What We Believe

Whether we realize it or not, every single one of us wakes up, each and every single morning, and steps into a particular story. That story includes your own assumptions about who you are, what your purpose is, what the world is like, and where everything is headed. 

Christians believe that the gospel is not simply one story among others that people can choose to live within if it happens to work for them. We believe the gospel is the one true story that answers the most fundamental questions we face each day. 

And what kind of story is it? It is a story at the center of which is a God who is good beyond our imagination, a God who pursues people who are far away from him. This God has sought us out, though we've run far from him, and he has done this through the person and work of Jesus. This is the gospel: that Jesus lived a perfect life, that he died to bring us back to his Father, and that he rose again from the dead so that the end of our story is hope. And by placing our trust in Jesus, we begin to live in the one true story and come alive through the power and kindness of its Author. 

God's mercy is his not giving us what we deserve. Because our hearts turn away from him, we deserve the natural and just result: permanent alienation and separation from him. But God has not left us to the end we deserve. He has pursued us with undeserved kindness and compassion. And the end we deserve, he took upon himself through Jesus' death on the Cross. Looking at our distress, brought on by our own rebellion, God did the opposite of what the world does and what we so often do. He did not hold our sins against us. He showed us mercy. 

And that means our life as Jesus' people should be characterized by the same kind of mercy. Because he has shown us mercy, we must show mercy to one another. As Jesus perfectly proclaimed and embodied God's mercy to the world, so we are to proclaim and embody his mercy to the world. 

Vocation joins together identity and purpose. As God’s people, we are called to be the people he made us to be. And we are called to fulfill the purpose or mission he has given us. Our vocation as the church is not something that we invent. It is given to us by God, and it’s a good vocation.

Describing "who we are" and “what our purpose is” always begins with who God is, what he has done, and what he is doing now.

Who are we? We are a witness to a reality that exists apart from anything we do. God is king, and his kingdom has come through the person and work of Jesus.

And what is our purpose? As God’s people, his church, we are simply called to point to that kingdom reality. We are a community of people who are learning to receive his merciful rule over us and over everything. And we are people who are learning to point back to his kingdom through our words, our work, our lives, and our love.

To fulfill our vocation as a church, we are called toward two primary actions:

PROCLAIM God’s mercy

We live out our vocation as the church by proclaiming what God has accomplished through Jesus, the victory of his mercy. We proclaim the gospel as news, an event that has changed the world and continues to transform lives. We proclaim it to ourselves, to one another, and to our neighbors. We proclaim it in our worship, in our prayers, and in our daily conversations.

EMBODY God’s mercy

God’s mercy in Jesus is not merely a message that we proclaim. As we believe, enjoy, and proclaim God’s mercy in Jesus, we begin to embody God’s mercy. Through our union with Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we become people who live within the gospel story of the world. We become people who delight in God’s mercy that we have received, and who delight to display God’s mercy to one another and to our neighbors. We embody God’s mercy as we extend forgiveness, as we show compassion to those in pain and in need, and as we bear each other’s burdens in love.

Through our PROCLAIMING and EMBODYING of God’s mercy, we act as witnesses to his kingdom.