Worth a Good Look

David Staff   -  

Every day, local churches step either closer to or further away from becoming the movement that God designed them to be. The baggage of institutionalism either weighs heavier or is unpacked. The heartbeat of redemptive passion beats stronger or grows faint.

We believe that “the future as movement” for the local church is intrinsically tied to two assumptions.

First, a unique vision must “ooze” from the leader’s life as well as the church’s leadership community.

Second, this vision must create a stunningly unique culture inside the church that is inclined and motivated to penetrate the culture outside the church.

In other words, reaching the surrounding community should be innate, driven by the church’s DNA rather than programming.

Will Mancini, Church Unique

May I ask you, “Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ?”  Perhaps instinctively, your mind answered “yes” when reading that question.

So let me follow with this.  “Do you love the church in which He has placed you?  And, do you love what the Savior wants to do through Christ Community Church?”

For me, “Yes!” to all three questions.  One of the important reasons for my love is how the Lord Jesus has led us uniquely to discover WHO we are as a church, and WHAT the Lord wants us to be about.

OUR MISSION IS CLEAR—in more ways than one!

For over 7 years now, Christ Community Church attenders have rallied around this important mission. 

Many churches have mission statements, a sentence capturing what Lord of the Church wants to do through them.  This is ours, born out of prayerful deliberation early in the last decade.  As you can tell, it’s a mission driven by the importance of trusting relationships.  Life on life impact.  Connection with each other is key.  Being shaped by others committed to Christ is essential.

And, we have identified specific ways for accomplishing this. 

  • We GATHER in worship; CONNECT in relationships, and SERVE together in ministry (our strategies).   
  • We express KEY VALUES in these strategies—purposeful responsiveness to God’s Word, intergenerational discipleship, transparent relationships, and radical generosity.
  • We MEASURE our gains with 6 Life Questions

Our mission is clear…not just in writing, but also visually.  What do I mean?

OUR MISSION IS DISPLAYED—Atrium 1

Just this past week, we successfully installed our Mission Frame Display.  You’ll find it on the south side of the main west-to-east hallway across from our G1 worship venue.

My invitation?  Stop by on your next visit to our campus.  Take a minute and think through what this beautiful display communicates.  It is an expression of who the Lord Jesus has uniquely made us to be, and do together.

Oh…and another thing.  Feel free to drop a note of thanks to Andy Rohrback, the designer, for using his Spirit-gifting to SERVE us in this.  Well done good brother!

Enjoy! 

And, let’s respond to Jesus’ call to “penetrate the culture outside the church” with the love, joy, and good news about Christ.  A great mission calls the movement of some great reaching.