Abiding Life Church at Clarkston

Who and what is Abiding Life Church at Clarkston? 

We are a worshipping community of people who are living the Abiding Life together so that all people may know, "Jesus is LORD!"

We try to be a "simple" church who takes worship as a lifestyle seriously, believes God's Word and God's Spirit are our guide, everyone is responsible to use their gifts to build up the Body of Christ, and that we as the church have the responsibility to proclaim and make known the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom of God! We hold to a few key distinctives (see below) and serve to see no place left where Jesus isn't known and the One true God isn't worshipped.  

Abiding Life Distinctives

• Worshippers Valuing Presence (John 4:21-24; Matthew 28:20; John 14:15-19; Hebrews 13:5; Psalm 16:11) We are worshippers first and primarily. Our identity is not in the work we do but who we are.

• Gospel Proclamation & Clarity (1 Peter 2:9-12; Romans 10:13-17; Acts 4:17-31) We are a people tasked with making the Good News of the Kingdom known. This requires us to be contextualizing the Gospel and in word and deed proclaiming it in a way that can be understood.

• “Simple” Family Gatherings (Acts 2:42-47; Acts 12:12; Romans 16:5; 1 Cor 14:26-31; 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15; Philemon 2) We gather as a family and not as a business or institution. Our relationships with one another are family like.

• Everyone Anchored in God’s Word (priesthood of believers) (1 Peter 2:9-10; James 1:19-25; 2 Tim 3:14-16; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Tim 3:14-15) We speak God’s Word to one another as a means to grow in our knowledge and relationship with God. Each individual is responsible for building up the body of Christ the church and doing ministry in the world.

• Multiplying Impact (disciples making disciples) (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8; 2 Tim 2:2; John 17:20-21; Acts 19:10; Matthew 28:16-20) We see that disciples should make disciples and churches therefore plant churches until there is no place left where Jesus isn’t known. We believe it is obvious that the amount of lost people in the world requires a multiplying strategy.

• Celebrating but not copying others- Kingdom focused (1 Cor 3:5-9; Ephesians 4:7-11; 1 Cor 12) We should know our gifts and “calling” individually and in ministry. We recognize and celebrate that the Kingdom of God is vast and diverse in its expressions and gifts. We should celebrate and complement with our unique gifts other ministries and cooperate and work together to see God’s Kingdom come.

• All believers should be equipped to do the work of ministry (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-16) It is the responsibility of “pastoral” type leaders (as well as all the APEST) to equip the whole body, all the saints for the work of ministry for the building up of the church. Every believer should not only know that they should be ministering in a variety of ways but they should be equipped to actually do it.