What We Believe

THE GOSPEL: Trusting Jesus and his finished work with all our hearts

Our foundational core value is the gospel. The gospel is the good news of what God has done in the death and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit to redeem sinful humanity and restore the fallen creation. We want the gospel to be central to the unity, teaching, and spiritual growth of our church. And we’re committed to living out the implications of the gospel in our relationships with God (in worship), one another (in community), and the world (in mission).

• We are committed to building our unity around the essential truths of the gospel.

• We are committed to Christ-centered, expositional preaching.

• We are committed to gospel-driven spiritual transformation and discipleship.

• We are committed to living out the implications of the gospel in our relationships with God (in worship), one another (in community), and the world (in mission).

WORSHIP: Seeing and savoring Jesus every week in Scripture, song and prayer

The gospel, being the basis of a reconciled relationship with God, creates and sustains worship. Worship is the response of the entire human personality to God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ. True worship is characterized by both humility and confidence: humility, because the cross displays the depth of our sin, but confidence, because the cross and resurrection assure us of God’s love for us and his triumph over sin and death. The congregation in gathered worship is a witness of the power of the gospel to change and transform our lives. So, when we gather, we do so with an orientation towards (1) God (we’re worshiping him), and (2) one another (we gather for mutual edification) and (3) outsiders (because we want them to understand and embrace the gospel as well).

• We are committed to worship that is both rooted in Scripture and empowered by the Spirit.

• We are committed to worship that engages both the mind and the heart.

• We are committed to worship that is both deeply theological and broadly contextual.

• We are committed to worship that is both edifying to believers and intelligible to unbelievers.

MISSIONS: Following and sharing Jesus in partnership with others 

The gospel, with its power to humble human pride and break down the barriers that divide us, creates and sustains community. Our commitment to community is fleshed out in several contexts. (1) The gathered congregation is the primary context for worship, corporate edification, and rooting us as a church in the truth of the gospel. (2) Sunday school and other weekly gatherings to study and pray are the primary context for personal ministry to one another, pastoral care, and prayer.

• We are committed to relationships that are both loving and truth-telling.

• We are committed to both biblical instruction and earnest, kingdom-centered prayer.

• We are committed to reaching out in both word (evangelism) and deed (justice and mercy).