The same way we want to be a place where people experience authentic community between believer and skeptic we also want to experience authentic community between people of all Christian backgrounds. It is our belief that greater understanding of scripture doesn’t happen in isolated camps or denominations but together in a community of people who are committed to each other and committed to discussing scripture together with patience and grace. Our understanding of scripture and its beauty will come in this diversity.
With that being said, the gospel message is the centerpiece of all we believe and do. Along with this, we consider our members to be those committed to a Gospel Community and to the essential Christian belief that if you believe and confess that Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
In our leadership, our Discipleship Group Leaders are committed to the centrality of the gospel message. Our City Group Leaders are committed to all that is listed above and a general confession of the Christian faith and call to action; and our Pastoral Leadership is committed to all that is listed above and basic reformed theology.
What is the Gospel?
The word gospel means “good news.” The gospel is not advice about what we should do but news about what has been done for us. The headlines read, “God has come into the world to rescue sinners.” The subtitle reads, “Believe! The King is here, and he has brought his kingdom! Turn to him!”
The question is:
Why exactly has God come into the world?
To rescue us from the crippling effects of sin and sin itself.
Christ does this through the sacrifice of substituting himself in our place.
This substitution by sacrifice gives us:
A NEW RECORD, A NEW HEART, & A NEW WORLD
NEW RECORD:
On the cross Jesus stands in our place as guilty to suffer the punishment that was meant for us so we can stand in his place and be accepted and loved as he is accepted and loved. In Christ’s resurrection we are brought into a freedom that brings with it a fully reconciled relationship with God.
NEW HEART:
On the cross he stands in our place and has his heart crushed and then enters fully into death so we can be given a new heart and be brought fully into life. In Christ’s resurrection we are born into His power to live like people who are fully alive and are becoming more and more like Him, our rescuer.
NEW WORLD:
On the cross he stands in our place and is exiled from His own Kingdom in order to open the gates for us, so we can be brought in. In Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection he ushers in a whole new world that is beginning to inhabit the existing world. This world has come but is not yet fully here. Renewal has started but isn’t fully accomplished. For now, we wait until our glorious King returns bringing all the glories of His kingdom where there is no longer hurting, death, or pain.
These three gospel promises (a new record, a new heart, and a new world) are secured for us by our union with Christ. This union comes through faith in the gospel event of God coming into the world for us (incarnation), dying on the cross in our place (death), and rising from death so that we can live with Him forever (resurrection).