VALUES, BELIEFS, & MISSION

GOD - FIRST

Commitment to God and His Word – Our aspiration is that our disciple-making will be marked by a wholehearted devotion to God, through prayer and by studying, obeying and teaching His Word.

Grace of God – God’s grace through Jesus Christ is the basis and power, not only of our personal lives, but also of our disciple-making and church planting.

Community – in action

The Church – The local church is God’s vehicle for accomplishing the Great Commission. The church is the place for winning people to Christ, building them to maturity, raising up leaders/disciple-makers, and for preparing church planting teams to be sent out for the expansion of God’s kingdom.

Strong Families – Strong families are the foundation for strong churches. Therefore we make it a priority to equip disciples and pastors in building their marriages and families.

Love and Unity – We desire our disciple-making to be marked by a Christ-like, selfless love, loyalty, and unity with fellow believers.

Engaged – in ministry & mission

All Nations Reached with the Gospel – Our ultimate goal and mission is to reach the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ by making disciples of all the nations.

Every Member a Minister and a Sent One – All disciples are empowered through the Holy Spirit to be workers in the harvest and the church, not just the pastors. Therefore we seek to equip each disciple to utilize his/her spiritual gifts to serve others.

Developing Disciples and Leaders in the Context of the Church – We place a priority upon raising up pastors, disciples, disciple-makers and church planters of Christ-like character within the local church.

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The Bible

The basis of our beliefs is the Bible, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. It was uniquely, verbally, and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and was written without error in the original manuscripts. It is the supreme and final authority in faith and life in every age.

God

There is but one God, infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness, and love, the Creator of the universe, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – each of whom possesses all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.

Humanity

God created humanity in His own image, and humanity, as originally created, was innocent before God. But humanity chose to sin by disobeying God, and therefore was alienated from his Creator and came under divine condemnation. Thus all human beings are born with a corrupted nature and without spiritual life, and are totally incapable of pleasing God in themselves.

Jesus Christ

God the Father, by His own choice and out of love for sinful men and women, sent Jesus Christ into the world to reconcile sinners to Himself. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He is God in the flesh, both true God and true man. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and voluntarily suffered and died as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sins, thus satisfying God’s justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He bodily ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, makes intercession for His own. He will return to earth – personally, visibly, and bodily – to judge all humanity and establish His kingdom.

Salvation

Men and women are freed from the penalty for their sins not as a result, in whole or in part, of their own works, goodness or religious ceremony, but by the undeserved favor of God alone. God declares righteous all who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation.

The Spirit

The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ, convict men and women of their sins, and to impart new life to all who place their faith in Christ. He indwells believers from the moment of spiritual birth, seals them until the day of redemption, and empowers them to live a life pleasing to God.

Assurance

All who are born again of the Spirit can be fully assured of eternal life from the very moment in which they put their faith in Christ. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but upon the fact of God’s election, upon Christ’s complete payment for sins, and upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing their inheritance.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

The Lord Jesus Christ has instructed those who believe in Him to be baptized in water as a symbol of their new birth in Christ. Baptism is only for those who have personally believed in Christ and is best expressed by immersion. The Lord also instituted the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of His suffering, death, and resurrection. Neither baptism nor the Lord’s supper has any merit in helping a person obtain eternal life.

The Church

All true believers make up the church worldwide and assemble together in local churches – for worship, prayer, fellowship & teaching – to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

The Resurrection of the Dead

At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing. At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting suffering, judgment and condemnation.

Impart to every disciple and every church: God- first; Community- in action; Engaged in ministry and mission.

An understanding that Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives and as Head of our churches has sent us into the world to be His ambassadors and witnesses. We will go where people live and work, believing God to raise up disciples and new churches all across Europe.

Being a people of faith and prayer who believe that the power of God . . . 1. will regularly open up new doors for the gospel 2. will dramatically change people’s lives to make them disciples and laborers 3. will birth and develop new churches under the headship of Christ.

Our approach to church planting is based on making disciples in the context of a community of believers. We believe the primary focus of our energy and resources should be making disciples more than “how to do church” or pull off effective programs.

We will proclaim and seek to live out the reality that every believer is a priest – each one able to experience a deep and intimate relationship with God and each one with the calling, power, and gifting to play a vitally important role in the building of God’s kingdom.

The primary role of cross-cultural missionaries is to serve as catalysts in making disciples and reproducing churches by multiplying themselves into those who are established in that place.

We consider strategic partnerships with churches and ministries who share our passion for reaching Europe and desire to co-labor in order to help fulfill that vision.

We pursue initiatives, strategies and tools in disciple-making and church-planting that can be received personally, repeated easily, and reproduced indigenously.