The heavens and the earth declare His glory, and mankind is His image. He made us to know Him, to love one another, and to govern the world He made, thereby faithfully representing Him throughout the universe. But we don’t do these things. We turned away from God and His purposes. We are not who He made us to be, nor do we want to be. And, truth be known, we want no part of Him. Therefore the world is not right. Regardless of faith, race, gender, or whatever, we know it.
In a way beyond understanding, God sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, who entered into this broken world to live as one of us, to suffer at the hands of a world that rejected Him, and to die, thereby bearing all its pain and evil and suffering and hatred. In so doing, he reconciled us to God. Rather than being a God far off, in Jesus God came near. Jesus not only revealed the Father to us, but gave us, through faith, the right to become children of God. Jesus was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and one day He will return to complete the restoration of creation to its intended order and purpose.
God loves the world—the whole world. Because this is so, God seeks to make Himself known to the world through a peculiar people who, moved by the Spirit of God, strive to know Jesus and to follow Him by loving one another, serving our community, and proclaiming in Boone and to the ends of the earth that Christ is the King over all, and the One through whom we find healing, purpose, and reconciliation with God.
Christian life is grounded in Christian community, fellowship that is shared with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we seek together to know Jesus, placing a high priority on corporate worship, fellowship, and prayer. Christian life is life together.
Christian love is expressed primarily in service, following the One who came not to be served, but to serve. Therefore, we seek opportunities, with time, treasure, and talent, to serve one another and our communities, particularly the vulnerable, in Jesus’ name. Christian love is practical generosity.
Christian witness involves proclamation of the message entrusted to the church, that Jesus Christ is the LORD over all, and that God in Christ is reconciling the world to Himself. Therefore, we seek to understand and obey the Bible, commending Christ to the world as the word of life. Christian proclamation brings life to the world.