Join our Missional Community Life Series

There is a lot of Buzz going around about the Missional Church today. Do you know what the word means? At Imago Dei “Missional” is not just catchy phrase rather a theological understanding of God’s redemptive plan for humanity.

This truth informs our people on how we ought to live as Christ followers in our city!Join us and invite a friend over the course of this series! We will meet on four different Sunday afternoons.




 

Schedule: (We meet every two weeks)

Discussion 1………………………………………………………………..…Sunday, April 3^rd 3-5pm

Unit 1. Missional context
Unit 2. Missional community

Discussion 2…………………………………………………………………Sunday, April 17^th 3-5pm

Unit 3. Missional engagement
Unit 4. Missional intentionality

Discussion 3………………………………………………………………......Sunday, May 1^st 3-5pm

Unit 5. Missional rhythms
Unit 6. Missional hospitality

Discussion 4…………………………………………………………..………..Sunday, May 15^th 3-5pm

Unit 7. Missional stewardship of time
Unit 8. Missional stewardship of money
Unit 9. Missional grace

Missional Community Project………………………………………………Sunday, May 29th 3-5pm (Details will be shared in our Missional Community Series)

Contact us to sign up or just show up and pick up the info at the meeting.

Look forward to growing together
Pastor Ryan

Meeting location: Sterling Park Apartment Club House: 2902 W. Sweetwater Ave Phoenix, AZ 85029

Gospel Change Series Continues March 20th

The Gospel Change series is "An innovative resource that offers affordable, high-quality training for mission and ministry in the 21st century. I warmly recommend it." Tim Keller

You are invited to join our Missional Community for 4 Meetings! 

Curriculum

Life change is something that we all need in the Christian life! In fact, change should be an on going process in our faith journey. The problem is that too many Christians turn to the wrong sources for this change! They look to themselves or popular self-help resources and messages for their temporary fixes, rather than to Christ and the grace of God for the change that we all long for and desperately need to grow!     

Our Missional Community wants to invite any and all men and women who are seeking to grow in a life changing relationship with Jesus. On 4 Sunday afternoons in our home, we will go through a series of discussions on Gospel Change. Our goal is that we would live more like Jesus, recognizing the source of change is simply the grace of God, applied by the word and Holy Spirit. We will explore the challenge of this change, and discover that it is often our own rebellious heart! In this series you should learn to identify your own idols, gain greater grasp of God’s grace and learn to grow more into a life of holiness. 

I am confident that the gospel of grace is the source of our life change, and that we all will be blessed as we pursue to apply these truths in the context of community.  Hope to see you there.

Pastor Ryan

www.imagophoenix.org 

Meeting Schedule & Details:
Meeting #1: Sunday 3-5pm: February 13th 
• Unit 1: The dynamics of gospel change: 
• Unit 2: Gospel change and repentance: 

Meeting#2: Sunday 3-5pm: February 20th 
• Unit 3: Gospel change and faith
• Unit 4: Head and heart in Christian experience 

Meeting #3: Sunday 3-5pm: March 6th 
• Unit 5: The means of grace: the Bible, prayer, and community 
• Unit 6: Holiness: its nature 

Meeting #4: Sunday 3-5pm March 20th 
• Unit 7: Holiness: relationships 
• Unit 8: Holiness: conversations 
• Unit 9: Holiness: thankfulness 

Note: Each meeting will be at the Rice’s home. The cost of the workbook is covered by imago dei. If you would like to make a donation of $10 you can.  Childcare will be available, otherwise we ask you find your own babysitter. Your friends are welcome to our meetings, as long as you inform them on the content.  We simply ask that you commit to attend and participate each of the 4 meetings having read the material and ready to discuss the exercises in each unit. We are looking forward to our time together!

Missional Community: Sunday Jan 23rd

 

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds  and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Ephesians 4:11-12

Dear Family and Friends, 

One of our Partner Churches, Scottsdale Bible Church has created a Discovery Workshop to help their congregation identify their spiritual gifts. In order to better grow as a family, and missional community we want to ensure that each member of the family is using his or her gifts for the building up of the church.  Here are the steps below

1.    Go online to http://scottsdalebible.com/serves/assessment

2.    Create an account and fill out your FREE profile and password

3.    Click “Experiences”

4.    Take 20 minute test and click “Submit”

5.    Wait for your response

6.    Print off results and come back to share

If you have any questions you can email the webmaster, please let them know you are with Imago Dei Community Church. I hope that you take advantage of this FREE resource and see you at the next missional community. 

You are invited to join us at Ryan and Leslie's apartment home for a study and discussion on "Discovering your Spiritual Gifts" Please email Ryan for questions and read below for details.

For the Gospel,

 

Lead Pastor: Ryan Rice

www.imagophoenix.org


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Details
Time 3-5pm
Day: Sunday Jan 23rd. (meet every two weeks)
Location: North Phoenix
Child care provided! 

Top 12 Books from 2010

At Imago Dei we firmly believe that the leaders are the readers. Below is a list of Pastor Ryan's top 12 books for 2010.

Books on Leadership, theology, parenting and marriage, culture and fiction can all be found in the list. You can find most of these on amazon for under $15.  You can also visit Acts29 recommended reads to see many other books that leaders in the network are reading.

1. All of Grace by C.H. Spurgeon 
2. Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis 
3. Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent
4. What is Reformed Theology by R.C. Sproul
5. Sacred Marriage by Garry Thomas
6. Raising Kids for True Greatness by Tim Kimmel  
7. Ethnic Blends by Mark DeyMaz and Harry Li
8. Acxiom: Powerful Leadership proverbs by Bill Hybels 
9. Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll
10. Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne
11. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller
12. Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer

Celebrating Believer's Baptism

The community of Imago Dei will be gathering for a special service to celebrate new believer's baptism. This is a time to celebrate the salvation of God's people.

We will meet at 6pm at Kineo Church an Acts29 church plant, who is meeting at Living Water Fellowship. There will be plenty of room so you can invite your friends to hear the gospel and witness testimonies of those being baptized.


Map of Location:

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1.            The Meaning of Baptism

• The word from the Greek word, “Baptizo,” meaning “to dip,” and/or “to immerse”

• Water baptism - for a believer to identify with the death and resurrection of Christ and publicly declare that they are His disciple.

2.            The Message of Baptism

The very moment we trust Christ as Savior, we are identified with Him, and that identification is related specifically to three events in our Lord’s experience:  We are identified with Him in . . .

• WE ARE IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS IN HIS DEATH (Romans 6:3, 5)

   When you stand in the water, it symbolizes that the old, “sinful man”  has died, having been crucified with Christ (II Corinthians 5:17).

• WE ARE IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS IN HIS BURIAL  (Romans 6:4)

  

When you are led under the water, it symbolizes that the “old man” has been laid to rest, having been buried with Christ (Romans 6:4). “The old self is gone”

• WE ARE IDENTIFIED W/ JESUS IN HIS RESURRECTION  (Romans 6:4-5, 8)

  

When you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes that the “new man” is now alive in you, and that you now live for and with Christ  (Galatians 2:20).

3.            The Method of Baptism

We believe that immersion visually captures the message of baptism.

•             It accurately depicts the meaning of "baptizo."

•             It follows the practice of both Jewish baptism and John's baptism.

•             It pictures the symbolism of death, resurrection, and cleansing.

•             It was the method of the early church.

4.            The Motive for Baptism

•To confess our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord (Acts 18:8). 

It is a public acknowledgment and declaration that you personally believe and have trusted in God for your life and salvation.  Thus, the only requirement for baptism is that you have knowingly and of your own free will surrendered your heart and life to Jesus Christ.  That is, through prayer, you have invited Him to “save” you from your sins, to take full control of your life, and to one day receive you into His kingdom, into eternal life.

•To comply with the commandment of Jesus.  (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38) 

In Jesus’ last instructions to His disciples, He commanded them to go into all the world, and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In this way, true believers would be unmistakably identified, both with Christ and with the family of God, by their obeying this command.

Since baptism is a personal and public expression of one’s own faith, we believe that the decision to be baptized must be made by each individual in accordance with their faith. (Parents should teach their children soon after their child has professed Jesus as Lord).

Family Worship: advent.incarnation.celebration

Each December my wife and I bring out an old advent calender and rehearse the story of Christ's coming by reviewing particular prophetic passages pointing to Christ's birth. We start on the first evening of December.

The kids gather anxiously after dinner on the couch to hear the scriptures and see the pictures that tell the true meaning of Christmas! After the second night, Leslie makes review questions each evening. She writes them on a piece of paper and cuts them into strips and quizzes the kids on the details of each nights' lesson.

It becomes a fun family Christmas celebration and learning opportunity to teach about Christ's coming, His advent and incarnation. It's the best time to worship as a family in our home. We read scriptures, answer the kids questions and sing old Christmas hymns. 

The word "Advent" in Latin means "Coming". In many Christian churches throughout the world this is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christ's 1st coming. Churches throughout history celebrate the incarnation, that is... Jesus, the son of God taking on human flesh and becoming man (Phil 2: 6b- 11).

He in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To aid in the instruction for these christian truths of the incarnation I have continually found the Westminster Confession of Faith extremely helpful:

Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? 

A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul,(Phil 2:7) (Heb 2:14,17) being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her,(Lk 1:27,31,35) yet  without sin. (2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 7:26, 1 Jn 3:5).

Christmas is about Christ. His birth and His coming. Let us celebrate the incarnation of our Lord. Let us  prepare our hearts and rejoice that a savior has been born, Christ the Lord.

Resources:
Desiring God, John Piper Blog: Advent and Incarnation
Westminster Confession 
Bible Gateway

Missional Community: 11/14/10

Hey guys, we are going to be gathering this Sunday. We have a few new families that just arrived from MT to help start the church!(You are gonna love em) As usual we will have a time of sharing and connecting with each and some good outdoor fun. Read the Blog about missional community for more info on this Sunday's discussion.

In addition I would like to invite any and all to join us for a good hike, after our sharing time. There are great trails that are conducive for all ages and skill level. In fact, Leslie and I hiked the full trail the other day with our 5-yr. old twins! It took about 2 hours, so be sure to bring your hiking shoes, sun screen and some water. We will have some light snacks. This park also has a great play ground for kids as well. Hope to see you there.

Direction from the 101 & I-17 you will want to take

I-17 NORTH
Left on Happy Valley
Right on 51st Ave
Right on Deems Hill Parkway
Deem Hills Park will be on your right.

Time and Day:
3-5pm
Sunday, November 14th

P.S.
If you got my text message with a different location, that's not the correct address. For questions please email me or call me.

See you there,

Ryan

Missional Community: vision.mission.values

I want to remind you why we call this group of people a “Missional community.” First, we must remember that God has called many of the people in this community to a specific mission. That is to establish a Gospel Centered, Missional church in our community that will reproduce other churches. I want to take a few minutes and rehears our vision /mission/values,identities.

Our Vision “Love One. Love All” reflects our commitment to live out Jesus’ Commands. Therefore we are a community with a mission to collectively live out the vision that Jesus gave his disciples to obey the Greatest Commandments in all the scripture. (Mt 22:38, Lk 10:25-27). Love One. Love All.- Our Vision. This is first and foremost importance for Imago Dei. It’s a matter of the heart, that every believer must grow in a vital relationship with Jesus and a deep love for all the people in our city. We can’t live out the Great Commission with out first living out the Great Commandments.

Our Mission “Equip & Establish” reflects our commitment to live out Jesus’ Commission, to make disciples of every nation. We must therefore work now as a community to equip a team of like minded leaders that will work to establish a church that will in turn plant other churches in our city and other cities around the world. (Mt 28:19, Eph 4:12).

Our Values/Identities We will consistently work to explore the vision/mission and values/ identities of the imago dei. This Sunday I want to discuss how we are currently growing in our identities/values (Worship/Worshiper, Fellowship/Family, Mission/Missionary) and have a time to discuss some next steps as well.


This Sundays Discussion:
How are we growing in worship or as worshippers of Jesus?
How are we growing in mission or as a missionaries?
How are we growing in fellowship or as a family?

Lastly I want to open it up for discussion as to how we might grow in each of these areas.

Look forward to seeing you there,

Darrin Patrick | Re:Lit Book | Church Planter Intro

Men, join us November 8th for a night with Darrin Patrick: Redeeming Masculinity

Food & Football @ Paseo Highlands Park

Every few weeks imago dei friends and families are starting to gather to connect, have fun, build relationships and learn more about the vision of this emerging church in the north valley.

The weather should be great and this park rocks! (I just visited it). Bring the kids, bring the football and come on out this Sunday from 12-3ish. Leslie and I are providing some lunch. Check below for details.

This a relational time, not a small group, or a set Bible Study (for now). Leslie and I are new to the city and are in a season of cultivating lots of new relationships.

These gatherings are a time to foster friendships. It's a time to connect, have fun and learn more about this community that is coming together.

It's a time to have fun. Leslie and I, Ryan (the founding church planters) want to build relationships with all of you. Before we ever start a church, we want to demonstrate the church's love. We want to be the church and teach others to do the same, long before we ever start asking people to come to church. The church is not a building, but a people on mission.

Details:
Location: North Valley Paseo Park (Behind the Community Center)
Time: 12-3ish
Lunch will be provided: Sandwiches or something...
Items to Bring: Soccer Ball, Food etc. Contact Leslie via facebook or phone. The facebook link is on the side. You may get a call directly from Leslie about what to bring.


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Coffee House Concert

Come join some the friends and families that are part of Imago Dei for evening of coffee and live music. Our friends, Samantha and Brad Byrd will be taking the stage around 8pm. This is a great event to relax and connect with friends. Hope to see you there.



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Farmers' Market in Norterra Cancelled Today :(

Imago Dei has been invited to be part of our local Farmers Market. Due to bad weather we wont be there today. But look for us on the First and Third Wednesday's of the month. I (Pastor Ryan) plan on being there, giving out water bottles meeting a greeting our community.

Come and enjoy wonderful live music by Ree Boado and browse a bounty of colorful booths full of fresh produce, tamales, Alaskan salmon, beef jerky, salsas, gifts and much more.

The Norterra Farmers' Market takes place on the first and third Wednesdays of every month through May. The market is located between Paradise Bakery and P.F. Changs. See you there!

Details
1st & 3rd Wednesdays through May
3:30-7:30pm
Website: http://www.norterrashopping.com/calendar.asp


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Visiting Church Plant in North Phoenix

Imago Dei is not yet a church. We are a community of people on mission. (Candidates with Acts29) Our goal is to reach out to those in need and recruit other missionary minded leaders. (40 adults primarily stud dudes).

Part of our training involves attending other churches in our community. Being part of the Acts29 Network here in Phoenix has been real a blessing. With about 10 church plants in the city our team has been able to visit most of these church plants and gain a greater insight into what church planting looks like. This also has been a great opportunity to network as well.

We don't want to be strangers to the larger body of Christ in our city therefore we often visit churches outside of our networks. We are learners. We want to learn from the leaders that have gone before us. This Sunday we are visiting a prayer partner and friend at Hope Church. Pastor Paul is the Lead Pastor and will be preaching tomorrow. Usually after the service, we go out to eat and share what we learned and discovered. Each Sunday is an adventure. We invite you to join us any time. Keep posted on the blog to see where we will be next. See you soon.

Church Location: North Phoenix (Norterra High school)
Name: Hope Church
Service Time: 10:30 AM
Picture: The pic is not the church we are visiting


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Season of Service: Arizona CityFest

We at imago dei believe that loving our neighbor is critically important. We are partnering with hundreds of churches and organizations to serve the city this year. We specifically are praying as to how we as a church will serve our city as a community of Christ followers at Imago dei. We want to see more people love Jesus and love their neighbor. We want to see the gospel both declared and demonstrated. That's why we at Imago Dei are very excited to partner with the many other churches in this season of service.

Grassroots Gospel Movement: Cells Groups

Our vision is to catalyze a grassroots gospel movement in our city. We are working to develop a culture where every believer is a leader! We are reminding others that the command to make disciples is for everyone (Mt 28:19) not just the professional pastors!

We will be fostering a missional DNA in the life of our leaders and church. Worship, mission and fellowship are Imago Dei's basic DNA building blocks.

We want this DNA to exist in the life of every leader and at every level of church's structure. For example, our smallest structure of the church is a “Cell Group.” These groups consist of 2-3 people and meet weekly for an hour for the primary purpose of fellowship.

Cells groups foster
• Fellowship- will be fostered in through our accountability with one another.
• Mission- we will gather to pray for those in need.
• Worship- we will gather to discuss the scriptural insights we have gained.


Our prayer is to see these Cells grow and multiply meeting throughout our city: in coffee shops, play grounds, parks, lunch rooms, offices, college campuses, high-schools etc.

Cell Groups
• Meet weekly wherever they want for 1 hour
• Composed of 2-3 people
• Multiply when the group grow to 4-5 people
• Not Co-Ed
• Review scriptural insights from weekly readings
• Ask accountability questions, sin is confessed
• Prays for salvation for those whom don't know Christ.
• Require members to be desperate for Jesus
• Requires members to be faithful to process

As you can see christian fellowship with one another is the primary DNA building block of these Cell Groups. Still these groups have elements of worship and mission as well! The reading God's word and the praying for Salvation for the lost completes the missional DNA that we believe is important for a gospel movement. Our prayer is to see these Cells grow and multiply meeting throughout our city: in coffee shops, play grounds, parks, lunch rooms, offices, college campuses, high-schools etc.

Yes, we will begin to gather in communities as the Lord grows our number, and yes in time, I believe we will come together in for a larger Celebration Service.

But the health of our church will come when ordinary people begin to rely more of the extraordinary power of God's word. When they use their gifts for ministry. We have got to raise the need to make disciples if this is going to happen, equipping and establishing cells throughout our city is our first step!

share your story: my gospel testimony

This video was recorded years ago. It's a personal testimony of my life and how Jesus pursued me in the midst of my rebellion. I share it #1 to give glory to God and #2 to encourage our people to share their testimony as a means to communicate the gospel. Testimonies are often the most powerful and personal ways to share the gospel.

Often times I share my story in 2-3 minutes with strangers I meet. I never find someone who doesn't want to hear a good story! Last time I checked, the gospel is a great story about a good guy kicking some evil butt and raising up and army of people to join in the battle with a promise that we all will one day will win!

I believe stories are a universal common connection. The important things to hit in sharing your story isn't dramatic points (such as my story) rather real life pain and recognition of sin and rebellion against God and how he pursued you and redeems and restores you. Don't give people religion self help stories. They can get that at Barnes and Noble. They need to know Jesus is the Savior who died and rose again!

You might need to re-learn the gospel or learn it for the first time. For those of you that don't have the dramatic testimony, there had to come a point in your life when your faith became real and you better understood the need for the gospel in your life and your deep need for Jesus. Remember we all have sinned (Rom 3:23).

I encourage you to explore your story with God and learn to communicate it with the people you meet. Let your story share the Good news about Jesus. Don't ignore sin, Jesus payment for sin and salvation through faith! People respond to people's story and experiences, your testimony should reflect the gospel. Go for it! Share your story!

Purpose & Philosophy Part 3. more words to describe us...

Attractional Church. We are also a “Come and See” church; inviting people to experience corporate worship on Sunday. We believe that the church in the New Testament was clearly organized for the sake of ministry and should hold to a centralized structure enough to maintain a high quality of ministry to her members. So in this sense we see ourselves as church that is attractional, gathering for the proclamation of God’s word and the worship of God’s people. The church’s contemporary worship style and relevant preaching messages will hopefully not only attract people from all backgrounds but equip them so that they can be sent out to establish other communities of faith!

Pursuing Diversity: We are a church that is seeking to be ethnically diverse not only in our congregation but in our leadership as well. We believe in order to reach a broader people group in our city and world we will need a diverse team. Predominately, the diversity in Phoenix is the Hispanic population. But there is also a great need for the gospel to penetrate tribal groups of Native Americans, and Refugees in the Phoenix area as well. Although our initial leadership team is all Caucasian and likely will be for sometime we hope to build a more diverse team to best bring the gospel to our increasingly diverse city.

Equipping/Sending: We are a church that if focused on equipping the church to be the church in our city. The church will function much like church in Antioch we read about in the book of Acts chapter 11 in the New Testament of our Bible. We will strive to reach various cultural tribes within our city by equipping and sending Christians within cultures to declare and demonstrate the gospel. We will equip and send out missional leaders to establish gospel centered communities. We will in time gather for Sunday morning for worship as we develop a leadership team and are ready to assimilate people into works of service etc.

Purpose & Philosophy Part 2: High on Culture & High in Biblical Content

We hold to missional practice for cultural relevancy. We, as a church seek to be the church that is extremely relevant to our culture, so that the lost may find salvation. In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul engages a pagan people at Mars Hill. Paul took the task of making the timeless truths of the gospel message relevant for his hearers. This is called “contextualization.”

The Apostle Paul serves as our example. He made the gospel culturally relevant for the people of Athens. He understood their position on reality, the spiritual interests,he looked for common ground in their worldview, and challenged them to understand Christ!

The goal than is to make the gospel as relevant as possible while at the same time keeping high biblical content as as the source of truth. Note the Hughes Scale above, one would want to be in Quad B, if they are committed to being a church that is strongly committed to missional practices, high on culture and high on biblical content.

Practically this means
- We preach through books of the Bible as well as topics that relate to culture
- We dig theology and believe theological education should be taught more in the churches
- The people in our church look like and dress like everyday people, church will not be place where we polish up and come in our Sunday Best, we come to worship as sinful people in need of worship.
- We value culture, arts, music, business, economics, etc.
- We don't look at culture as the enemy rather the context in which we declare and demonstrate the gospel.

FA Church Planting Movement Celebrating 10 Yrs.

As many of you know, over the past nine months I have been part of a church plant residency with Fellowship Associates. FA is an organization started by Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock to strengthen the church planter's leadership and influence.

It has been a pivotal point in our leadership development. Leslie and I have formed lifelong friendships with people who share a common bond of planting churches to extend the kingdom of God across the United States and overseas.

In this video you will see Leslie and I, along with four other church planting residents, being commissioned by Fellowship to start Imago Dei Community Church in Phoenix, AZ! In addition you will see John Bryson one of the Network Leaders and a Pastor from Fellowship Memphis interview from a diverse group of FA church planters that have already planted churches from all over: Hunter Beaumont in Denver Colorado, Thien Doan in Long Beach, CA, Eric Mason in Philadelphia, PA, Dahati Lewis in Atlanta, GA, Dave Furman from Dubai in the Middle East and Kevin Cawley in Kansas City, MO

Today we celebrate not only the past 10 years but the present and future too. With over 35 former residents in the field this movement is at the tipping point. Every single church planter is committed to planting and partnering with other organizations and denominations to plant more churches that will in turn plant more churches! I praise God for these leaders in which I have to lean on and learn from. They have blazed the trail, and set the tone.

These Pastors are actively committed to serve the city for the welfare of others, they engage culture and teach doctrine and theology, holding to the scriptures for their guide. Get in one of these churches if you are near one. Help them plant more, pray for them in their labors. This is an amazing group of men that have been called by God to lead and love the church.

Our Missional Approach

Side Door Assimilation
If we as a church will own our vision statement: Love One. Love All. We won’t try to open the door of the church wider; rather we will open more doors in various communities around the city.

reaching a diverse people of various culture and various needs. This approach fosters flexibility, creativity and contextualization of the gospel, making the message more relevant within each cultural community. This idea is not new rather it is ancient. It is a basic missionary principle that our church holds to at the core of its philosophy. We believe that more and more people today want to experience or witness Christian community without having to join the public worship celebration first.

In light of our cultural experience, and a biblical mandate to make disciples, we as a people of God see value in extending the gospel in multiple avenues, empowering Christians to extend gospel within both small and medium sized communities throughout our city. We recognize that the traditional worship celebration may as well be the first step for the unchurched; therefore we will in time establish a weekly worship service on Sunday mornings for the purpose of Exaltation of Christ, through the preaching of his word, communion for believers, worship and baptism.

This organic approach allows our church body to engage their neighbors, at multiple levels. This model pushes our church leadership to focus on Leadership Development, Equipping Christians to Establish Communities.

This model is a missional model for churches. It’s not the model but a model. There are many other forms but we are choosing this way to keep or structures a little more decentralized than your typical church and more flexible to increase our member participation and upping the Ante on how to do church. We are empowering ordinary people to be pastors to their neighborhoods and spheres of influence. We are talking the church to our culture.

The advantages are many. To name one, this model increases access and opportunity for un-churched/un-believers to see and experience the gospel in the context of community. The un-churched are able to more quickly and organically assimilate into a community of believers, which in reality increases their likelihood of sticking around and growing in their faith.