Vision and Values
Vision: Why are we here?
We are a gospel community sharing the kingdom together.
More fully, we are becoming a downtown worshiping community centered on Jesus, living in the Spirit, sharing God’s kingdom, for the joy of Columbia and nations.
Core Values: What convictions do we own?
Our core values, the convictions we own as a church center around gospel, community, and kingdom. These weighty biblical ideas work like springboards to get us thinking about how our Christian faith and life connect.
Gospel (our content)
We believe the gospel is “the power of God for salvation.” Jesus died for sinners and lives as King to gather a people for himself.
The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion. The gospel is not religion, a rulebook on how to improve ourselves from the outside in through slavish obedience. Nor is it irreligion, casting off all authority and living for ourselves. No, the gospel is a middle way that invites us to come to the end of ourselves, repent and believe in Jesus, and live by his transforming power from the inside out.
The gospel is good news for non-Christians. We come as we are, in all our shame, guilt, disappointment, sin, and grief and find new life in him. Jesus is a friend of those who’ve lost their way.
The gospel is good news for Christians. We come to Christ through repentance and faith and we live in Christ by repentance and faith. We never graduate from the gospel but seek to apply and live it daily.
Community (our context)
We believe God joins us together into a church community. We deeply value membership in our local body, growing together in love, generosity, sacrifice, hospitality, confession, and joy.
All are welcome into our church community. Jesus relishes in bringing both vertical reconciliation between us and God and horizontal reconciliation between us and our neighbor. We value racial, political, socio-economic, generational diversity as God’s great expression of his church.
All are needy in our church community. If we are truly a gospel community, we can be honest with each other about our sin and shortcomings, our fears and failures. Our church body is a safe place to be real about our struggles because the gospel reminds us we all have them and all need Jesus as much today as we ever did.
All are needed in our church community. God has uniquely gifted every member of our church body to contribute in his or her unique way. There is not a spiritual gift, life experience, or passion in our midst that God can’t use for his glory. We need all of them.
Kingdom (our commission)
We believe we are on a mission together to proclaim God’s kingdom in word and deed. Jesus commissions his church to share the good news of the gospel and make disciples of every man, woman, and child in our city, country, and globe.
We proclaim God’s kingdom in word. We want all of our friends and neighbors and co-workers to hear the good that Jesus has done. By taking our sin on himself on the cross, Jesus connects us to the Creator God. We long for everyone to have an opportunity to hear this good news in plain talk and be able to respond to God’s love for them.
We proclaim God’s kingdom in deed. God loves whole people, body and soul, and his kingdom is uniquely expressed in living under his kingship. We proclaim the kingdom in deed when we filter every area of our lives from parenting to play, from working to creating through his perfect rule. Further, we proclaim the kingdom in deed when we value what God values in justice and mercy.
We proclaim the kingdom to the ends of the earth. Jesus’ Great Commission arms us with a global goal. Through meeting as a church body, evangelism, mercy ministry, church planting, sending workers, and strategic partnerships, we want to see the gospel reach every people and nation.
We are a gospel community sharing the kingdom together.
More fully, we are becoming a downtown worshiping community centered on Jesus, living in the Spirit, sharing God’s kingdom, for the joy of Columbia and nations.
Core Values: What convictions do we own?
Our core values, the convictions we own as a church center around gospel, community, and kingdom. These weighty biblical ideas work like springboards to get us thinking about how our Christian faith and life connect.
Gospel (our content)
We believe the gospel is “the power of God for salvation.” Jesus died for sinners and lives as King to gather a people for himself.
The gospel is neither religion nor irreligion. The gospel is not religion, a rulebook on how to improve ourselves from the outside in through slavish obedience. Nor is it irreligion, casting off all authority and living for ourselves. No, the gospel is a middle way that invites us to come to the end of ourselves, repent and believe in Jesus, and live by his transforming power from the inside out.
The gospel is good news for non-Christians. We come as we are, in all our shame, guilt, disappointment, sin, and grief and find new life in him. Jesus is a friend of those who’ve lost their way.
The gospel is good news for Christians. We come to Christ through repentance and faith and we live in Christ by repentance and faith. We never graduate from the gospel but seek to apply and live it daily.
Community (our context)
We believe God joins us together into a church community. We deeply value membership in our local body, growing together in love, generosity, sacrifice, hospitality, confession, and joy.
All are welcome into our church community. Jesus relishes in bringing both vertical reconciliation between us and God and horizontal reconciliation between us and our neighbor. We value racial, political, socio-economic, generational diversity as God’s great expression of his church.
All are needy in our church community. If we are truly a gospel community, we can be honest with each other about our sin and shortcomings, our fears and failures. Our church body is a safe place to be real about our struggles because the gospel reminds us we all have them and all need Jesus as much today as we ever did.
All are needed in our church community. God has uniquely gifted every member of our church body to contribute in his or her unique way. There is not a spiritual gift, life experience, or passion in our midst that God can’t use for his glory. We need all of them.
Kingdom (our commission)
We believe we are on a mission together to proclaim God’s kingdom in word and deed. Jesus commissions his church to share the good news of the gospel and make disciples of every man, woman, and child in our city, country, and globe.
We proclaim God’s kingdom in word. We want all of our friends and neighbors and co-workers to hear the good that Jesus has done. By taking our sin on himself on the cross, Jesus connects us to the Creator God. We long for everyone to have an opportunity to hear this good news in plain talk and be able to respond to God’s love for them.
We proclaim God’s kingdom in deed. God loves whole people, body and soul, and his kingdom is uniquely expressed in living under his kingship. We proclaim the kingdom in deed when we filter every area of our lives from parenting to play, from working to creating through his perfect rule. Further, we proclaim the kingdom in deed when we value what God values in justice and mercy.
We proclaim the kingdom to the ends of the earth. Jesus’ Great Commission arms us with a global goal. Through meeting as a church body, evangelism, mercy ministry, church planting, sending workers, and strategic partnerships, we want to see the gospel reach every people and nation.
