Some of us have been followers (or “disciples”) of Jesus Christ for a long time. Some of us are new to the faith. Some of us are not yet Christians, but we are curious to learn more about who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. We come from many different backgrounds, and have many different life experiences, but what unites us all is that we are focused on Jesus Christ, and moving toward Him from wherever we are currently in life.
At the heart of our community are those church members and their children who have made a covenant (a committed relationship) with God and with one another through faith in Jesus Christ. This covenant means we have promises to keep and privileges we enjoy in our relationship with God and each other.
From the beginning our church has emphasized the fact that God the Father calls us by the power of His Holy Spirit to be followers of Jesus Christ in community, and not merely as individuals. We are learning together how to live and worship as followers of Jesus Christ in all that we do.
“Making disciples” is the primary mission that Jesus Himself has given to His church (see Matthew 28:16-20). Through the Word of God, prayer, and the sacraments, God’s Spirit is renewing our hearts to make them more and more like Jesus Christ’s heart in terms of our thinking and desires, so that our outward words and actions in all that we do in the world may be more and more like Jesus Christ as well.
The church’s specific work is to make disciples, but as we do that, Jesus’ disciples go out into the world and live for Him and for God’s glory in all that they say and do. They bring renewal and blessing to our cities and the world. They bear witness to how good and just life is under God’s loving rule as king, and to the way things will one day be at the final renewal of all things when Jesus Christ returns.