OUR VALUES

WHAT WE BELIEVE

The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again. Through His death and resurrection, He offers forgiveness for our sins, restoration of our relationship with God, purpose and meaning in this life, and never-ending life in the future.

We cannot earn this salvation. Rather, it is a gift freely given to anyone who accepts it through trusting in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Therefore, once we have placed our faith and trust in Jesus, our salvation cannot be lost, and we are secure in Him forever.

This life-transforming decision is not the end; it is just the beginning. In love, God meets us where we are but doesn't leave us there. God desires that we mature in our faith to be more like Jesus and empowers us through the Holy Spirit to live a love-filled life. But that's not all. He has also given us relationships with others in the church for mutual support and encouragement. As we follow Jesus together, we will experience life as it was meant to be lived — filled with His joy and peace, with strength for today, and hope for tomorrow.

Transformation is a spiritual partnership between God and His children in which our desires, thinking, and ultimately our behavior is changed so that we progressively become more like Jesus.

At Grace Church, we want to experience spiritual transformation so that we become the people God made us to be. In order for this to happen, we must increase our desire and capacity to love God and love others.

When Jesus was on this earth, there was one command that He prioritized above all others by calling it His command: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

The evidence of spiritual transformation is most clearly seen when we demonstrate Christ-like love starting with those closest to us. In very simple terms, following Jesus means loving like Jesus. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

WHAT KEEPS US FROM LOVING LIKE JESUS?
Each of us is prewired by our choices, past experiences, and human nature. In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul describes this as our "old nature." Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God wants to transform our ways of thinking [renewing of our mind] so that we freely love others as Christ has loved us. This involves taking off our "old nature," or sinful nature, and putting on our "new nature." In order for this to happen, we need awareness of when we are thinking with our "old nature." We can then invite the Holy Spirit to transform us through the truth of Scripture, prayer, and relationships and "rewire" our thinking.

THE GOAL IS SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION
The more committed we are to loving like Jesus, the more awareness there will be of our old ways of thinking. It is hard to form new habits of grace, forgiveness, boldness, and compassion by ourselves. This is why the church is so important. God designed us to be in supportive, loving relationships. We need a team of safe, supportive people who share our desire to become like Christ by loving others.