ENGAGE, IMMERSE, TRANSFORM
By God's grace and as vessels of his love we hope to fulfill our vision and accomplish our mission by doing the following...
1. We will ENGAGE our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all gethering around to hear him... 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and fo after the lost sheep until he finds it?' (Luke 15: 1,4)
Just as Jesus associated with those opposed to Him, so will we. This means we will go to where lost people dwell, rather than expect them to come to us. It also means that we will communicate in culturally relevant ways and in language those we reach can understand.
2. We will IMMERSE those we reach in the body of Christ. And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me....' (Luke 15:5-6a)
This means that we will fight to be the church. We will fight to become and remain a family that loves and cares for one another. Discipleship cannot take place outside of the context of Christian community. This also means that we will seek to teach those we reach how to be the body of Christ. In other words, as we engage our godless culture, we must not lose our disctinctive identity as Jesus followers.
3. We will TRANSFORM lives by the power of God.
This means that as we engage our community and immerse those we reach in the body of Christ, we should then expect to see the lost found, people grow, and lives changed. Only God can truly transform lives; thus, we will intentionally create opportunities for the Spirit of God to use the Word of God to transform us into the image of the Son of God.