We are a Jesus-church, a Jesus-people, trying to tell everyone the Jesus-story.
What’s this Jesus thing really all about?!
[4-minute read]
2000 years ago Jesus left his throne in heaven to go on the greatest rescue mission the world has ever seen. God became man to save his creation! What a mind blowing concept?!
What the Bible calls sin (which is a lot like rebellion) separated humanity from God. Sin is anything we think, say or do that breaks Gods commands. God’s commands were designed to lead us into deep life and real joy. They were built for our eternal good. However, we chose our way over God’s way. We turned our back on God and elevated the creation above the creator. You can find this biblical account in Genesis 1-3. You’ve got to check it out!
So, sin separates. It separates us from each-other, God and life. Real life, eternal life is impossible because of sin.
This is where Jesus steps in.
Sin demands a payment. And the payment sin demands is death. Often times we treat sin like it’s just some stupid mistake. Sin is more than a mistake. Sin is serious. And the only way to pay for sin is death.
This is where it starts to get really good…
One of the big concepts throughout the entire biblical story is sacrifice. You will see the very first sacrifice in the entire Bible when you read Genesis 3 later today. Watch as God kills an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve. The animal is sacrificed for the good of Adam and Eve. (Sorry PETA PEOPLE!!!)
This theme of sacrifice continues throughout the entire Bible. Sin is committed and sacrifice is made to pay for that sin. This is what the entire book Biblical book of Leviticus is about. For thousands of years God’s people made sacrifices to pay for their sin.
Then Jesus steps in.
Jesus comes as the perfect sacrifice once and for all, for all who believe. Jesus never sinned. He fulfilled promises God made about who he would be, where he would live and even how he would die. When Jesus of Nazareth (who is a real historical figure) is executed on a Roman cross, he acts as the ultimate and final sacrifice for all mankind. You can find this biblical account in John 19. The scene is intense.
But the story doesn’t stop there. After Jesus was crucified he was placed in a borrowed tomb guarded by Roman soldiers for 3 days. On the third day Jesus literally, physically rose from the dead. Because Jesus was sinless it was impossible for death to keep its grip on Him. This truth stands at the very center of Christianity. Without the resurrection Christianity comes unraveled at the seams.
Jesus resurrection defeats sin and death and secures life and hope for all who believe. For those of us who repent (repenting is changing our mind about sin and turning away from sinful living) and who put our faith (confident believing without seeing) in Jesus, now have his same future, resurrection and new life! This is called salvation.
Salvation restarts our story and sets us up to step into the adventure of following Jesus.
John 3:16 (the most famous verse in the Bible) says that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Want to follow Jesus today?
The heartbeat, vision and mission of Elevate City Church is for people to Know Jesus, Follow Jesus and Lead others to do the same.
To Know Jesus
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. - John 17:3
There is no real, eternal, lasting, vibrant life apart from knowing Jesus.
The only definition for eternal life in the entire Bible: is knowing Jesus.
Matthew 7:23 says those who won’t inherit eternal life are those who Jesus never knew.
Meaning, the reason we are alive is to know Jesus.
This is a never ending pursuit. Many people think they’ve figured Jesus out. But the truth is there is no end to this adventure. The depth of Jesus person knows no end. We will never get to the bottom of Jesus. We will spend the rest of eternity searching out the beauty and worth of Jesus. (Romans 11:33)
Our heart is for more people to know Jesus and for people to know Jesus more. (Matthew 22:33-40) This is where eternal life is found.
Our mission is to help people know Jesus. To know Jesus as a person. To know Jesus personality, to know what Jesus is like and not like, to know Jesus character, know Jesus heart, to know Jesus presence, know Jesus ways, know Jesus story, know what Jesus has done, to know Jesus teachings, know who Jesus is and who Jesus isn’t, to know what Jesus hates and what Jesus loves, to know the Biblical Jesus, the real Jesus, the authentic Jesus, to know the Jesus of the New Testament and the Old Testament, to know Jesus humor and tone of voice, and favorite topics of conversation, to know Jesus as God, to know Jesus as King, to know Jesus as Messiah, to know Jesus as Savior, to know Jesus as Rabbi, to know Jesus as Friend and to know Jesus is coming again.
We believe the world at large has massive misconceptions about who Jesus really is. We want the world to be captured by Jesus passion, Jesus mission, Jesus invitation, Jesus presence and Jesus kingdom. We want to address the lies about Jesus and replace them with the truth. We want to remove Jesus from the stained glass that some have tried to trap him in. And we want to reintroduce others to the beautiful orthodox history that in this modern era has been disconnected from him. We believe getting to know the real Jesus is the beginning of all true transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18).
In the Bible the word know is often times synonymous with the word love. We believe as people come to know Jesus they will experience his love and begin to love him in return. (Matthew 22:33-40.) So to know Jesus is to love Jesus.
We believe the way you really get to know someone is by being with someone.
We want people to know what its like to be with Jesus. We want to teach people how.
Our heart is to help people be with Jesus through Jesus word (the Bible), in the gathering of Jesus Body (the Church), by hearing Jesus voice (through prayer), in Jesus ordinances (baptism & communion) and in the everyday (by Jesus Spirit).
By this people will begin to know Jesus voice, sense Jesus presence, see Jesus hand, and know Jesus love.
This is the first and foremost pursuit of our lives. To know Jesus. To know the truth of who Jesus is. To know the depth of who Jesus is. To spend all of our days knowing Jesus more. We believe this should be the primary pursuit of every church and every person.
We join with Paul in Philippians 3 and say, —I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him… that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
To Follow Jesus
And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him…- Matthew 4:18-20
The invitation from Jesus is transformation by imitation.
The life you long for is found in life Jesus way. Jesus want’s to take your life and transform it into something beyond what you can imagine but it will only happen if you surrender to practicing life Jesus way.
We believe that one of the problems of the modern Church is there are many fans of Jesus but few followers. We want to teach you to really do life like Jesus. This is a counter-cultural life. This is a deep life. A spiritual life. A life with God lived out in the world. A life in community. A life led by the Spirit. A life nourished by the word.
Many know how to go through the motions of religion, play church, and walk in shallow superficial faith. Few know how to follow Jesus. How to answer the ongoing question, “what is Jesus saying to me and what do I need to do about it?”
Jesus inaugural announcement was that he came to establish the Kingdom. (Mark 1:15)
Kings and Kingdoms have people, citizens, followers.
The heart of Elevate City is to teach you how to live life in Jesus Kingdom, as Jesus people, in Jesus way. We want to help people know how to do what Jesus did, think how Jesus thought, talk how Jesus talked, and love how Jesus loved. How to walk in our rabbis footsteps, live in our rabbis dust, yes, how to be like our rabbi
We believe that practicing the ways of Jesus, actually doing the things that Jesus did, the way Jesus did them will bring about the transformation people really long for. This looks like ordering your life around the things Jesus life was ordered around. Sabbath, prayer, corporate worship, discipleship, the scriptures, solitude, fasting, the miraculous, healing, opposing the proud and religious, loving the poor and outcast, generosity, eating together, sharing communion, holiness, practicing forgiveness, bringing justice, self denial, living in grace and truth, and calling out sin while being called a friend of sinners.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says “we are being transformed into Jesus likeness” Romans 8:29 states that God wants all believers “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son”. This happens as we follow Jesus, practicing his ways, changing our habits and rhythms, discovering a new way to be human.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24
To Lead Others To Do The Same
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Those who’ve come to know the infinite worth of who Jesus is and who’ve experienced the beautiful design of life Jesus way cannot keep Jesus to themselves.
The mission is multiplication. We want to introduce others to the Jesus we know. We want to tell the Jesus story to those who don’t know it. We want to invite the world into experiencing life in Jesus kingdom, life Jesus way.
To be disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples. (2 Timothy 2:2)
Discipleship is in relationship teaching someone to know Jesus, follow Jesus and lead others to do the same. It’s using your life to do with others, what others have done with you.
You don’t have to make money or make love or make babies or make memories or make a home or make a name for yourself…but if you want abundant life you must make disciples.
We believe in being the kind of movement that puts discipleship back in the hands of everyday Jesus followers who use their lives, leverage their influence, steward their relationships, organize their schedule and think about their jobs in light of making disciples. Helping people know Jesus, follow Jesus and lead others to do the same.
What Is The Gospel?
The 4 Simple Points of The Gospel:
1. THERE IS A GOD, AND HE IS GOOD
God has always been good and has wanted good for us.
We were created to be in a relationship with Him.
Relationship is what God wants with each of us.
2. THERE IS A PROBLEM; WE HAVE SINNED
What is sin? Anything you think, say or do that breaks God’s commands.
3. THERE IS HOPE; HIS NAME IS JESUS
Because of God’s love for us, He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross and pay the price we owed God because of our sin.
He stepped in and took our place. Jesus is the only way our sin can be forgiven.
Jesus is the only way we can be in a relationship with God and experience life and life to the fullest.
4. THERE IS A RESPONSE; THE SURRENDER OF MY LIFE
Jesus has freely offered us salvation.
It’s an act of grace. You cannot earn it or work for it; it’s a gift.
By faith we receive salvation, and we cannot help but respond to this salvation by surrendering all we have to Him.