Personal
We envision a community where people can come to know an authentic and relevant relationship with Jesus, God’s promise of
restoration. A place where both new, young, and mature believers can live out their faith as they are powerfully transformed
by the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives; where all believers can truly experience the abundant life that Jesus promised to those
who would be His disciples; where believers no longer see the Great Commandment, which is to “love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-32),
as something that is idealistic and unattainable, but as a personal reality. We desire an atmosphere which urges believers to
respond to God’s mercy by offering themselves as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,” knowing that this is their “spiritual
act of worship” (Romans 12:1).
Discipleship (T-Groups)
We envision a biblical community in which every believer is personally
and passionately obedient to live out Jesus’ commission: “Go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” We want to see every believer
living as a true disciple of Christ, surrendered to the Holy Spirit working through them, and equipped to be comfortable and confident
in sharing the gospel and discipling others as an everyday part of life.
House Churches
We envision believers having an
understanding that the “church” is not a building or a system of programs, but that it is two or more believers gathered together
in His name, submitted to God and to one another to be a church. We envision these churches treating Scriptural teaching on
the “Body of Christ” as command, not suggestion; living out every “one another” statement in the New Testament; fostering healthy
relationships with God, fellow believers, and the world in order to accomplish the will of God; encouraging individuals and families
to grow, experiencing God’s victory over their struggles in every aspect of life—spiritual, emotional, physical and mental; and equipping
believers to understand and establish house churches in our community, in our region, in our country, and all over the world.
Intentional Ministry
We envision believers taking up their place in the work of the Kingdom. We desire to encourage
them to learn, to achieve personal growth, and ultimately to grow in their understanding of God, self, and others, “so that the body
of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining
to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).” We desire for every member of the biblical community to
be a minister, using the gifts that God has given them in the body of Christ, seeing themselves as missionaries (and perhaps church
planters), and knowing and living out their purpose in God’s Kingdom work. We envision the equipping ministry being brought
back into the local church, allowing those who desire to go into vocational ministry the ability to be equipped within the community
of faith, either instead of, or in connection with, formal training at a Bible college or seminary.
The g@thering
We envision
believers within our community of churches passionately offering themselves to the Lord, both personally and corporately, in response
to God. We desire for corporate worship to be an overflow of personal worship and to be focused on glorifying God. As
the Lord continues to multiply our house churches and as we gather together for worship, we desire to see these house churches intentionally
serving and leading each other, much as the Levites ministered in their appointed times before the Lord in the Old Testament.
Emerging
Generation
We envision a biblical community where the emerging generation (preschoolers, children, pre-adolescents, adolescents, and
young adults) is loved, trained, equipped, and empowered to: work out their own faith; truly experience fellowship; serve God, other
believers, and the world; and take leadership in the body of Christ. We desire to equip parents to be the primary spiritual
leaders and implementers of faith in the lives of their children.
Kingdom Work
We envision a biblical community that networks
with other churches to fulfill the Great Commission. We desire to be a biblical community that is committed to supporting others
on mission as well as personally being on mission, both in our community and around the world. We yearn to be believers who
truly are salt and light in a lost and dark world. We desire to equip believers to find creative ways to meet the needs of those
who do not have a personal relationship with God and to naturally share the hope that they have in a personal relationship with Jesus.
