Mission and Beliefs

Grace Church exists to develop all people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

Everything we do is designed to help people discover and take their next step of faith as we creatively lead and teach families toward life change.

Our Values

There’s always a next step.

We hunger for authenticity and Christ-like character in the step by step process of spiritual growth.

_{Philippians 3:12-14}

Life change is an invitation away.

We are committed to inviting all people to experience life-changing love and hope found in Jesus.

_{Matthew 28:18-20}

Saved people serve people.

We equip people to discover and employ their unique gifts, talents, and experiences to serve God and others.

_{Mark 10:45}

Life is better together.

We value loving relationships with others and understand you cannot do life alone.

_{Ecclesiastes 4:8-12}

It all belongs to God.

We inspire each other to give everything we have to God in worship, understanding that all we have and all we are belong to Him.

_{1 Corinthians 29:10-13}

Our Beliefs

We declare that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God as revealed in the Bible, the written Word of God, is the only Savior and Lord. He is the center of our shared experience of true biblical unity.

The Evangelical Core - We affirm our commitment to the following core truths of the Bible which we share with other genuine believers in Jesus Christ:

Commitments + Practices

We seek to understand the intent of each biblical writer by using grammatical, historical, and contextual principles of interpretation, ⁶⁶ focused on Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, ⁶⁷ and oriented by grace. We accept the absolute authority of the Bible rather than that of creeds, traditions, or leaders. ⁶⁸

66 – Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:25-27, 67 – 1 Corinthians 2:14, 68 – 1 Corinthians 4:6

We commit to an ongoing study, understanding and application of God’s unchanging truth in our constantly changing world, whether personal, social or cultural. ⁶⁹

69 – Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Chronicles 12:32

We affirm that true believers put their trust in Jesus Christ and are kept forever in the saving grace of God through His promises and His power. ⁷⁰ Every believer has been eternally justified, ⁷¹ blessed with all spiritual blessings, ⁷² and set free from all condemnation. ⁷³

70 – John 10:28-29; 1 Peter 1:3-5, 71 – Romans 3:24, Romans 4:25, 72 – Ephesians 1:3, 73 – Romans 8:1

We affirm that the Holy Spirit’s works of baptizing, ⁷⁴ sealing, ⁷⁵ and indwelling ⁷⁶ occur simultaneously with regeneration and are the possession of every true believer. The Holy Spirit gives each believer a unique combination of spiritual gifts for the purpose of serving God and people. ⁷⁷

74 – 1 Corinthians 12:13, 75 – Ephesians 1:13, 76 – Romans 8:11, 77 – Romans 12:6

We affirm that Jesus Christ gave ordinances to the church: Baptism testifies to the reality of our salvation and identifies us as disciples of the Triune God. We therefore encourage the practice of triune immersion. ⁷⁸ Communion testifies to our justification, sanctification and glorification, which are accomplished through Jesus Christ. We, therefore, encourage the practice of these symbols: the bread and cup, the washing of feet, and the sharing of a meal. ⁷⁹

78 – Matthew 28:19; Acts 8:36-38, 10:47, 79 – 1 Corinthians 11:20, 23-26; Luke 22:14-20; John 13:14; Jude 12

We encourage the practice of additional biblical symbolic actions, such as anointing with oil and prayer for the sick, ⁸⁰ laying on of hands for ministry, ⁸¹

80 – James 5:13-16, 81 – 1 Timothy 4:14

We affirm that the Church began on a particular day of Pentecost when our ascended Lord sent His Spirit to the waiting disciples. ⁸² The present Church age will come to an end when our Lord comes in the air to remove His Church from the earth ⁸³ and fulfill His promises to Israel. ⁸⁴ The second coming of Christ is the personal, physical, and visible return from heaven of Christ to earth ⁸⁵ with His Church, ⁸⁶ to establish His thousand-year reign ⁸⁷ before instituting His eternal kingdom. ⁸⁸

82 – Acts 2:1, 37-47, 83 – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; John 14:3, 84 – Zechariah 12; Romans 11:26-29, 85 – Acts 1:11; Zechariah 14:4, 86 – Revelation 19:11-16; Colossians 3:4, 87 – Revelation 20:4, 88 – 1 Corinthians 15:24-25

We affirm the local church is God’s primary means for the fulfillment of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸⁹

89 – Acts 2:42-47, 5:14, 9:31, 11:24-26, 14:21-28, 16

Additional positions and practices of this church can be found in the Grace Church Position Statements document approved by the Board which are incorporated herein by reference.