What is a Church?
“If I were on an island, and I only had the Bible – no one preaching to me, no theology books – what would I believe? Would I come up with church the way we do it in America?” – Pastor Francis Chan
A Church is…
…an immersive discipleship experience. It’s where we learn to follow Jesus, loving God with all of our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). It is not an hour of songs and a sermon.
…a hospital for broken people (Mark 2:15-17). It’s a place to gather without judgment and grow into the people God means for us to be. It is not a gathering of the socially well-adapted maintaining appearances.
…a mission. The purpose is to reach a lost world for Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 15:1-7). It creates disciples, not customers.
…a home (Luke 15:11-32). Church is a place where we do life together as family. It is not an event. What We Believe
God is Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Humanity is created in the image of God. We are loved by God. God created the world with purpose, intention, meaning, and love. Sin has broken the world. Sin is not a list of violations of the law – it is the experience of brokenness that we are born into. We cannot repair it by our own efforts. Jesus was God incarnate. He lived a sinless life, teaching us to love God and love others. He died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. The cross was where Jesus received the punishment for our sins onto himself. When we believe in Jesus, our sins are transferred onto Jesus’ cross, and we are forgiven. The resurrection began on the morning that we now call Easter, the day that Jesus rose. We know that we who believe in him are saved from death and will rise to eternal life with him. The Holy Spirit empowers the church. It bestows gifts of the Spirit on believers to enable them to supernaturally demonstrate God’s kingdom in the world. The Church is the gathering of followers of Jesus. We do life and faith together in pursuit of him.
