Practice: Pursuing His Word
We expect every person in our church to have a personal and regular time in God’s word and view that as their primary time to hear from God. We also gather throughout the week in small groups, doing life and mission together and sharing what He’s revealing to us in His word. These regular and intimate interactions change our expectations for when we come together corporately. Instead of coming empty and ready to consume, we can focus on sharing our gifts and the insights we have gained throughout the week. This reinforces a culture that values His word, sharing the Gospel and making disciples as a part of our daily life.
Practice: Pursuing Prayer
God desires to have personal and regular communication with us. He uses prayer to guide, unite, and transform us as well as others. We also prioritize praying as a body in our times together. Hearing from God leads us to lay our burdens down and ask God to align us with His people and plan. We live in a real spiritual battle. The battle for every step of personal or community transformation must first be won in the spiritual realm before we will see victory in the physical realm. Intercession for others in our community, state, nation and the world is therefore essential to seeing Christ centered change in any person or place.
Practice: Pursuing Gospel Sharing
Every believer is called to share their faith in Christ with others in word and deed. We actively seek to share the good news of Jesus with those who aren’t yet following Him and invite them to follow and obey Him. Gospel sharing mission will always flow out of Christ-centered prayer and transformation-focused relationships. Jesus the King will call us to informed action together through the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit.
Practice: Pursuing Making Disciples
Every believer is a minister fully empowered by God to hear from God, obey Him and make disciples. Disciple making isn’t just the responsibility of church leaders. His Spirit equips us all with gifts and surrounds us with opportunities in our daily lives. We want every believer to be an equipped disciple maker, using their gifts and influence to make disciples. We aim to model and provide mentorship in this. Our goal is that every believer contributes to the expansion of God’s kingdom and the growth of His people. Every activity of our body is connected to the idea of bringing others closer to Jesus.
Practice: Pursuing Small Groups
The Sunday gathering is not the primary expression of Church. Small groups are equally important. The earliest Christians met both as a large group and as small groups in homes. We encourage everyone to be a part of a small group where they can fully do church at the group size where everyone can easily participate. For us, these groups aren’t just places to discuss Sunday’s sermon in a more intimate setting. They are fully simple functioning churches where everything done on a Sunday can be done throughout the week. We also encourage each simple church to organize around and actively reach out to a neighborhood or other relational network they share in common. These simple church gatherings spend time reading the Bible, praying, worshiping, having fun, hearing from one another, and holding each other accountable to simple acts of obedience based on what they learn from the Lord in their simple church times together.