St. Johns Christian is a place where we believe that “You can come as you are……and you’ll be loved because of His grace!”
Our Purpose and Mission:
Our purpose and mission is a journey for life change in…
LOVING GOD * LOVING PEOPLE * MEETING NEEDS
We say LOVING GOD is reaching up.
Jesus summarized all the commandments into two and He said the first and most important one was to love God. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 This means to honor God in every area of our life.
Jesus said the second most important commandment was loving people.
We say LOVING PEOPLE is reaching out.
In Mark 12:31 Jesus said “…Love your neighbor as yourself.” We best express love for people as we serve them through ministry and share with them the Good News about Jesus. We express Love with our actions and with our words.
The Christian life is all about relationship. Loving God and Loving People are the two foundational principles upon which everything else is built and it is the key to the third part of our mission statement. If we do the first two, that will lead us to this third one…meeting needs.
We believe in MEETING NEEDS within the body of Christ and our community because we have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works and this is the natural result of loving God and loving people. This is a life-long process of growing in Christ and understanding the principles found in His Word for living life.
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
OUR CORE VALUES FOR LIFE CHANGE!
Scripture
“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness…” 2 Tim. 3:16
We believe the bible is life-changing. We are committed to the Spirit-anointed teaching, preaching and personal study of God’s Word.
Prayer
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” James 5:16
We believe prayer is life-changing. We are committed to individual and corporate prayer as a demonstration of our complete reliance on God.
Evangelism
‘I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10
We believe the Good News of Jesus Christ is life-changing. We are committed to reaching lost people with the message of God’s grace.
Community
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
We believe a biblically functioning community is life- changing. We are committed to being a church characterized by loving relationships.
Worship
“Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.” Psalm 95:6, 7
We believe authentic worship is life-changing. We are committed to worship that brings glory to God, builds up the body of Christ and is an attractive witness to the unbelieving world.
Serving
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” I Peter 4:10
At SJCC we will:
1. Pursue and join God in what He is doing.
God is alive. He is working out His purposes in our time and wants to involve us in what He is doing. He is pursuing us and wants us to seek Him and know His heart. We can do this by creating environments where God is free to do His work, where people can see and experience God, and where people are encouraged to respond to Him in faith and obedience.
Scriptures: Psalm 33:10,11; John 5:17,19; John 12:49,50; Acts 13:1-3
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Psalm 42:1,2
2. Reveal God in relevant and innovative ways to all generations.
Ultimate truth is found in the Person of God. God wants to be known. In tailor-made ways He reveals Himself to us through His Spirit. He wants to use His people and His Scriptures to communicate who He is, what He is doing and how we are to respond to Him. Guided by His Spirit, we are to express Him in creative and meaningful ways where we listen and cooperate with His working in our lives. Since God’s kingdom continues through all generations, He wants us to pass on the message of His Son to upcoming generations.
Scriptures: Psalm 78:1-7; Matthew 9:14-17; John 8:31,32; Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 2:1,2; Hebrews 4:12,13
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:21
3. Be life-long learners of Jesus Christ.
God desires to have a personal, intimate relationship with each person that begins now and continues into eternity. We can know, love and experience Him through our relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. We respond by following Jesus and being changed to be more like Him.
Scriptures: John 5:39,40; Romans 12:1,2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22,23
“A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40
4. Be a church that embodies authentic, Biblical community.
God created His followers to be in deep, authentic relationships with others. He wants us to learn how to love and help each other live out our relationships with Him. We are to minister to one another and those without Christ through community in the context of small groups or teams where people can be loved, known, served and celebrated.
Scriptures: Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34,35;Ephesians 4:1-3,15;Ephesians 4:29-5:2
“ . . . live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
5. Open our lives to other lost and broken people. 
We are all God’s image bearers. Because every person matters to God, we have the opportunity to be involved in His redemptive purposes both locally and around the world. God wants us to come alongside others in their journey toward Christ. We can share our own stories and point them to Christ, the one who can heal and make us whole. We are to create environments where people can struggle, ask questions and pursue God.
Scriptures: Isaiah 49:1-6; Luke 19:1-10; Acts 26:15-18;1 Timothy 2:3-7; James 1:27-2:13
“ . . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10
6. Unleash all of our God-given gifts together.
God is building His kingdom through His people. We can participate in advancing His kingdom by functioning in harmony with who we are in Him and the gifts He has given us. We can do more together by functioning as teams where we discover, use and develop our gifts to further His purposes.
Scriptures: Romans 12:1-8; Ephesians 4:1-16; 1 Peter 2:9,10;1 Peter 4:10,11
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Vision and Mission
St. Johns Christian is a place where we believe that “You can come as you are……and you’ll be loved because of His grace!”
Our Purpose and Mission:
Our purpose and mission is a journey for life change in…
LOVING GOD * LOVING PEOPLE * MEETING NEEDS
We say LOVING GOD is reaching up.
Jesus summarized all the commandments into two and He said the first and most important one was to love God. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 This means to honor God in every area of our life.
Jesus said the second most important commandment was loving people.
We say LOVING PEOPLE is reaching out.
In Mark 12:31 Jesus said “…Love your neighbor as yourself.” We best express love for people as we serve them through ministry and share with them the Good News about Jesus. We express Love with our actions and with our words.
The Christian life is all about relationship. Loving God and Loving People are the two foundational principles upon which everything else is built and it is the key to the third part of our mission statement. If we do the first two, that will lead us to this third one…meeting needs.
We believe in MEETING NEEDS within the body of Christ and our community because we have been created in Christ Jesus to do good works and this is the natural result of loving God and loving people. This is a life-long process of growing in Christ and understanding the principles found in His Word for living life.
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
OUR CORE VALUES FOR LIFE CHANGE!
Scripture
“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness…” 2 Tim. 3:16
We believe the bible is life-changing. We are committed to the Spirit-anointed teaching, preaching and personal study of God’s Word.
Prayer
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” James 5:16
We believe prayer is life-changing. We are committed to individual and corporate prayer as a demonstration of our complete reliance on God.
Evangelism
‘I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10
We believe the Good News of Jesus Christ is life-changing. We are committed to reaching lost people with the message of God’s grace.
Community
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
We believe a biblically functioning community is life- changing. We are committed to being a church characterized by loving relationships.
Worship
“Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.” Psalm 95:6, 7
We believe authentic worship is life-changing. We are committed to worship that brings glory to God, builds up the body of Christ and is an attractive witness to the unbelieving world.
Serving
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” I Peter 4:10
At SJCC we will:
1. Pursue and join God in what He is doing.
God is alive. He is working out His purposes in our time and wants to involve us in what He is doing. He is pursuing us and wants us to seek Him and know His heart. We can do this by creating environments where God is free to do His work, where people can see and experience God, and where people are encouraged to respond to Him in faith and obedience.
Scriptures: Psalm 33:10,11; John 5:17,19; John 12:49,50; Acts 13:1-3
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Psalm 42:1,2
2. Reveal God in relevant and innovative ways to all generations.
Ultimate truth is found in the Person of God. God wants to be known. In tailor-made ways He reveals Himself to us through His Spirit. He wants to use His people and His Scriptures to communicate who He is, what He is doing and how we are to respond to Him. Guided by His Spirit, we are to express Him in creative and meaningful ways where we listen and cooperate with His working in our lives. Since God’s kingdom continues through all generations, He wants us to pass on the message of His Son to upcoming generations.
Scriptures: Psalm 78:1-7; Matthew 9:14-17; John 8:31,32; Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 2:1,2; Hebrews 4:12,13
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:21
3. Be life-long learners of Jesus Christ.
God desires to have a personal, intimate relationship with each person that begins now and continues into eternity. We can know, love and experience Him through our relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. We respond by following Jesus and being changed to be more like Him.
Scriptures: John 5:39,40; Romans 12:1,2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22,23
“A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40
4. Be a church that embodies authentic, Biblical community.
God created His followers to be in deep, authentic relationships with others. He wants us to learn how to love and help each other live out our relationships with Him. We are to minister to one another and those without Christ through community in the context of small groups or teams where people can be loved, known, served and celebrated.
Scriptures: Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34,35;Ephesians 4:1-3,15;Ephesians 4:29-5:2
“ . . . live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
5. Open our lives to other lost and broken people.
We are all God’s image bearers. Because every person matters to God, we have the opportunity to be involved in His redemptive purposes both locally and around the world. God wants us to come alongside others in their journey toward Christ. We can share our own stories and point them to Christ, the one who can heal and make us whole. We are to create environments where people can struggle, ask questions and pursue God.
Scriptures: Isaiah 49:1-6; Luke 19:1-10; Acts 26:15-18;1 Timothy 2:3-7; James 1:27-2:13
“ . . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10
6. Unleash all of our God-given gifts together.
God is building His kingdom through His people. We can participate in advancing His kingdom by functioning in harmony with who we are in Him and the gifts He has given us. We can do more together by functioning as teams where we discover, use and develop our gifts to further His purposes.
Scriptures: Romans 12:1-8; Ephesians 4:1-16; 1 Peter 2:9,10;1 Peter 4:10,11
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10