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The idea of vision is linked
closely to faith. It is rooted in faith; without faith, there
can be no vision, for "faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) The
vision of Real Life
Community Church finds its life in precisely that: the
certainty that God will bring to life the dream he has begun in this
work.
The vision of Real Life Community Church is to impact the greater River Valley are with the good news of Jesus Christ. We will be a purpose-driven, disciple-making church, which places a strong emphasis on drawing the people of our communities to the amazing love of Christ. This vision comprises several expectations: We expect to connect people with Christ This is central to our purpose aspect of sharing God's love. The River Valley area is filled with people who need Jesus. Many of our neighbors, family memboers, co-workers, and friends are living and dying without a saving relationship with Christ. They need his love and grace; we are committed to sharing it with them. We expect to connect people with people We live in a disconnected society, filled with hurting, lonely people. People crave connection thorugh relationships. The "real relationships" aspect of our purpose addresses this reality, which follows the pattern of ministry demonstrated by Jesus. Before people can understand the love of God, whom they cannot see, they will respond to real love in the lives of Christians, whom they can see. We expect real faith in the real world It has often been said of Christians that we are too "heavenly minded" to be any earthly good. Real Life Community Church expects to deal in reality as it is, not as we wish it were or as we would like to pretend it is. Sometimes reality in a sinful, fallen world is grim, gritty, and ugly. We do not shy away from it, for the ultimate reality, the reality of God's love in Christ, has overcome the world. (John 16:33) We expect to stand out by authentic Christian living Those who are in Christ are changed by the relationship, and holy living is the natural result of the presence of God's Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. Because of this, we expect those around us to see that Real Life Community Church is drastically different from the surrounding society and to recongnize that this is the work of Christ. We expect dynamic, intimate worship It is easy to merely sing songs without really entering into worship. We will strive to constantly go beyond musical performance to worship in spirit and in truth, engaging in heart, soul, and mind. We will utilize the most effective musical styles, instruments, facilities, and technology at our disposal to foster an environment in which our worship interacts with the heart of God. In this we must never lose sight of the fact that true worship is more than music; it is a lifestyle of grateful service to the King. We expect to grow larger As we live out our purpose, the Lord will add soul to his Kingdom. We will grow, not by transfer of Christians from other churches, but by the conversion of new believers. We expect that this grows will result in the planting of new churches, which in turn will grown and plant other churchers. We expect to grow deeper Real relationships must involve helping others to become more Christ-like. A major part of the vision of Real Life Community Church is to bring the realities of life, resulting in meaning ful discipleship. We will foster this grows thorugh expository preaching, interactive studies in small groups settings, and a systematic Christian growth cirriculum for members. |