Questions Christians Ask…

Here is a list of questions we get from christians who visit our community. We know that we look different to the trained Christian eye so we want to try and help you get acclimated to why we do things the way we do.

If you have questions that are not listed below let us know.

(This page is currently in the process of being edited)

Questions:

Why do you have artists painting during your worship services?

There are a few reasons for this. Practically speaking, some people are more able to listen and concentrate on worship and the sermon if they are using their hands and not sitting still. Some people are artists and painting gives them a way to listen better and even express what they are hearing on a canvas. You’ll actually find some people knitting during our services as well for this same reason. Another reason is more theoretical. We do believe that God is a creative God and that he is honored as we are creative. Because of this, we believe that art can be another form of worshiping the Creator.

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Are you guys part of the emerging church movement?

The short answer is no.  Since the Emerging Church movement is such a diverse group of people from many different theological persuasions its not something by which we want to define ourselves. At the same time, this question demands some further definition and our answer usually depends on what someone is implying when they ask it.  If you define this topic like Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bloger do in their book, Emerging Churches where emerging churches tend to focus is on things like: identifying with Jesus, welcoming the stranger, transforming secular space, emphasis on community, serving generously outside their community, moving from consumers to participants and leading as a body, than the answer would be “yes.”  But, we know that emerging churches are not always defined that way. Sometimes they are defined as denying truth, embracing pluralism, watering down the gospel, denying the authority of the scripture, avoiding accountability, no leadership and even candles in a worship service.  if this is the way you define emerging churches than we are definitely not one!  We believe Jesus is truth. We realize pluralism is a reality and seek to speak the truth in the midst of this cultural climate.  We fully trust and count on the authority of scripture. We are passionate about holding each other accountable to Christ-likeness and holiness.  We believe that God has called leaders to lead local bodies of Christ and we think candles are pretty much irrelevant to worship (though, they can create a nice ambiance every once and a while). 

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Who are you affiliated with?

We are affiliated officially with a network of Churches called the Ecclesia Network. This network serves us in many different ways.  We are provided with some accountability and coaching, networking and most importantly partnership in mission. 

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Why do you meet in a warehouse?

Again, this is one of those questions with multiple levels of answers.  First and foremost, when we were no longer able to meet in our previous space (we rented space on Sunday mornings at a local community center) we began looking for our own permanent location that would give us a sense of place and be a hub for our community.  It quickly became clear that it would cost way too much money to build a traditional church building.  In our county space is already at a minimum so it would have been difficult to even find land. From the beginning one of our goals has been to keep our overhead and expenses at a minimum so we could be as generous as possible with those in need and out of our community.  Practically speaking, the most affordable and flexible space for us was industrial space.  

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What’s with the life size aluminum knight?

Uh, we’re not really sure.  He showed up in our space one night after an art show and never left. 

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What’s your model for leadership?

We believe that God has gifted and called all different kinds of leaders while at the same time he has called all of us to be deeply involved in the life of the community.  We have a team of community leaders and Pastors/Elders who lead and guide our mission. 

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What role do Children play on Sunday mornings?

Children are a big part our family and we are continually working hard to make sure we keep them there.  We have a traditional nursery and children’s church for children under the age of 10.  We have an excellent children’s ministry director and group of volunteers that love working with our children. You can read more about how we view kids’ involvement in the church here. 

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Who are all the people up front on Sunday mornings?

People who are new to our community usually are struck by the number of people who are up front on a sunday morning.  This is primarily due to our Liturgy Team’s involvement in the service.  We have a fairly typical order of service that includes: Singing, Call to Worship, Greeting Time, Prayer time, Scripture reading, Sermon, Communion & benediction (not necessarily always in that order).  With the exception of the Sermon and Communion, each one of these pieces of our service is led by someone from this team.  The sermon is usually by one of our pastors, however we have guests and people from our community share on a regular basis. Our communion time is always led by someone from our Ministry Leadership Team.

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What are your beliefs about the Bible and Jesus?

Very simply, we believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God that testifies to the truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Messiah for whom the people of Israel were awaiting. As Messiah, Jesus Christ has defeated death through his death, burial and resurrection. We eagerly await the future when God will dwell with His people and all things will be made new (Rev. 21).

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What are your core beliefs?

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Why do you take communion every Sunday?

While there is no explicit command to participate in the Lord’s supper every time we gather together, we do take the examples we see in the early church as good patterns to follow.

Acts 20:7 reads, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread…”

Acts 2:42 reads, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

In 1 Corinthians 11:25 Paul writes, “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” 

We believe that our life together as a community, joined with the global and historical body of Christ, is shaped by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In partaking in this liturgical practice, we follow the words of jesus and “proclaim his death until he comes.”

Some people have asked if having communion every week somehow makes it less meaningful. Our first thought is that if the proclamation of the Lord’s death somehow loses its meaning, this is not the fault of communion. In fact, we take this practice very seriously and it serves as a great place of grounding for our worship and mission. It reminds us each and every week that our reason for existence is rooted in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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