This means we think everyone can belong before they believe. It means we start from the original blessing intuitively understood when a baby is born and a tree sprouts. We nurture an environment of presence and connection realizing that part of experiencing belonging means we learn to show up for ourselves and one another.

This also means we firmly believe that humans were made to be in relationship with their Creator. That each of us is made with a sacred value and that our ache and reach for belonging ultimately finds its home in knowing God through the abiding Holy Spirit and the revelation of Jesus as the Christ. We believe that as we allow ourselves to be known by God our sense of belonging enlarges. That the closer we get toward the heart of this loving, including God, the greater our horizon of belonging stretches.

We seek to follow after Jesus the Christ. This means that we not only value belief in Him as savior but we are also learning to think, act and behave in a way that is offered by the freedom, grace and creativity exemplified in Christ’s life. This path is summarized in the three main parts of our mission.

To serve others well, we need access to our hearts. Duty and obligation alone will not sustain us. In the Gospel of Matthew 22:34-40 Jesus is asked which commandment is most important. He responds by saying, “Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." This means we seek to nourish and grow our inner lives (loving ourselves and God) so we can serve others from the same reservoir—a full heart.

Without wonder our faith, and life, can become inflexible and rigid. Yet when an individual experiences freedom from toxic shame and excessive guilt, space for awe and wonder can grow. Jesus teaches out of this wonder with parables and metaphors about the kingdom of Heaven where he finds the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary. We engage a lifestyle of worship with the anticipation of the psalmist who said “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” Psalm 65:8

As humans we can’t help but create and we use this impulse with both noble and reckless intention. Jesus saw the material world infused with the blessing and goodness of God to the point that a sparrow does not fall without God's notice and care. Seeing through this divine paradigm means we get to take what God has given us and bless it, form it, shape it, build it, break and share it. Christ created in these ways with the bread and wine, mud on a blind man's eyes, building a community of followers, restoring those who had fallen ill, were possessed or maimed, and with water made wine.

In whatever we create- lives, jobs, projects, families or art we seek to do so as co laborers in a world of blessing- God’s kingdom come to earth. As the writer of Ephesians says “ we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works”

All these parts -- the vision and mission -- of Christ City Church lead us on a particular journey we’re excited to go on together…

Belong to community.
Believe in God.
Follow Christ.

The Pendulum