Disciple Church Exists to Train Disciples of Jesus
to Impact the World.
Our definition of a disciple is one who grows as a WORSHIPPER in a COMMUNITY as a MISSIONAL FOLLOWER of Jesus who impacts the world. We wish to see this take place in all areas of Disciple Church's ministry.
UPWARD: Wor•SHIP
We were designed and created to worship God. Our desire is to grow in intimacy with God and to worship Him only. We want to see our worship expressed beyond the church walls into our daily activities. We desire our worship to be expressed in creativity and in beauty. We want to ascribe praise and worth worthy unto God!
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." - Romans 12:1
INWARD: com·mu·ni·ty
God exists in a community as Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We who are created in the image of God were also created to exist in community. The church is designed to function as a community. Jesus taught his followers to love one another as the primary way for others to know we are His disciples. The church should also function as a family who encourages, prays, supports and equips one another while on the mission together. The church is not a meeting, nor a place, but a "family."
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
- John 13:34-35
The primary function of Disciple Church's leadership is to focus on training and building leaders who serve the community, so that it's not just the paid staff caring for the community, but the community caring for and sustaining itself. We also value family and want to enable families to worship together so that the children and the teens feel part of the church, rather than a segment of the church.
Because of the complexity of being a church, we see "community" as being broken down into smaller settings, since that cannot happen in a large worship gathering once a week.
OUTWARD: MIS•SION•Al
To be missional is to be other focused, with the goal of expressing and sharing the love of Jesus with the world around us. The church was not meant to be withdrawn, isolated, or to exist only to meet its own needs. Rather, the church is to be in the world (but not OF the world, John 17). Being "missional" means that we will exist for the sake of inviting others into a relationship with Jesus Christ who calls us to live a kingdom life here and now.
"..you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
- Acts 1:8
Forward: "DIS•CI•ples of je•sus"
Disciples of Jesus are to live as Jesus lived, walk as Jesus walked and love as Jesus loved. This is how we are to live out our lives. Therefore, we strive to set a deep culture of Scriptural study and discussion in our community in order to help us grow in our love for God and people. We want to view the world and culture through the Biblical lens, not the other way around. We realize that we must become thinkers and theologians if we are serious about being disciples who are missional in today's culture.