Vision and Values
| We are forgiven sinners set free by Jesus Christ to be his followers, making disciples for him of lost sinners, and growing disciples together in fully expressing love for God and people |
| We believe the identity and purpose of every human being is found in the love of God revealed through his Son, Jesus Christ. By God's grace we become forgiven sinners set free to be followers of Christ, filled with a humble, yet passionate, desire to make disciples for him of other lost sinners, while growing disciples together in fully expressing love for God and people in very tangible ways: Communicating Jesus' Message, Celebrating Jesus' Presence, Connecting in Jesus' Body, Cultivating Jesus' Life, and Contributing in Jesus' Kingdom. We invite you on this life-long journey. | |
FORGIVEN SINNERS We call ourselves forgiven sinners as a regular reminder that we
are all rebellious, broken. lost, and equally in need of God's grace and forgiveness.
We are all dead in our sins, having followed paths of
self-indulgence and self-righteousness in hopeless attempts at
self-justification. In His mercy, God seeks
us out and meets us
as we are, not as we should be, in order to make us what we were
meant to be. Through Jesus Christ, God the Father reveals a powerful love that
sets our lives in motion: "We love because he first loved us."
(1 John 4:19) |
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SET FREE Trusting in God's love, we have been saved from trying to obey
God out of fear, guilt, or pride. Jesus' unmerited mercy and
forgiveness has now positioned our hearts to love God and people
out of genuine gratitude and joy. The Bible calls this
love-motivated response the "obedience of faith." (Romans 1:5) |
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FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST We are not ashamed to be called by the name of Jesus
Christ because he is God's only Son, full of grace and truth.
His love is powerful and his commands bring complete fullness of
life. Therefore we seek to know and obey him more and more everyday, agreeing with his earliest disciples who said, "Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We
believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John
6:68-69) |
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MAKING DISCIPLES Jesus gave a clear command and call to his followers:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
(Matthew 28:18-20) We think it would be unloving to keep the
good news of forgiveness just to ourselves, and so we seek to
respectfully, but urgently, call lost sinners to abandon
self-indulgence and self-righteousness and instead receive God's
unmerited love in Jesus Christ, proclaiming a new way of living
as the Holy Spirit lives in us. |
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GROWING DISCIPLES This
new life in Jesus gets worked through us
progressively, not all at once--like a seed that grows into a
tree, and like yeast that works through a large batch of dough. Therefore we
intentionally nurture this transformation process of the Holy
Spirit, participating with Him in putting off our old lives of selfishness and
sinfulness and "putting on Christ" each day. As we grow and
develop and learn to be apprentices of Jesus, our expressions of
love become more deeply authentic. And when we fail, we are
freed by God's grace to openly confess it, turn from it, and try
again. |
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| FULLY EXPRESSING
LOVE Jesus calls us to full maturity in our spiritual growth, and this is revealed in specific love expressions that we intentionally remember to keep us fully grounded in the Kingdom of God and responsive to the Holy Spirit. We call them our "5 C's"...to Communicate Jesus' Message, to Celebrate Jesus' Presence, to Connect in Jesus' Body, to Cultivate Jesus' Life, and to Contribute in Jesus' Kingdom. These love expressions plunge us into the lifelong pursuit to attain "the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13), reflecting the full spectrum of our Savior's character and love. |
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| OUR BELIEFS We feel it is crucial to distinguish between "essential" beliefs and "non-essential but important" beliefs. Essential beliefs are those that Christians have held to be true from the Scriptures since the beginning of the Church, and which form the basis for defining what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Essential beliefs provide the framework for unity with believers in all times and places. Everything else--while important and worthy of study and a settled, personal conviction--is not essential to our identity as Christians and ought not bring about division in the Body of Christ. Here is what we affirm as the essential beliefs from Scripture: |
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| Beyond these basic essentials we believe there is much room for Christians to differ in their interpretations of Scripture, on what the Apostle Paul called “disputable matters,” (Romans 14:1) not related to the fundamental message of salvation in Jesus Christ. These differences need not keep us from enjoying strong unity and fellowship with each other. Therefore we have no creed, and we recognize the freedom each Christian has to interpret the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, without condemnation or judgment from other believers regarding the personal convictions they hold (Romans 14:2-23). | |
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OUR VALUES
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| Beloit First Christian Church 321 N. Mill Street Beloit, Kansas 67420 785-738-3071 • 785-738-3230 (fax) |
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