- | Our Vision
- | Our Mission
- | Core Values
| Our Vision
As believers in Jesus Christ, we are a new family, a visible body, and an active network nourished by God’s river of life
At Life Church you’ll find purposeful lives making a powerful difference, and we want you to have a stake in what God’s is doing through us. Ask yourself the following questions:
Where does God want you to make a difference?
Whose lives does God want to change through you?
When we talk about God’s river of life nourishing us we’re referring to the “river of the water of life” referred to in the first two verses of chapter 22 of Revelation — the last book of the Bible
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
As we drink from the river of life our goal is to cooperate with God’s goal of putting Jesus in charge of everything
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
God is eager to equip you to have a greater impact on your world than you can possibly imagine
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
| Core Values
Doing The Bible
At Life Church we are committed to Doing the Bible!
We are intentional about:
At Life Church we take seriously Jesus’ teaching about the importance of putting his words into practice (Matthew 7:21-27). God’s Word gives us life, is reliable, instructs, and is to be obeyed.
This also has an impact on our Sunday meetings. The seats in Sunday church meetings have largely become “viewing stands” or ‘bleachers” where people come to watch someone else do ministry. At Life Church we are dismantling the “viewing stands” in order to create an environment in which people do the Bible rather than just listen to the Bible.
Listening and Talking To God
We make a habit of listening to God and talking to him; this practice, also known as prayer, is a regular part of our day.
Celebrating God
Celebrating God is the essence of worship; it’s something we do because he deserves it – both for who he is and for what he’s done.
The Bible teaches us to worship him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). This means that our celebration of God is not tied to any particular place or tradition and that we celebrate him in accordance with what he has revealed in his Word.
We celebrate God with:
Devoting Ourselves to Other Believers
50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, on the Day of Pentecost, over 3,000 people responded to Peter’s impromptu sermon. After they were baptized they devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer
This means we devote ourselves to other believers and to spending time together with Jesus as our focus. In this way we encourage one another, share our lives with each other, and meet one another’s needs. We are willing to risk taking the first step in reaching out in order to promote fellowship and to make our gifts available to our brothers and sisters
We meet together in two ways:
Developing Friendships With the Unchurched
We make a habit of listening to God and talking to him; this practice, We develop friendships with people outside of the church – loving them like Jesus does (Luke 15; Luke 19:1-10; John 4), with a goal of seeing them eventually enter God’s Kingdom.also known as prayer, is a regular part of our day.
Becoming More Like Jesus
We want to be more like Jesus – this is the essence of holiness or being set apart for God’s use; it is the logical goal of following him. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:13-20) exact representation of God’s being (Hebrews 1:1-3). For this reason holiness is really the process of becoming more like Jesus.
God’s presence is what actually transforms people (2 Corinthians 3:7-18); trying to be transformed by following rules doesn’t work (Romans 7). For this reason we pursue holiness by seeking God’s presence – especially when we experience failure or sin.
We Walk in the Light
We strive to make our lives increasingly open to others rather than hiding who we really are (1 John 1:5-10).
We are Accountable
We are honest with God and with one another about the things that we do.
We Lead Integrated Lives
We don’t compartmentalize our lives – we allow Jesus to transform every part of us.
We train people to follow Jesus
We train people to follow Jesus because Jesus himself commanded his followers to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:18-20)! We don’t force Jesus on others, but when people respond to the message of his life we embrace them and mentor them in this new way of life. We pass along the “whole will of God” (Acts 20:25-27) to new believers — teaching them to teach others to teach (2 Timothy 2:2) in order to reach an ever-expanding audience.
Communication
We make a habit of listening to God and talking to him; God has revealed himself to us and he calls us to be open and transparent with our brothers and sisters. This openness and transparency are not just personal – they are also corporate. We want to be open and transparent as a congregation so that the information that people need to participate is readily available. this practice, also known as prayer, is a regular part of our day.
We want to communicate about:
Your Attractive We want to communicate the right information:Heading
We want to communicate in predictable ways
Helping People Ask Questions, Get Answers, and Find Solutions
We help people to ask questions, get answers, and find solutions because this is an important part of learning how to follow Jesus (Luke 2:41-47). At Life Church we want everyone to learn. We don’t want anyone to feel embarrassed about asking questions (2 Timothy 2:24-26; 1 Peter 3:15-16).
Working With Others
We serve God, one another, those outside of church, and our communities. We carry out the Father’s will by collaborating with our brothers and sisters
Personal Mastery
As we collaborate, we embrace the following disciplines of a learning organization
Personal Mastery is a discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.
Our “personal mastery” should be an outcome of becoming more like Jesus.
Exposing Our Mental Models
Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action
Our “exposing our mental models” should be an outcome of the honesty and openness that characterize our fellowship with other believers.
Building Shared Vision
Building shared vision a practice of unearthing shared pictures of the future that foster genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance
Our “building a shared vision” should be an expression of the unity that Jesus prayed for among his followers (John 17)
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking – The Fifth Discipline that integrates the other 4.
Our “system thinking” should be a reflection of our humility in the face of the complexities of the world around us, our love for all of the people who may eventually be affected by our actions, and our faith in God to guide us towards the solutions we need as we wait on him.
Trying Out Ministry Ideas
At Life Church we try out new ministry ideas. This doesn’t mean that we try things just for the sake of trying them. Rather we encourage believers to submit to the discipleship process, listen to what God is saying to them, and receive a vision for their own ministry. When that happens we provide them with support and mentorship in trying out the ideas that spring from the vision they’ve been given.
We believe that for this to have any value at all we have to give people the freedom to fail. This means that if their idea doesn’t work out we re-evaluate and move on.
Projects at Life Church evolve through the following phases:
Footnotes
- Mark 10:23-31; Acts 2:41-47; Acts 4:31-37 ↩︎
- Acts 2:41-47; Acts 4:31-37; Romans 8:28-39; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 4:13-18 ↩︎
- John 13:33-35; Acts 2:41-47; Acts 4:31-37 ↩︎
- Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:15-23 ↩︎
- Romans 12:1-16; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:7-16 ↩︎
- Matthew 5:13-14; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:41-47; Acts 5:12-16 ↩︎
- Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 1:1-10 ↩︎
- Exodus 33:12 – 34:7; John 17 ↩︎
- Acts 2:41-47; Acts 4:31-37; Romans 8:28-39; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 4:13-18 ↩︎
- Mark 10:23-31; Acts 2:41-47; Acts 4:31-37 ↩︎
- Romans 12:1-16; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:7-16 ↩︎
- Matthew 5:13-14; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:41-47; Acts 5:12-16 ↩︎
- Exodus 33:12 – 34:7; John 17 ↩︎