Manna's Mission Statement

We believe our Manna Church mission is to glorify God by equipping His people to change their world and by planting churches with a world-changing vision. 

We Plan to Accomplish this By: 

• Helping God’s people discover their individual gifts and callings, creating an environment where these may be developed, and deploying God’s people into their world to be salt and light. Our Small Groups are designed to help accomplish this goal.  

• Helping God’s people build strong families and creating a community where individuals may find fulfillment and expression regardless of age or marital status.  

• Planting churches with the same vision both domestically and abroad. 

On the Way, We Are Going to Do Three Things:

• Love God—Inspiring Worship Experiences 

• Love Each Other—Life-Giving Small Groups 

• Love the World—World-Changing Outreach

Question: Who Is the "We"? 

Remember: “the church” is not a building. It is not a program or a formula or a particular kind of meeting. It’s not limited to pastors or people on the stage. “The church” is people.  

We are Manna Church—all of us—Together. 

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service (or ministry), to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 

We view leaders as coaches whose primary focus is to equip the rest of the body to do the work of ministry that they are called to do. The real ministers are not the paid pastoral staff (they are “equippers”). The real ministers are you. 

The more we are connected, the more we are able to strengthen each other. It’s unlikely we can develop real, life-giving connections just during our Worship Experiences. 

It’s in Small Groups that we experience real connection and build genuine community. The more we, as a church, are connected in this way, the stronger we become and the more effective we will be in fulfilling our mission together. 

And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but (it was revealed to you by) My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My  church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  

It is Jesus Who defines the character and nature that the Church needs to have. He began the Church to establish and advance His Kingdom and reach people here on earth. The Church is the hope of the world. It is His Plan A.

It is on the rock of the revelation of Who Jesus is and what He’s come to do that Jesus builds His Church; and He builds His Church that way in order to push back the gates of Hell and rescue people from the kingdom of darkness. 

We are part of His Church. We are part of something greater than ourselves. We—the Church—are designed to individually and collectively go forward to make a difference. 

Though there may be battles, Jesus promises that His Church, built His way, will prevail against forces that resist the advancement of His Kingdom.

...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

The enemy of our souls can resist us in a lot of ways. He can hinder us, and he can hurt us. But, the enemy can’t stop our prayers. Our prayers are powerful. They matter. 

God will use the prayer lives of humble, teachable believers to heal and bring about Kingdom change in their communities and nations (“their land”). God can also use our prayers for unbelievers to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. 

In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul says that the “god” of this world has blinded the eyes of unbelievers.

In Acts 26:18,  we learn how Jesus called Paul to open the eyes of unbelievers: “I want you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and be sanctified among those who have faith in me.” 

We can ask God to remove people’s blindness—remove the spiritual veils that cover the eyes of their hearts and minds.

The Lord will be awesome (terrifying to them) against them; for he will famish (starve) all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations. 

There are many “gods” in the world: money, materialism, sex,  fame, power, success, cults, false religions, and various demonic influences. People all over the world worship all kinds of things—and their worship feeds the influence of these “gods.” 

So, how does God plan to terrify the “gods of this earth”? By “starving” them. And, how does God plan to starve the gods of the earth?  

We are commissioned by God to reach out and bring the Gospel to those who worship and are held captive by the gods of the earth. Our goal is to win them to Christ! 

When they become Christ-followers, they transfer their worship from idols and false gods to God. That starves the gods of the earth. It reduces their influence. It changes the spiritual atmospheres of families, communities, and nations. 

We are committed to worldwide outreach. It is our passion to reach out to and win as many people as we can, wherever we can, whatever the cost. People who don’t know Jesus yet, don’t always live in safe circumstances, communities, or nations. Often, they can be found in very dangerous and dark places. 

So, there is often a cost to bringing the Gospel to the nations. We have demonstrated that we are willing to pay that cost and will continue to do so.  

With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 

Jesus died for people. That makes people infinitely valuable. 

As Christians, our most important inheritance from God is not money or things. Our most important inheritance from God is people: the people we serve, the people we pray for, the people we invest in, the people we live among, the people that God causes us to be interested in and care about. 

Since God “owns” all the people of the earth, we can ask Him for an inheritance. We can ask Him for our families, friends, and coworkers. We can ask for communities and nations and all sorts of people groups. We can ask God for “Kingdom influence” in their lives.  

How would you complete this request: “Lord, give me _______ ”?  Would you fill it in with a name, a place, a nation, a group of people? And, if God granted your request, what would you be willing to do to accomplish it? How would you invest yourself in obtaining that inheritance?