OUR MISSION
“First Church is dedicated to making disciples of Jesus who make disciples for the glory of God and the good of the City.”
— First Church Mission Statement
First Church began as a dream shared over dinner and good conversation between friends in 1975. These friends were talking about their experience of church, their love for the city, and their deep desire for a community that could be a home for the many people they knew who were disconnected from either the church, the Christian faith, or both. They dreamed of a church that took Christian faith and life seriously but did so in a way that was winsome and intelligible within the contemporary context.
What we practice:
At First Church, we desire to actively participate in what God is doing in the world. This is a process of discernment as we ask, God what are you doing around us? We then ask how we should respond to God’s movement and participate with God. We participate corporately through these three core commitments as a church:
- Participate in God’s mission
- Love our community
- Serve the City.
To actively live out these commitments, we have core family practices as a church. These practices are how we live out what we believe and value. They bring us closer in relationship to God who first has moved towards us.
Receiving God’s Grace
We want to be careful to base everything we do out of an experience of God’s grace. We regularly receive God’s grace through confession, extending and receiving forgiveness, reflecting on our identity in Christ, and in the practice of receiving communion as an act of worship.
Shaped by Scripture
We believe that in order to live our mission of loving our community in the name of Jesus, we must be regularly shaped by the Scriptures as one of the central ways we hear from God. Without a regular lifestyle of being influenced by the Scriptures, we will not be able to discern what God is doing around us and how we are being invited to participate in this.We will cultivate practices of listening to the scriptures together regularly in a variety of ways.
Sacrificial Giving
We want to live in such a way that we make our resources available to those in need. This involves giving of our time and talent in service to God’s leading in our lives. It involves a commitment to financially support the ministry of our church on a regular basis. We also want to be ready to respond by giving sacrificially when particular special needs come to the attention of our church.
Prayer
Prayer is foundational for us, with a special emphasis on developing discernment regarding God’s activity all around us. Through a life of prayer as a church, we hope to be more and more aware of how God is inviting us to participate in God’s mission. We desire to make prayer a key part of our personal spiritual life. We also practice corporate prayer and discernment together.
What we believe about:
God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:1, 26; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1, 3; 4:24; Acts 5:3, 4; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 4:5, 6; II Corinthians 13:14)
Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13)
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide. (John 16:5-15; Romans 8:16, 23, 26, 27)
The Bible
We believe that the Bible is the completely and uniquely inspired Word of God, inerrant in its original writings. The Bible is our supreme and final authority in faith and life. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20, 21)
Brokenness
We believe that man and woman were created in the image of God; that they sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and become guilty sinners in thought, word and deed. (Genesis 1:26, 27; 3:1, 24; Romans 3:25; 5:12-18; I John 1:8).
God’s Response
We believe that the Lord Jesus died for our sins as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; that He rose victorious from the grave on the third day; and that all who believe in Him are justified by His shed blood. (Isaiah 53; Matthew 20:28; John 3:16; Romans 3:24-26; 5:1; I Corinthians 15:3; II Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7; I John 2:2; Matthew 28:6; Romans 10:9; and I Corinthians 15:14)
Redemption
We believe that all who come by grace through faith to accept the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.(John 3:3, 5; 1:12, 13; James 1:18; I Peter 1:23; Ephesians 2:8, 9)
Future Hope
We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Matthew 24:42-51; Matthew 25:1-13)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]