AS CHRIST-CENTERED PEOPLE, WE WILL LIVE BY FAITH IN PURSUIT OF DEEPLY TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH JESUS FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD.

AS CHRIST-CENTERED PEOPLE

2 Peter 1:3

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

• We live in active pursuit of a growing, personal, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
• The Truth, grace and love of Christ is the center of all we value in life.
• We live with one ultimate goal: that Jesus gets the glory. It’s not wrong to pursue personal goals, but the glory of Christ is the orienting compass that gives direction to all others. Because we want Christ to be known, loved, honored, worshiped, and obeyed, we submit every other attainable goal to Him.

WE WILL LIVE BY FAITH

Hebrews 11:1

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”

We believe:

• Faith is first belief and then action. Hebrews 11:1 (see above)
• Faith is available through life in Christ. “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:22
• Faith is a choice. “Lord, increase our faith.” Luke 17:5
• Faith pleases God. “And without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

IN PURSUIT OF DEEPLY TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH JESUS

Matthew 22:36-40

 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

1 John 4:15-21

All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

> We value deep, beneath the surface life transformation. We aren’t about doing the same old things with a religious veneer. We aim to grow deeply in love for God, others, and ourselves.

> We are all invited to look beneath the surface of our lives to experience the deep, transformational power of Jesus.

• We do this practically in a variety of ways including: pursuing maturity in our faith journey that involves our heart, soul and mind; going back to go forward, and learning how our families and past experiences have shaped us over time so that we can become more truly who God has made us to be, examining any spiritual walls that threaten to impede our faith journey, learning to grieve losses in light of Christ’s hope, taking time for slowed-down spirituality, developing spiritual rhythms and disciplines that sustain our faith practices. These principles are taught in our Emotionally Healthy Spirituality classes.

> We value a spirituality committed to loving well. At the core of the Christian faith is love. Jesus commands us to love God first and with our entire being. He also commands us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We learn to love God well when we slow down our lives to cultivate a deeply loving union with Jesus. Our pursuit of deep loving transformation involves learning skills that help us love others well, including ourselves, as we communicate honestly, authentically and with integrity. These skills are taught in our Emotionally Healthy Relationships classes.

> Our emotional health and spiritual life in Jesus are intricately connected. We have discovered it is impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.

Ephesians 4:15-16

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

2 Peter 3:18

Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

1 John 2:14

I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.

FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD

John 3:16-17

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 14:6

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” 

Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”

• We seek to offer ourselves as a gift to our families, neighborhood, community, and the world. We believe that every Christian is called to “full-time ministry” – serving Christ in every sphere of life.
• True transformation is dedicated to helping people find and follow Jesus and experience his boundless love and forgiveness.  It is our mission to create opportunities to encounter Jesus because he is the only way to salvation. He is the way, the truth and the life.
• We believe Jesus has command us to be His disciples who create disciples. We seek to follow the model Jesus gave us which is to make disciples who are maturing and equipped to go out and make disciples. This process is taught in our Real-Life Discipleship classes.