TREASURING CHRIST CHURCH will seek to glorify God in Christ by...

1. ...leading people to treasure Jesus Christ by faith,

2. ...deepening the maturity and covenantal community of the church,

3. ...pursuing racial harmony,

4. ...ministering to the poor,

5. ...planting and reforming churches among all peoples.

The Vision Explained

Treasuring Christ Church will seek to glorify God in Christ by...

...leading people to treasure Jesus Christ by faith.

We desire to lead people to genuine and ongoing faith in Jesus Christ, which involves turning away from the fleeting pleasures of sin unto the superior and lasting pleasures of Jesus Christ (John 3:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

...deepening the maturity and covenantal community of the church.

We desire to help sustain the faith of those who turn to Jesus Christ by faithfully proclaiming and upholding the whole counsel of God. We want believers to move from initial faith into applying biblical principles to every aspect of life, thus creating a community that is continuously growing up into maturity in Christ. Such maturity necessarily involves God�s people in deep and lasting covenantal relationships of encouragement, edification, sacrificial love, and accountability.

...pursuing racial harmony.

Since Jesus Christ died to break down divisions between races (Ephesians 2:11-22; Revelation 5:9-10), since he has brought together into one body Jew and Gentile, black and white, man and woman, young and old, slave and free, rich and poor (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 3:6; 4:4-6; Colossians 3:11), and since the manifold wisdom of God and the love of God are put on display through such unity in diversity in the church (Ephesians 3:10; John 17:23), we desire to build a worshiping community that unifies these diverse groups around the gospel within one local church.

Moreover, we long not to compete with area churches but to labor alongside them for the common cause of truth. We desire to play a part in creating community- and city-wide unity among churches around the central teachings and practical outworkings of the gospel. We believe, however, that such unity is not served by simply holding to the lowest common denominator of doctrines but is actually ignited and sustained by a widespread deepening of doctrinal understanding and agreement among believers (Ephesians 4:11-16). If we do not preserve and increase understanding of truth, we will ultimately divide�often over trivial matters.

...ministering to the poor.

We desire not only to proclaim the word of God with our mouths but also to work out the word of God with our hands. We believe that the gospel, while not eradicating all pain before Jesus returns, works to transform outer sufferings in our broken world as it transforms the inner darkness of human hearts. Therefore, a fundamental part of our vision, because it overflows from fidelity to the gospel, is to help people break cycles of poverty, violence, hunger, personal and institutional racial tensions, poor education, broken families, etc.

...planting and reforming churches among all peoples.

As we labor to sustain and increase the faith and maturity of the believing community, we desire to equip the saints for the work of worldwide ministry. We hope to play a part in spreading a great vision of God to the community, the region, the state, the country, and the uttermost parts of the earth. We desire to plant new churches in areas that lack a faithful gospel witness and to bring reformation, restoration, and revitalization to existing churches.