IDENTITIES

As human beings, we are known, validated, justified and loved in relationship.  In the garden, when Adam and Eve sinned, they not only did wrong, they broke their relationship with God and lost the relationship in which their identity was grounded.  Since Adam and Eve’s rebellion, humanity has sought a relationship that would replace God’s role and restore our intended identity.

In Jesus, the gracious gift of the Father is to reconcile the world back to Himself so that, in that relationship, we might become whole again.  Through the work of Jesus’ life and death, our sin has been overcome, and our broken relationship with the Father has been restored, re-centering our identity in Jesus and in His purposes.  The following identities are who we are.

DISCIPLES – We are a people in pursuit of Jesus who take responsibility for our growth and for the growth of others (see Matthew 28:19-20 and 2 Timothy 2:2).

At its core, the church is comprised of disciples of Jesus who are able to make more disciples of Jesus, who make more disciples of Jesus, and so on.  Jesus invited people to follow Him, to learn the ways of the Kingdom, and to become transformed in the whole of life along the way.  As a person is discipled in community, that person takes responsibility to learn, and to help others learn, more about the way of Jesus.

FAMILY – We are God’s children, leading lives of deep connection, and we care for one another (see Mark 3:34 and 1 John 3:1).

Ever since the fall, God has desired to use a family of His people as the vehicle to bring the message of His restoration to the nations.  Through the work of Jesus the Messiah, God has brought together those near and far into one blended family called by His name.  As family, we take our responsibility to live out the “one anothers” of the New Testament seriously, to meet each other’s spiritual and physical needs, and to live deep lives of relational connection seven days a week.

SERVANTS – We are servants of God whose lifestyle is to serve each other and our community (see Mark 10:43-45, Jeremiah 29:7, and Philippians 2:5-7).

Following in the example of our Master, we live a life that serves the Father and others around us.  Greatness and spiritual maturity are not found in factual knowledge or positions of power, but in serving others in word and action.  The gospel must be both declared and demonstrated for it to remain faithful to the good news Jesus embodied.  Through our service, we join the present restorative work of God and show the gospel to be more than mere words.

MISSIONARIES – We are the sent people of God, joining Him in the restoration of all things to Himself (see John 20:21, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, and Ephesians 2:8-10).

In order to redeem and rescue His creation, God sent Jesus as a man into the world and its culture.  Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled His mission and is uniting all things in heaven and earth.  In the same way and manner that the Father sent the Son, so now Jesus has sent His church into the world, empowered by the Spirit whom the Father and Son have sent.  We are not saved solely for ourselves.  Rather, we are blessed to be a blessing and have been saved for the gospel purposes of God in the world.  As we wait for Jesus to ultimately establish his Kingdom, we live as the sent people of God, working out his purposes by his power that his reign might be made known presently.

Learn more about “How We Live”