure in their salvation by grace through faith, which emboldens us. And we believe that God’s sovereignty in this salvation — from start to finish — neither diminishes the responsibility of people to believe in Christ nor marginalizes the necessity and power of prayer and evangelism, but rather reinforces and establishes them as the ordained means by which God accomplishes his ordained ends, which compels us.

(John 1:12-13, 6:37-44, 10:25-30; Acts 13:48, 16:30-31; Romans 3:1-4:25, 8:1-17, 8:31-39, 9:1-23, 10:8-10; Ephesians 1:4-5, 2:1-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Titus 3:3-7; 1 John 1:7-9)

Spirit-Led:

We recognize and rest upon the necessity of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit for all of life and ministry.

The Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son, whose primary ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He also convicts unbelievers of their need for Christ and imparts spiritual life through regeneration (the new birth). The Spirit permanently indwells, graciously sanctifies, lovingly leads, and fruitfully empowers all who are brought to faith in Christ so that they might live in obedience to the Scriptures. The model for our reliance upon the Spirit and our experience of his indwelling and empowering presence is the Lord Jesus Christ who, though himself fully God, was filled with the Spirit and entirely dependent upon His power and presence for the performance of miracles, the preaching of the kingdom of God, and all other dimensions of his earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit who indwelt and empowered Christ in like manner indwells and empowers us through spiritual gifts he has bestowed for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ. We recognize the gifts of the Spirit as divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry, and affirm the full range of spiritual gifts to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.

(Matthew 3:11, 12:28; Luke 4:1, 4.14, 5:17, 10:21; John 1:12-13, 3:1-34, 14:12, 15:26-27, 16:7-15; Acts 2:14-21, 4:29-30, 10:38; Romans 8:9, 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-13, 12:28-31, 14:1-33; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Galatians 3:1-5; Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:18)

Complementarian:

We are deeply committed to the equality of men and women, to our shared identity as brothers and sisters in Christ, and to our distinct but complementary roles in marriage and the church.

Both men and women are created in the image of God and are therefore equal before God as persons, possessing the same moral dignity and value, and have equal access to God through faith in Christ. In the church, men and women relate to one another primarily as brothers and sisters in relationships marked by honor, care, and sacrifice for one another. Men and women are together charged with the Great Commission, and are recipients of spiritual gifts designed to empower them for ministry in the church and world. Therefore, men and women are to be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to utilize their gifting in ministry, in service to the body of Christ and in mission to the world. Together, men and women are called to mutual submission out of reverence for Christ. Additionally, while both husbands and wives are responsible to God for spiritual nurture and vitality in the home, God has given to the husband primary responsibility for his wife and family and given to the wife a unique and essential counterpart role. For the husband, this principle of benevolent responsibility should not be confused with, nor give any hint of, lazy abdication or domineering control, but is to be the self-sacrificial, tender, and nurturing care of a godly man who is himself under the strong and tender authority of Jesus Christ. For the wife, this principle of helpful deference should not be confused with, nor give any hint of, passive acquiescence or self-protective control, but is to be the self-sacrificial, respectful, and indispensable strength of a godly woman who is herself under the strong and tender authority of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, men of qualified character in the home may serve as elders of the local church, overseeing, shepherding, and protecting the church family under the headship of Jesus Christ. Both qualified men and qualified women may serve as deacons, leading ministry teams according to role and gifting.

(Genesis 1:26-27; 2:18; Acts 14:23, 18:24-26, 20:17-36; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; Romans 12.3-8, 16.1-16; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:1-2, 15-33; Colossians 3:12-19; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-13, 4:11-16, 5:17-25; Titus 1:5-9, 2:1-6; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 Peter 5:1-5)

Cultural Concerns

On Sexuality and Gender:

We affirm an historic Christian view of the goodness of the human body, the biological significance of human sexuality as either male or female, and the sacredness of the marriage covenant between a man and a woman.

Sexual intimacy is intended by God to be enjoyed within a marriage covenant between 2 differently sexed people (male and female), and is designed by God to signify the relationship between Christ and his Church. We believe sin has impacted every aspect of creation, including human sexuality, resulting in myriad deviations from God’s good design. Through Christ, God is redeeming his people, and empowers us by His Spirit to a life of increasing holiness, conforming to the image of Christ, including the redemption of our body, sexuality, and sexual desires. Because we belong to Jesus, we are called to turn away from thoughts, actions, desires, or behaviors that do not align with God’s intentions for human sexuality, and we steward our sexuality in service of God’s design, either in celibacy (life-long or for a season) or in the covenant of marriage. In the church — which is the Family of God — relationships of mutual interdependence and non-sexual intimacy ought to abound, so that all people experience the reality of our shared identity as brothers and sisters as we yearn toward holiness together. (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:18-25, 3:1-7; Matthew 5:27-30, 19:1-12; Romans 1:18-32, 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 7:1-40; Ephesians 5:1-16; Colossians 3:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Revelation 21:8)

On Politics and Power:

We affirm that we are first of all disciples of Jesus who give our primary allegiance to King Jesus and his Kingdom, living as ambassadors of his Kingdom and exiles among the nations.

Christian civic and political involvement must be marked by a thoughtful, intentional, and theologically-informed cultivation of good citizenship, recognizing the freedom of Christians to engage politically according to their conscience. We believe we are called to honor our political leaders as servants of God even as we reject both conservative and progressive partisanship. We are to be marked by reasonableness, gentleness, and common courtesy, resisting the temptation to speak evil of anyone or to misrepresent the perspectives of those with whom we disagree. We are called to be salt and light in the world, people of deep virtue and abundant good works, making disciples in word and deed. Like our King, we are to use whatever power or privilege we’ve been graciously given to serve all people, remembering God’s heart for the poor, particularly the orphan, widow, and refugee. As we root our identity, security, and hope in the good news of the gospel and the Kingdom of God, we are increasingly freed to devote ourselves to good works, seeking the shalom of nation to which we’re sent. (Matt 22:15-22; Acts 4:13-22, 5:27-32; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Titus 3:1-15; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 1:17, 2:11-17)

On Justice and Mercy:

We affirm the God-ordained necessity of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God, as an inevitable evidence of genuine faith in the gospel.

In the beginning, God created a world of shalom: He wove the fabric of creation in righteousness and wisdom, a world of interdependence and holistic flourishing, making all things good. Human rebellion brought alienation from God, resulting in relational breakdown in the human community and across all of creation, unravelling the beauty and goodness God intended the world to have. Biblical justice is ultimately about restoration — reweaving God’s shalom — and bringing all things back into line with God’s original Genesis intent. The mission of Jesus moved toward the poor, offering compassion, inclusion, and provision for those who were marginalized and oppressed. God’s people are called to join Him in the work of justice in their everyday lives, using the resources he’s given us to reweave shalom, and loving our neighbors in both word (gospel proclamation) and deed (acts of justice and mercy). Ultimately, God will unite all things in Jesus Christ, restoring shalom and making all things new. (Jeremiah 22:3; Micah 6:8; Isaiah 1:15-17, 11:3-4, 58:6-10; Luke 4:18-19, 10:25-37; Acts 4:32-37, 6:1-7; Romans 15:1-7; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9; Galatians 2:10; Ephesians 1:9-10; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; Titus 3:14; James 2:1-13)