In an area like El Paso many people are religious but not everyone knows the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. Often following Jesus is confused with mere religious observance or ritual. Without Jesus at the center of our faith religion can be lifeless and cold. Too many believe "the gospel" is nothing more than "do more and try harder to make God accept you."
But the good news of Jesus is better news than we think. The true gospel (or “good news”) of Jesus Christ is that we can't ever obey enough to pay for our sins, but Christ died so that if we believe in him we'll be accepted by God. Who Jesus is and what he has done becomes the center of our faith, giving us life and powering our growth as believers.
The gospel makes us people who say: We love Jesus. We love our city. And we want our city to love Jesus.
Our Vision: We long to see gospel renewal in the city of El Paso, and through it, the world.
- Gospel Renewal: We long to see people renewed by the gospel of Jesus and that renewal spread to every area of life.
- El Paso: We love our city and want to see it renewed as people encounter Jesus and bring glimpses of gospel renewal to workplaces, families, neighborhoods, and communities.
- The World: We want to be part of what God is doing in the world today and in our city. We have a unique opportunity to reach far beyond our city limits by reaching people here.
Our Mission: Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus who follow Him in every area of life, live as a family, and witness to the world.
In Acts 1 Jesus sends His disciples out, with His power, on His mission. What is that mission? There are many good things the church does and can do but Jesus is clear about the specific mission given to His disciples in Matthew 28 when He says “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”
Our mission is to make disciples. A disciple is someone who follows his teacher everywhere, in every area of life. This mission means that we ourselves learn to follow Jesus as disciples in every area life and to look more and more like Him in all we do. And it also means we seek to help those around us do the same.
Identities
What does it look like to pursue this mission and vision? Three identities help us explain this:
- Disciples: It’s all about Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection are of first importance in our lives and our church (1 Cor 15:1-5). Our passion is to see people know Jesus and follow Jesus as disciples.
- Family: Jesus calls us not just to follow him alone, but together with other disciples of Jesus. We are the “household” or family of God together and we encourage, support, and strengthen one another.
- Witnesses: Jesus was sent on a mission and now He sends us on a mission (John 20:21) as His witnesses (Acts 1). Together we introduce others to Jesus by declaring the message of Jesus and then living lives that demonstrate his power.