We believe that the local church is designed to function as a family. Of course, every family has its own rhythms, culture, and core values—the things that characterize the identity of a family.
We have identified three “family traits” that reflect what we believe as well as characterize how we endeavor to live. By God’s grace these values embody who we are and serve to guide our priorities as a church. In other words, these traits are convictions that shape who we are and all that we do.
1) Gospel-Centered
The gospel is the good news that Jesus came to save sinful humanity from ourselves and put an end to the separation that we have made between ourselves and God by our rebellion. God is holy and we are not. We have all rebelled against a holy God by choosing to disobey and disbelieve the God who created us. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to live a perfect, sinless life and die a rebel’s death on the cross in our place to satisfy the wrath of God that we deserve. Jesus resurrected from death to reconcile us to God. His completed work is a gift, available to anyone who would turn from sin to worship Jesus and be saved. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and humanity. He is the only one that can reconcile us to God, save us from ourselves and our sin to a life of knowing and loving God.
What Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection is so powerful that it restores sinful people into right relationship with God AND then it continually affects and transforms every area of our lives. Christianity is not about mere rules, advice, or performance-modification.
A gospel-centered church understands that true change of any kind, especially authentic heart transformation, cannot happen apart from the gospel of grace.
A gospel-centered church focuses on the gospel in all areas of the spiritual life of the church – prayer, teaching, worship, discipleship, social justice – all of this happens by the grace of God available because of the sacrificial death of Jesus to save sinners from death to life. Tim Keller put it this way, “The gospel is not the ABCs of the Christian life, but the A to Z.” All that we are and all that we do is a response to the reality that Jesus has saved sinners like us from death to life.
2) Missional
More than just supporting missionaries and missionary efforts, we believe that all Christians are missionaries. Missions is not to be seen as merely an activity of the church, but rather an attribute of who God is. God is a sending God in that He sent His Son into the world to save sinners from death to life. The love of Christ compels us to be reconciled to God and then be His agents of reconciliation. We are ambassadors of Christ in this world as God is making His appeal through us to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
To be missional is to be aware of what God is doing in the world around us and seek to partner with Him in what He is doing.
Because we have been united with God through Jesus Christ we are now partners with Him in His mission to seek and save the lost.
This means that we are disciples, making disciples. Practically this looks like a family of missionaries living with gospel intentionality in our everyday lives (Matt.28:18-20). For many, this is a radical shift from thinking that the church is service they attend or a club that they belong to. By God’s grace, we are God’s people, on God’s mission, to share God's good news, for God’s glory.
3) Multiplying
Our desire is to see Bellingham, Whatcom County, the Pacific Northwest, and all nations saturated with the gospel. We believe the most effective way this will happen is through churches planting churches. As the gospel continually breaks out and the Kingdom is continually expanding, we aim to be a church planting church plant.
We are passionate about church planting because we are passionate about Jesus.
Our goal is to plant new, healthy, like minded churches. This means that we are committed to investing time, finances, and energy into continually developing leaders. Our church functions as a training center so that as Jesus calls men to the work of pastoring and planting churches we can partner with Him in equipping, resourcing, sending, and supporting church planters.