Beliefs, Vision, Mission, and Core Values
VISION
The Park Community is a freely gathered, sacrificial people led by the Holy Spirit. We live in submission to one another under the headship of Christ, joining God in the renewal of all things.
MISSION
To create environments for people to grow in their passion for God, compassion for people, and wisdom in everyday decisons.
CORE VALUES
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts chapter 2 gives us a beautiful picture of the early church. The core of this early Gospel movement is described by people meeting with one another, sharing meals, and sharing the stories of God’s great deeds. The early church looked less like a weekly meeting and more like a family meal. We are adopted into the family of God and belong to one another. Therefore, we are long suffering with one another, transparent, encouraging, and honest.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
As we relate to one another as a family we are called to a culture of Sacrifice. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That’s a high calling, it requires you to love your neighbor as much as, or even more, than you love yourself. We are stewards of the gifts of God. Our money, time, and gifts are given to build up the people of God. The sacrifice of Christ is our example. What might our city look like if we were willing to give all of ourselves, all of our money, all of our time?
This is a beautiful encounter with Jesus. Two of his disciples are leaving Jerusalem, defeated. The man they concluded was the messiah was crucified. The revolution they bought into and sacrificed for seems to have come to an end. As the approach the village of Emmaus the resurrected Jesus presents himself. Can you imagine the conversation as “He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures.” Even still it wasn’t until they broke break together that the men realized they are speaking to Jesus. It’s in the presence of Jesus that they reflect, “our hearts were burning.” When we gather together on Sunday’s, meet homes throughout the week, or spend some time alone on the back porch with a cup of coffee and the scriptures we should often reflect, our hearts are burning. As a community we want to lean in to the presence of the living God, to drink deeply of the Spirit, and to see God’s mighty hand move in our generation.
Jesus calls His followers to a life of submission. Submission is an invitation to leadership. To follow His lead is to submit to His ways. This is lived out on a personal and community level. We are to individually submit ourselves to God in living according to His truth and ask the Holy Spirit for the power to do so. We are to follow the local leaders of the church as we gather to worship, pray, serve and apply God’s word to our lives. And finally, as a community of Jesus followers grows in it’s reverence for Him, our hearts find joy in submitting to one another.
Not only are Christ followers called to join together for worship and celebration, we are called to join with Him on His mission to proclaim the gospel to those who’ve never heard it and make disciples of all nations. Our faith is personal but it’s not private. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are sent into the world as His witnesses to bear His message.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.
We believe that the God of the universe is at work healing and remaking the whole world. We see this in our own lives and God invites us to join in with Him in the ongoing work of making all things new. Following Jesus means that we a part of this mission and He invites us to become agents of renewal in our neighborhoods, spheres of influence and our city as a whole.
BELIEFS
We are a non-denominational church that believes in the authority of the Christian scriptures for our life and practice. We hold to the essential orthodox Christian beliefs as best expressed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, as well as the Evangelical Statement of Faith.
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God;
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried;
and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life;
who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the infallible, authoritative Word of God.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.