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THIS IS US
Grace Fellowship Community Church
Beheld s Beloved s Boundless
Why Are We
Here?
Grace
Fellowship Community Church exists as a concrete expression of the Body of
Christ, to worship the living God and to bear witness to God’s love in word,
deed, and life. As an outgrowth of this vision, the mission of Grace Fellowship
Community Church is to be God’s broken and beloved people, formed for creative
worship, unity-amidst-diversity, and holistic ministry in San Francisco and
around the world.
In
the beginning, God's creation was one of perfect and complete harmony; one in
which everything and everyone belonged and were valued; all
of the diverse parts of creation integrated and aligned with the
physical and ethical laws ordained by God; all parts worked together with no
discord between them (shalom).
But
this has been shattered by the tragedy of sin. Instead of being a faithful
steward of God's creation, humankind has used its freedom and power for
self-gratification, exploiting and abusing nature, and destroying rather than
nurturing life.
In
response to this brokenness, God has initiated restoration, reconciliation, and
redemption in and through communities of people who reflect God’s heart of
love, kindness, grace, mercy, joy, patience, faithfulness, and compassion to
all.
Grace
Fellowship Community Church seeks to be such a community. In our life together,
under God's love and sovereignty, with each other, and with the rest of
creation, we want to be a sanctuary for healing and reconciliation and to
advocate for those who are being overlooked, excluded or marginalized.
Although
the arc of the moral universe is long, God’s ongoing work of restoration will
one day culminate in perfect and complete harmony for all of creation.
(Genesis
1-3; 2 Cor. 5:20-21; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Revelation 21-22)
In light of this salvation history, Who Are We?
●
We are beloved children of the Triune God. Each of us bears God’s image of harmonious love between
Divine Parent, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are invited into a trusting
relationship with our Creator who first loved us and is worthy of our faith,
our hope, and our love. The invitation set before each of us is to grow more
fully into that identity in all its mystery, unity, diversity, and glory - as
individuals, as a community of faith, and as messengers of the good news of
this invitation to all people. (Genesis 1:27, John 3:16; John 15:9-13; Romans
8:38-39, Galatians 3:28-29; 1 Peter 2:9-10)
●
We are worshipers of the Triune God. We have been created to love God with all our heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and we do so joyfully in response to God’s love. We seek to
worship God with our entire lives in the daily practice of the ordinary, as
well as in our life together, because of who God is and what God has done, is
doing, and will do. As such, we become more aware of lesser gods which vie for
our allegiance. We seek to worship God—Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit—and no other. When we worship, we affirm the glory of the
Triune God and move toward becoming whole. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:29;
Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 4:19)
●
We are the continuation of the biblical story. We are the people of the living Word, Jesus Christ, to
whom the written word of scripture bears witness. We
seek to follow the person of Jesus, not to adhere literally to the bible, which
only testifies to Jesus. That said, the Bible is the most reliable source of
the Jesus story, which is ultimately a love story. We rely on the Holy Spirit
who alone enables us to encounter Jesus the Word through what otherwise would
be mere words at best, weapons of oppression at worst. As followers of the
living Word, we are actors of the ongoing biblical story, even as we believe
that Christ is the final revelation. (John 1:1-3; John 5:39; 2 Corinthians
3:16-17; 1 John 5:11-13)
●
We are a community of hope.
We are united by our shared conviction that our hope for ourselves as
individuals, the church, and the whole human family is found in the teaching,
life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his promised return. Thus we can look to the future, entrusting ourselves to the
transforming work of the Spirit and bearing witness to God’s love,
reconciliation, and redemption. This hope binds us together in unity that goes
beyond agreement in the midst of our diversity.
(Isaiah 40:31; Romans 8:18-25; Hebrews 6:17-20; 1 Peter 1:3-6; Revelation 7:9)
●
We are a people living in the present in
light of God’s secure future. As
a community, we practice peace, justice, dignity, harmony, joy, and love for
all of creation in the here and now. Recognizing the very real pain, injustice, and inequity of the world today, we
join God’s work of healing and redemption, as vessels of God's kindness,
compassion, love, and joy, and as advocates for justice for the oppressed and
marginalized. Our hope and joy are anchored in the certainty that God's
sovereignty and love will one day restore perfect and complete harmony to the
world and everyone in it. We aspire to practice the way of Jesus in our
families, neighborhoods, and world now as a visible outpost of the kingdom of
God to come by how we worship, pray, forgive, repent, work, and rest, until he
returns. (Micah 6:8; Amos 5:21-24; Luke 4:18-19; James 1:22-27; Revelation
21:1-4)
In light of who we are, What Values Do We Live By?
We seek to be:
●
Responsive to God’s Love (John
3:16-18; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; 1 John 4:16)
○
recognizing and receiving God’s
lavish love for ourselves and for all (embracing our belovedness);
○
offering our whole selves in worship
and service in response to God’s generous gift (living into our belovedness).
●
Christ-like (Matthew
5:16; John 14:12; Romans 8:29; Galatians 5:22-25; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Peter
2:12)
○
following Jesus Christ’s example of
loving our neighbors, working toward peace, justice, equality, and inclusion,
especially for those most vulnerable;
○
desiring to live lives graced by the
“fruit of the Spirit”: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
●
Biblically-Shaped (Psalm 1:1-3; John 5:39; Colossians 3:16-17; 2 Timothy
3:16-17)
○
believing that the Old and New
Testaments ultimately tell the story of God’s redemptive love for the world and
everyone in it;
○
believing that the scriptures attest
to the living Word, Jesus Christ;
○
and instructing the people of God accordingly, committing to the study of the scriptures
for our formation.
●
Impassioned by the Gospel (Mark 1:15; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8;
58; Ephesians 2:8-10)
○
bearing witness in word and deed to
the good news of the kingdom of God in our everyday life;
○
learning how to give and direct the
resources entrusted to us in the service of God’s purposes.
●
United in the Spirit Amidst Diversity (Genesis 1:27; Acts 10; Romans 15:5-7; 1 Corinthians
12:1-27; Ephesians 4:1-6)
○
welcoming each person as an image
bearer of God and placing great value on the inclusion of all as full
participants in all aspects of our life together;
○
valuing unity that goes beyond
agreement when we encounter differences in theological interpretations and convictions;
○
adopting a posture of wonder,
curiosity, and humility as we pursue God’s wisdom together;
○
extending dignity and worth to all across aspects of identity such as race, ethnicity, age,
culture, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, and
socioeconomic status.
●
Global/Local (Glocal) (Matthew 25:31-46; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 5:18-20; Acts (the
whole book!); Romans 1:3-8; 2 Hebrews 10:24-25)
○
committing practically to the Acts
1:8 call to be witnesses in Jerusalem (San Francisco), Judea and Samaria (our
broader national context), and the ends of the earth (our international
context), engaged in God’s mission of peace, justice, and joy;
○
partnering and collaborating with
others in the vast and complex work of the gospel.