elevate jesus. empower people. embody love.
There are lots of good ways to talk about the mission of the Church:
It's the community of faith.
The Body of Christ.
A hospital for sinners.
An outpost of the Kingdom of God.
Living out the "Great Commission."
All true.
For us, we've chosen to put it this way:
We are here to elevate Jesus, empower people, and embody love.
Elevate Jesus
God is a Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Within that Trinity, God the Father points us to his Son, Jesus the Christ, the unique Savior of humankind and Lord of all, and says "Listen to him!"
God the Holy Spirit consistently points to Jesus the way lights light up the Washington Monument in the dark.
While there is much more that can be said (for example, in Colossians 1:15-20) we elevate the majestic, beautiful living person of Jesus. We are drawn to him. He is our life, and he is what we have to share with others.
Empower People
The Church proclaims Christ. It also teaches people how to know him better and follow him as his apprentices (a.k.a. disciples). Jesus told us to teach people how to obey everything he has commanded - in other words, the distinctive way of living in the Kingdom of God. At Westminster, we take the privilege of whole-life discipleship seriously. We expect and celebrate real life change accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Embody Love
Without love, nothing else matters.
But the love we have to give to others - in the church and everywhere else - isn't our own love. It's not based on a certain feeling or determined by the way the world around us defines love. The love we have to give is the love we see in Jesus, and the love we've received from him. It's a love that claims us totally and lays itself down for others.
It's the community of faith.
The Body of Christ.
A hospital for sinners.
An outpost of the Kingdom of God.
Living out the "Great Commission."
All true.
For us, we've chosen to put it this way:
We are here to elevate Jesus, empower people, and embody love.
Elevate Jesus
God is a Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Within that Trinity, God the Father points us to his Son, Jesus the Christ, the unique Savior of humankind and Lord of all, and says "Listen to him!"
God the Holy Spirit consistently points to Jesus the way lights light up the Washington Monument in the dark.
While there is much more that can be said (for example, in Colossians 1:15-20) we elevate the majestic, beautiful living person of Jesus. We are drawn to him. He is our life, and he is what we have to share with others.
Empower People
The Church proclaims Christ. It also teaches people how to know him better and follow him as his apprentices (a.k.a. disciples). Jesus told us to teach people how to obey everything he has commanded - in other words, the distinctive way of living in the Kingdom of God. At Westminster, we take the privilege of whole-life discipleship seriously. We expect and celebrate real life change accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Embody Love
Without love, nothing else matters.
But the love we have to give to others - in the church and everywhere else - isn't our own love. It's not based on a certain feeling or determined by the way the world around us defines love. The love we have to give is the love we see in Jesus, and the love we've received from him. It's a love that claims us totally and lays itself down for others.