MISSION
AWAKEN EACH OTHER TO LIVE KINGDOM DREAMS IN A WORLD THAT’S FAST ASLEEP
VALUES
1 Kings 19 // Actively co-discerning the Voice of God
1 Kings 18 // Living obediently to, and in radical dependence on, a Holy God
Mark 2 // Collective re-imagination
1 Kings 19 & 2 Kings 2 // Entrusting ownership and believing in those who are next
John 17:20-23 // Demonstrating the love of God by embracing our diversity, in unity
BECOMING AWAKE, ALIGNED, + ALIVE TOGETHER
We are all on a journey to become more like Jesus and we want to support each other on that journey. We have created measures to help you discern your Kingdom Dream and live out your calling as a disciple of Jesus.
These measures are meant to serve as a catalyst for living the Kingdom Dream that God has for your life. For each measure - Awake, Aligned, and Alive - you will find Biblical + encouraging ideas for deepening your faith that are based on each of our values.
We have set up this message board as a way to share practical ideas for how you are using these cards to go deeper in your relationship with God. Click below to join the conversation.
STATEMENT OF BELIEF
We believe God created the cosmos to be good, beautiful, and full of purpose. In the midst of this world, God made a man and a woman—Adam and Eve—to be his unique representatives on the earth, bearing his name and extending his reign while living in dynamic relationship with him. (Genesis 1-2; see also Psalm 8:1-9)
Adam and Eve, however, chose to sin when they heeded the voice of evil and betrayed God, hurling all humanity and the good world in which they lived into devastating cycles of shame, guilt, and fear—culminating in death. (Genesis 3; see also Romans 8:18-25)
But God chose not to abandon his rebellious creation. Instead, he graciously called another couple, Abraham and Sarah, to lead a faithful family and promised that through them all the nations of the earth would be blessed. (Genesis 12, 15, 18; see also Romans 4:1-25, Galatians 3:1-29, and Hebrews 11:8-22)
Throughout history, God has continued to work toward redemption through his people in spite of their habitual inability to live according to his ways. (See, especially, Exodus 32-34, the books of Judges, Amos, Hosea, John 8:31-59, and Romans 3)
We believe that in the fullness of time, God sent Jesus Christ, his eternal Word and true Son, into the world as a man to announce and embody the presence of God’s restorative reign—His Kingdom breaking into brokenness.5 Furthermore, he invited a new group of followers (called “disciples”) to imitate his way of life and learn to love both God and neighbor. (For one window into the calling and heart of the disciples’ lives, see Luke 5-1)
This same Jesus was crucified like a common criminal, surrendering his sinless life as a ransom for many and drawing all evil onto himself in his death. (Further understanding about Jesus’ death as a ransom (the “price of release”) can be found in Isaiah 52-53, Matthew 20:26-28, John 11:45-53, 2 Corinthians 5, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 9-10, 1 Peter 2-3.)
On the third day, however, God raised Jesus back to life as the victor over evil and the physical first fruit of God’s future for his cosmos. (For the stories of the resurrection and insight into its meaning, see especially Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 20-21, and 1 Corinthians 15. For more about Jesus’ victory over evil, see Psalm 110, Matthew 12:22-29, Ephesians 6, Colossians 2:13-15, Hebrews 2:14-18, 1 John 3:4-10)
We believe Jesus is now at his Father’s right hand, reigning from heaven as the true King. He is inviting all people everywhere to trust him for forgiveness and freedom from shame, guilt, and fear because he is our unique source of life both now and forever. In addition, he has given his Spirit to supply direction and power so that we might live fully in the special identity and destiny he has prepared for each of us. (See also John 13-17, Acts 1-3, Romans 8, and Ephesians 2-3)
Today, we live as a community of God’s people on mission together, seeking to love God and follow Jesus by making disciples in the neighborhoods, nations, and next generation around us. By relying upon the unfailing, active grace of his Spirit and upon his entirely trustworthy Scripture, we embrace the often challenging but always hopeful adventure of sacrificial love, selfless generosity, and healing kindness to which he calls us. (Matthew 28 contains Jesus’ definitive commission to make disciples, and the book of Acts shows a generation of the early church’s efforts to obey that commission. Passages affirming the trustworthiness of Scripture include Matthew 5:17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and Hebrews 4:12. Likely the clearest description of a life of love, generosity, and kindness can be found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.)
We also believe life in God’s Kingdom is joyful, so we like to laugh. (See Deuteronomy 14:26, Isaiah 55:12, Romans 14:17, Philippians 4:4-9, Revelation 5:1-14)
One day in the not-so-distant future, we believe Jesus will return and remake the world, judging and removing every last trace of evil in order to complete the new creation that he began on the first Easter. (For glimpses into God’s good future for the cosmos, see Isaiah 60-66, 1 Corinthians 15, and Revelation 21-22)
FREQUENT QUESTIONS
+ WHAT IS OUR VIEW ON THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as outlined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, have not ceased and are to be used with joy, wisdom and discernment in the life of the local church. We believe the gifts are given by God for the strengthening of His church and the building up of all believers.
+ WHAT IS OUR VIEW OF THE BIBLE?
We believe the Bible is God’s entirely trustworthy, inspired, and authoritative Word to His people, and we take seriously its numerous commands to read, memorize, discuss, teach, and obey it. Of course, doing this well means engaging the text prayerfully and carefully. We believe that God’s inspiration worked through human authors whose character and context profoundly shaped the Scriptures we read today. Therefore, we labor to link the living Word of the ancient text to the dynamic circumstances of our daily lives. Ultimately, this means following all of Scripture’s prose and poetry as it flows like rainfall toward a single, infinitely deep well of living water: Jesus Christ.
+ WHAT IS THE VIEW OF MARRIAGE IN THE GRACE FAMILY?
Across our churches, we affirm the Biblical design of marriage from the beginning as being a covenant between one man and one woman, and that sexual intimacy is reserved for the marriage relationship. At the same time, we face very real and very complex ministry contexts in which we are learning how best to share the Good News of Jesus with every person, regardless of sexual orientation. All people live in our beautiful but broken world, and all people long to discover love and relationship and wholeness. We unapologetically believe that Jesus is the way (and the truth, and the life) toward that wholeness, and so our primary focus is meeting Christ so that he can be the one to speak into and heal the wounds that are common to human experience.
+ HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND GOD’S HEART FOR WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP?
For us, a fundamental truth of the Bible is that spiritual gifts are not gender-specific. In other words, we believe that the Holy Spirit releases gifts of leadership to both men and women. Our challenge, then, is to disciple and empower both men and women in the areas of their gifting within local contexts for maximum impact for the Kingdom of God. Practically, this means each church in the Grace Family values the God-given capacity of women to lead without limitation even as we humbly evaluate the best empowerment of that leadership in each local situation.
GRACE FAMILY OF CHURCHES
Grace Marietta is part of the Grace Family of Churches. As a church family we have shared beliefs and values.
For more information about the Grace Family of Churches, click the link below.