Note: This church is in the planning stage. Contact us!
"To build, by the Holy Spirit, a body of believers where deeply caring relationships are cultivated in Christ and the power of God is fervently sought by all members for ministry to the body and to the world."
Christ said that we believers would be identifiable by our love one for another. We view this very visible love that Christ spoke of to be a more tangible relationship than that which is often cultivated in a hit-or-miss fashion by traditional church programs. We have seen in our culture that it is possible to be a member of a church for years - even to volunteer in some of the programs - and still not really know anyone in the church. That is to say that not enough time has been spent with anyone to become more that polite acquaintances. No depth of caring about one another has been established because people have not had the opportunity to know who people are, what their lives are like, how they feel or what some of the difficulties they face are. The meetings that are held lack a place in their format for true edification to take place. The cell group and its activities are designed to facilitate relationships where people matter to one another. This sense of caring for one another and having a stake emotionally in the outcome of others' lives is the core of what love is.
We as a church are commanded to be a body, knit together in closeness and edifying one another in love. Edification, the "building up" of others, is something that will be encouraged in each and every meeting. Amazingly, we are commanded to speak no words to one another that do not build up. None! The use of spiritual gifts will play a central role in edification. We believe that only with the Holy Spirit loving others through us can we truly love. The power and supernatural love that works in the spirit ideally should be flowing from one member to another. We pray continually for this to happen in our meetings and set aside time for it in each meeting. The genuine love, encouraging words in the Spirit and sense that no one is alone should give refreshing, indeed release, to any one who comes in feeling burdened by the circumstances of their life. Also, anyone who comes in from the outside should immediately identify that something remarkable - something they feel drawn to - is taking place.
While we do focus on people, in the end it is for the purpose of drawing them closer to Christ. He is the ultimate focus of everything. We focus directly on Him in every meeting with fervent prayer and heartfelt praise and worship. We will sing and pray and lift up the glorious name of Christ. This is the means by which we seek to meet with him. In the atmosphere of praise, His manifest presence comes more and more strongly as we encounter Him and are transformed by Him. This is no ordinary time of singing and no ordinary song. The Spirit-led worship draws His presence in. He promises to inhabit the praises of His people. When He truly comes, he will speak to us, heal us, challenge us and empower us to do the work of ministry. Without Him, there will be no real edification, and lives will not be transformed. Thank God that he who seeks, finds.
We seek revival in our church. The term revival, as you will hear us use it, refers to a sovereign move of God over a group or a region where His glory manifests in various ways for the purpose of restoring passionate love for Him to His people and for bringing in a large gathering of hungry and seeking people from the world to be exposed to the realities of God, so that they may be added to the Church. We have felt led to pray for revival - in our country, in the body of Christ and in our church. God can and does change entire communities through earnest prayer and fasting and it is our heart to join with other churches in our area in praying for such community transformation. God will move in His time, but we want Him to find in us a ready and willing vessel for His desired outpouring. That is part of who we are.
We realize that not all Christians are looking for a revival and we do not judge our criticize that attitude. We mourn however, that some true believers in Christ have bitterly criticized other true believers due to past revivals and we call on the Church to not waste its time and energy fighting against each other over "questionable" matters, such as what the Holy Spirit is and is not allowed to do, instead of standing against real sin and darkness in the church and the world. If people in a church are being saved and set free from sin and bondage, if people are proclaiming Jesus is Lord and if people are expectantly asking the Father for the Holy Spirit, there is absolutely no reason to fear that a spirit of heresy will abound in that place. You can identify such things by their fruits.
Now to put it all together. God has impressed on our heart as church leaders His desire that a "net" be in place to be able to love, minister to and disciple the great influx of people that can be brought to a church during a move of God. In our church, this net is the home cell group structure. Cells are designed to be a place new people can come in and be quickly connected to others. When new people are flowing into the church, new cells can be formed as needed so that, ideally, no one falls through the cracks. Our desire is that everyone who comes hungry for God will be filled and receive the same love and sense of belonging that our longest-time members are accustomed to.
Last but not least, we want to declare that, as part of our vision to minister to the world, we are committed to growth through actually saving the lost. We believe in inviting and bringing them to our groups. We believe that God will bring in people though the power of His Spirit. As we grow, we look to multiply this type of work through expanding the network of cells through the entire city. We see the groups branching off into other cities and, eventually, other nations as new plants are formed with the same DNA as this church. Our vision as a non-traditional church in our culture is to reach everyone possible that other churches are not currently reaching and to do so by offering something "different" - according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. God has impressed upon our hearts that now is the time for this type of church to break forth and be used by God.