Praise God. Love People. Proclaim Christ.
Empowered by the Spirit in all of life, we will: joyfully praise God; sacrificially love all people in deed and truth; and faithfully proclaim Christ, to the glory of God and for the good of our neighbors.
PROCLAMATION exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ who make disciples and plant a church that plants churches. We hope to be a diverse gospel-saturated community proclaiming Christ to our neighbors.
CORE VALUES: Gospel, Community, Mission
1. Gospel (Praise God)
The reality of the gospel transforms every aspect of our lives: priorities, affections, character, attitudes, use of time and money, and how we love and serve our families, neighbors, friends, and enemies. As people who have been bought and redeemed by Jesus, our response is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices as we aim to worship and glorify God in all of life, both in our gatherings together and our daily lives (Romans 12:1-2). The truth of the gospel also compels and shapes our gathered worship, which is intended to display the glories of Jesus and invite people to respond. It is a feast for God’s people as we remember the gospel, are nourished by God’s Word, and encourage one another.
2. Community (Love People)
God in the gospel does not simply redeem us as individuals; He makes us into his new people. God never intended us to grow our faith in isolation but rather within a community of faith called “the church”. We are called to live as a family of God’s people who love one another and all people as Christ loved us. The way we love is to set us apart and point people to Christ; thus our love should be marked by both grace and truth. As we grow in love we will actively serve one another and the communities we live in (our actual neighbors) and thus be a blessing and an asset to our communities. (John 1:14, Jn 13:34-35, 1 Cor 13, 1 Cor 16:14, 1 John 3-4, Luke 15)
The gospel encourages us to pursue people in love, remembering:
All are welcome into our family. The gospel breaks down all barriers: age, gender, race, health, socio-economic, political, sin, etc. There is no sin or other barrier too great that can keep someone from the family of God or our local expression of it.
All are needy in our family. The gospel shows each one of us our great need, removes our guilt and shame, and enables our family to be a safe place for people to be honest in their struggle with sin, whatever it may be. We are all daily in need of the one Savior Jesus and there is no place for boasting or self-righteousness in God’s family.
All are needed in our family. God has graciously gifted and called every member of our church family to serve one another in his or her unique way. When even the smallest member of our family is missing, the whole body suffers. We affirm the need for and value of every member while we strive to equip every member for ministry and pursue unity, reconciliation, and peace.
3. Mission (Proclaim Christ)
We proclaim the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and is coming again to take his people to be with him. God’s Word builds his church, so preaching this good news is primary. The power of the church is in the unique message of the gospel, not in the latest innovations or programs. As such, our primary method must be to clearly communicate that message as widely as possible. Proclaiming Christ is God’s way of gathering people into his church and giving growth to his body. (Acts 6:4, 2 Tim 4:1-5, Col 1:27-29, 2 Cor 5:14-6:2)
The gospel drives our mission to proclaim Christ to our neighbors and the nations. We are ambassadors for Christ committed to proclaiming Christ from hearts of love and lives of service as we lovingly and intentionally pursue people outside the church among our spheres of influence (neighbors, family members, classmates, co-workers, etc). We are also committed to the spread of the gospel to all nations on earth. We express this commitment by the faithful stewardship of our time, talents, and treasures: actively proclaiming Christ, going and sending people to serve, and financially supporting church planting work. (Acts 1:6-8; Matt 28:18-20; Rom 10:13-17)
We are completely dependent upon the Spirit of God to build his church, to do the supernatural work of transforming people into followers Christ; and so high priority must be given to both gathered and individual prayer. (Acts 6:4; Eph 1.15-23, 3:16-21; Phil 1.9-11; Col 1.9-12, 4:2; 2 Thess 1:11-12)