Posted By: Tim Mannin
ENTRY NINE in our writing series, EIGHTEEN, which is all about some of in's and out's of this church.

The saying “we need to lay some groundwork” infers that we are about to get real serious.
So I don’t want to scare you…but, we need to lay some groundwork.

There is a common denominator for those who are business minded, organizational strategists, or entrepreneurial developers that most agree on. They all agree that you have to start somewhere. So where do you start? It’s probably a good idea to start with what is most important to the business, organization, or development.

So here we are, a church plant in the process of developing. So what is most important to us? Well, the easy answer is to say something like, making disciples, loving God, loving others, etc… Obviously those things are essential. However, in the early days of this church we’ve landed on some important W O R D S.

I have the conviction that words matter a lot. Who we say we are matters and what words we use to express our church to others matters. So in the development of this church we chose some words to help lay the groundwork to describe some of the work that God is doing within this church.

We chose words that articulated our dream as a church.
And, we chose words that articulated some of the things we value most as a church.
So here they are…

Our dream is to bring life to our city
by loving God and living the gospel.
This is a pretty simple statement, but it carries deep meaning for who our church is becoming. "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). Jesus is the source of life and through proclaiming and living the gospel story we can see life restored in our city. Our mission to advance the gospel!

Here are a few things we value...

LOVE: The gospel positions love as life's greatest commandment and the virtue that binds all things together. (Luke 10:27, Col 3:14)  This is our greatest value as a church and the value that runs through all of our other values.
THE CITY: The gospel makes us a church for the city (Micah 6:8-9).
RESTORATION: The gospel restores the broken, hurting, and captive (Isaiah 61:1-4).
DISCIPLESHIP: The gospel commissions us to make disciples (Matt 28:18-20).
CULTURE: The gospel shapes culture (Col 3:1-17).
COMMUNITY: The gospel creates authentic community (Acts 2:42-47).
WORSHIP: The gospel leads us to worship the one true God (Romans 12:1).

So, there you have it. That’s the real serious groundwork of a few w o r d s that matter to us. These words keep us honest and centered on what we must always be thinking about, praying for, and doing within our city.

We have a simple hope that we live our dream and care about our values.