Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Therefore, we can be honest about who we truly are. We are all tax collectors (sinners) who like to dress up like Pharisees (perfect people). We all occasionally make the mistake of thinking, “I could serve your Kingdom better if only I wasn’t so broken!” But Jesus tells us that his power is made perfect in our weakness.
Being humbled by grace, means learning to boast in our weakness. We have to be broken if the power of Jesus is going to be displayed in our lives.
At New City Church, we believe in being honest about who we are. We not only tolerate one another’s brokenness (when things get really messy) but we celebrate it. God is calling us to this countercultural idea; that we can see into the core of someone and not be repelled by what we find. We don’t serve a God who expects us to get our act together before we come to him.
And our friends and neighbors are longing to hear about a God like this.
Learning to abide in Jesus and walk in the power of his Holy Spirit is the key to depending on him. This is done through regular confession, repentance, and worship
Jeremiah encouraged a group of homesick exiles to build houses, plant gardens, take husbands and wives, to seek the welfare of the city where they were being sent into exile, and to pray to the Lord on its behalf saying that in seeking the welfare of the city, they somehow find their own welfare.
Jesus spent most of his life in the city of Nazareth and never really got further than the city of Jerusalem. He turned the world upside down but never left an area the size of Metro Atlanta. He was called to dwell among a specific people, in a specific place, with a specific purpose.
God has called us as New City Church to the same kind of incarnational living; to specific places; to neighborhoods, to cities all around Gwinnett County, because these places have eternal significance in God’s Kingdom. Will we simply be consumers of the commodities that these cities offer us, or will we lay down our lives for the welfare of these cities?
Every relationship within creation was fractured when sin entered into the world. Not only was mankind separated from God, but we were put at odds with one another. Jesus came to bring restoration to our broken relationships - first to God, and then to each other.
Because of the amazing work of Jesus Christ, in forgiving our sins when we did not deserve mercy, we can (and must) also seek to be reconciled with others. Scripture tells us that we have the ministry of reconciliation - it's our full-time occupation.
God’s call on our life as a church is much bigger than just what we see right now. We have to be very intentional in how we move forward, because we want to plant something in the city that outlasts us. We want to be a part of something bigger than us. The only way to be a church that outlasts ourselves, is to sink our roots deep into Jesus.
The Great Commission is really about church planting; the call to make disciples is about churches. We can't plant something if we haven't been planted ourselves. When a tree is healthy, its fruit is not for itself, it receives nourishment from the depth of its roots.
WE BELIEVE IN GOD
There is only one living and true God; infinite in being and perfection and creator of all things. He exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
WE BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE
God has revealed Himself to mankind, without error, through inspired Scripture which is the Word of God and thus the rule of faith and life.
WE BELIEVE IN GOOD WORKS
While mankind’s efforts can never provide salvation, good works done in obedience to God’s commandments, empowered by his grace are the evidence of true faith.
WE BELIEVE IN HEAVEN AND HELL
At the end of days, Jesus will return and all will be judged. Those in Christ, will live forever with Him in Heaven, (the world will be made perfect, and we will be given perfected bodies). Those not in Christ will be forever separated from God, cast into Hell.
WE BELIEVE IN THE SACRAMENTS
WE BELIEVE IN THE FINAL JUDGMENT
God has appointed a day wherein Jesus will return and judge the world in righteousness. The day and hour of this judgment is unknown to mankind.
WE BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL
For no reason other than his own glory, God has elected some who, being fallen because of Adam, are redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are called to faith by the Holy Spirit, and are justified, adopted, and sanctified. This is salvation.
