Vision and values

The story of the Bible shows that humanity was created to image - to reflect, to represent - God throughout the world as they governed and developed creation. This was the glorious vocation they were given but failed to complete.

But Jesus - THE image - came and lived the perfect human life, died for the sins of the world and was raised as the firstfruits of the new creation to come.

And so the story of salvation that results is one of lost humans being rescued, redeemed, and increasingly formed into the image of Jesus as they follow him.

We believe this happens in the following ways.

The gospel is the good news about Jesus and the Kingdom of God - that God has acted in Christ to restore humanity and creation to himself!

It is the story of how Jesus the Messiah fulfills the promises of Israel’s scriptures and was crucified for our sins, buried, raised from the dead, and ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father.

We are formed by the gospel in that it confronts the false stories the world tells us and the false stories we tell ourselves - and it invites us into the True Story of life with the Triune God.

Humans were created to worship and so we cannot help but worship. Indeed, we all worship something: either the true God or an idol of our own making. And what we worship will either destroy us or restore us to life that is truly life.

We are formed through worship because we are shaped by what we focus on and we become what we do. So worship is the intentional and daily response we give with our bodies, minds, affections, and wills to the truth and demands of the gospel.

Humans were made to be in relationship, both with God and with others. And in fact, a key result of sin is the fracture of these relationships.

As followers of Jesus we are formed, built up, and edified by intentionally living in on-going community with other followers of Jesus - with all the joys and challenges this brings. We simply will not become who God intends us to be without community.

As we are formed by the gospel, formed through our daily response in worship, and formed in community, we are prepared for mission in our everyday contexts.

To be on mission is to join God in the work he is doing to restore all that he has created to himself. Just as God graciously came to us when we were strangers, so we reach out to the outsider through acts of service and love, and invite them to life with God through repentance and faith.

The formation of disciples into the image of Jesus has a goal: that every follower of Jesus might stand fully mature in Christ.

This is the kind of maturity and whole-hearted devotion that enables one to live wisely in this life - making the gospel look good - and to stand confidently before Jesus at the final judgment.