Church – We believe that a church is an identifiable, local group of people called out by God to live lives under his rule. We stand in the historical understanding of a church as being a group in which the word of God is rightly preached, the sacraments (baptism and Lord's Supper) rightly administered, and church discipline rightly practiced. God has a people, made up of individuals, called one b
ody (e.g. Rom 12:5, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4:1-6, 1 Pet. 2:9-10 ). We see ourselves as one local expression of God’s people. Therefore, we do not see our new life in Christ to be lived in the spirit of radical individualism ("just Jesus and I"), but rather in a spirit of togetherness. We are God’s people on God’s mission to tell the whole world about God’s glory. The community of the church is therefore our main context for discipleship, evangelism, counseling, loving our neighbors, etc. Hope – In 1 Cor. 15 Paul, meditating on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, writes “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Hope is a cherished commodity in our world and always has been. As people who have seen Jesus for who he is and have experienced the hope that is found only in him we live to see others see and experience the same hope.
