Mission: Be, make and send disciples for the glory of Christ.
Disciples are called followers of Jesus who love God and obey His Word. Jesus desires followers, not fans. He calls apprentices and learners to himself, not folks who will admire from a distance. Knowing God through Christ is a lifelong, transforming relationship that begins now and lasts into eternity. Being a disciple assumes relationship with God through both Word and Spirit, combined with a relational component of giving and receiving from others in Christ’s body, the church.
Making a disciple involves intentionally investing our lives into others so that they too may follow Jesus as Lord and then, in turn, pour into others. This act flows out naturally from being a disciple and moves people into both community and mission.
As we make disciples, they will desire to see the Kingdom increase through the local church, both locally and globally. Making more disciples requires the sending out of some to other places and peoples with the good news. We believe the local church is God’s ordained plan to proclaim his Kingdom under the guidance of His Spirit and dependence on His grace. Though complex and counter-cultural from a human standpoint, the sending church achieves the purposes of God (Ephesians 1:22-23).
Vision: We are becoming a diverse family of communities
who thrive in the Holy Spirit and proclaim God’s Kingdom.
This phrase describes the willing cooperation between independent communities of faith who are still within the one body of Christ Community. Sending out these communities allows Christ Community greater missional flexibility, promotes continued intimate relationships, and develops more leaders and opportunity for the use of gifts in the body. Theologically, these various gatherings are churches – having their own leadership, membership, mission and worship around word and table. Structurally, they relate to one another as members of the same family, sharing the same constitution, points of mission alignment, and key administrative services.
The structure and purpose of these communities promotes their diversity. From their pursuit of the “all peoples” vision of heaven in Revelation 5:9-10, to their structural and strategic differences, becoming a family of communities helps us to display the variegated beauty of God and His Kingdom.
Thriving speaks to the church’s life, health, growth and vibrancy. Biblically the word is used in everything from abundance and increase to fruitful blossoming. We will thrive not simply in our own strength, but in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. To thrive in the Holy Spirit is to know the presence of God, be shepherded by the Lamb of God, and to be sanctified by His transforming work.
God’s Kingdom is the hope of the Old Covenant and the focal point of Jesus’ ministry as seen in the New Testament Gospels. Through Christ’s life, death and resurrection, men and women now have access to this kingdom which is defined concisely as the space where Jesus dwells and reigns. As those who continue this ministry by the Holy Spirit, we also are those who proclaim the fullness of God’s Shalom and redemption of all things in both word and deed.
