Our Vision:
As Jesus gave his life for us, we give our lives for others in our community and world.
Our Values:
WORSHIP: Jesus is the subject. Life is ABOUT him, FOR him, and IN him.
God wants us to worship together. We believe that God calls us to live a life of thanksgiving and praise. Since God has given us all so much, we should be a thankful people. And since God is so great and His work in our lives so real, we should praise Him. That is why Christians worship God. Our worship can be the greatest evidence to others that God is real and active in the world today. That’s why it’s so important to worship together. We draw encouragement and strength from one another. We grow from sound biblical teaching and from hearing the stories of God’s work in the lives of people. And, worship not only matters to Christians, it matters to the world. As we worship together we are confessing to the world that God is relevant and real and He wants to be a part of everyone’s life.
PEOPLE: All people matter to God. NO exceptions.
We are convinced that no human being is an accident. God created each and every one of us. In the same way, God offers us a relationship where we become aware of how much He knows and loves us and where we learn to know and love Him in return. The Bible is clear that there are no exceptions or loopholes in this. While people can choose to reject God’s offer of relationship, we cannot change His fundamental decision to always leave the invitation open to us. So all people, no matter who they are, where they’ve been, or what they’ve done matter to God. He loves them completely and desperately desires for them to know Him through His Son Jesus and be a part of His family. The Holy Spirit is always active to urge people into that relationship.
GROWTH: God welcomes us as we are, but we don’t stay that way.
A relationship with Jesus Christ is a spiritual journey. God sent Jesus Christ to the earth to teach the principles of His Kingdom, to model them perfectly, to invite people to be a part of God’s family and to suffer and die on our behalf so that we can accept that invitation. Because Jesus rose from the dead that first Easter Sunday we can know Him in a real way today. We all come to know Jesus Christ from a variety of places. Some people grow up in the church and accept Jesus as their Forgiver and Leader as a child. Others discover Him after realizing that their life has no purpose or meaning apart from Him. Still others find Him through an experience with other Christians in a loving community. There are many pathways that lead to the same destination – where we realize our need for God and accept Jesus Christ as our Forgiver and Leader. Along with acceptance of Jesus, we confess our sin and need for God as well as our belief in Jesus’ power to forgive us and make us new. Once one comes to accepting Jesus, the journey doesn’t end, however. It only takes on a new dimension. Over time we begin to see the world differently than we did before – through the eyes of Jesus. The Holy Spirit works on our hearts and minds to transform us from the people we once were to the people God created us to be. This is a process, a journey of discovery, where we come to know and love God more through Jesus Christ each and every day. Are there setbacks? Yes, sometimes. Do we still do things that displease God or that don’t reflect Jesus’ character and teachings? Unfortunately, yes again. But we are always on a journey of experiencing newer and greater levels of God’s love and grace for us and learning how to stretch and share that with others. We come to God as we are, but we don’t want to stay that way.
FAITHFULNESS: We are committed to applying Biblical truth in all areas of our lives, even when it’s hard.
We are a church of people from all walks of life and we strive to be faithful in all walks of life. What might that look like? It might look like faithfulness as a parent, a spouse, an employee, a single person, or a citizen and everything in-between. We strive to live our lives in a way that honor’s God and His Kingdom. God comes first.
COMMUNITY: We belong to a spiritual family. God created us to do life together.
God designed us for authentic community. We were never created to be alone. God created us to live together in loving relationships that honor Him and build each other up. We all crave relationships where people really know us for who we are and love us unconditionally. We all want to be a part of a community that is bigger than just us: where we know that loving support is offered, friendships are deep, and life doesn’t revolve around us. In short, we all want to be part of a community that genuinely seeks to love and serve others. That is what God calls the Church to be and what we always seek to emulate. Belonging to a church is more than being part of a crowd on Sunday morning. It’s even more than participating in a host of activities. Church, at its best, is a community of friends who live life together and seek to reflect the character and teachings of Jesus to each other and to the world. So, although we regularly meet in a crowd, we know that God really calls us to be in friendships of mutual trust, love, and support with each other. Since this is unlikely in a crowd, we are convinced it works best in smaller Community Groups where people can authentically share their lives together, grow spiritually together, and truly become a community of friends. Only then can people be real with one another and experience authentic community as God designed.
SERVICE: We each have a purpose and a place where we can make a difference.
Everyone in God’s family partners in His work. God didn’t create some people to be first class members of His family, while relegating others to second class status. No matter what our background or resume, God created us and gifted us for a purpose. We all have an opportunity to share with others what God has given to us, serving people in Jesus’ name. Some of those roles are public and some of those roles are in the background, but all of them are important. No one is without purpose, gift or a place to serve in God’s Kingdom.
LOVE: God is love. We love because God first loved us.
Christians should love as Jesus loves. The essence of God’s nature is love and love is the essential characteristic of the Christian life. Christians are called to love God completely and love our neighbor as we would ourselves. And we don’t get to choose who our neighbor is! Jesus loved others whether or not it benefited Him or even if they loved Him in return. We are to do the same. We believe that love is a risk that always changes you and often changes others.
More Beliefs:
Parkgate Community Church’s doctrinal beliefs are centered in the classical expressions and confessions of orthodox Christianity.
We believe that there is only one true, holy God, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of deity and the characteristics of personality.
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
-2 Corinthians 13:14
We believe that every person is separated from God because of the presence of sin and that separation cannot be removed apart from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Through Jesus Christ we can become part of God’s family only by grace through faith. Personally accepting Jesus’ sacrifice erases the separation between us and God and makes us His son or daughter, a precious and loved child.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
-Romans 5:1-2
We believe that God’s people are called to be one. Anyone who claims Jesus as their Forgiver and Leader, no matter their denomination, race or gender, makes them part of God’s family, the Church. Nothing should separate Christians from each other and the mark of this unity is love. God is love and those who love Him love people like Jesus did. The Church should reflect the values of love and unity that Jesus called for and emulated to all people.
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
-Ephesians 4:1-6
We believe that the Christian life is not a religious practice, but a distinctively different life lived out for the purpose of obeying God by following Jesus’ example. Christians should daily be formed into the character of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This means we are called to live a holy life. The direction of this life is to please God and to extend love to Him and to others. The goal of this life is the eternal reward of heaven.
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:23
We believe that at an appointed time, known only by God the Father, Jesus will return to judge the world and His Kingdom will have no end.
“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”
-Revelation 22:12-14
We believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and understand them to be the standard for all of our faith and practice. The teachings of the Bible convict us when our lives stray from God’s standard, encourage us about God’s love for us, and guide our lives to live in the center of God’s will.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
-Psalm 119:105
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:16-17
