We are people of a book. Our understanding of God is not shaped primarily by experience, tradition, popular opinion, culture, or what we’re comfortable with. Our understanding of God is shaped by the Word of God. The scriptures are our first source, our final authority, the greatest love story ever written, and the best part of it all: it’s true!

The Psalms state that God’s presence is better than life. That better is one day in his courts than thousands elsewhere. 99 times in the book of Psalms we are told to sing. Jesus said, “My house will be called a house of prayer.” In the book of Acts, people could recognize that the early church had been “with Jesus”—we want the same to be said about us. If His presence doesn’t go with us, we don’t go. When it comes to being with him, we’re not in a hurry. We are a community who believes in “thin-spaces”, Spirit encounters, and has a revival or bust mindset. We are a community of awe and wonder.

The Kingdom of Heaven was Jesus’ primary topic of conversation. The center of the famous ‘Lord’s Prayer’ was seeing heaven invade earth. More than just doing church, we want to see the Kingdom come. Our cities, streets, schools, neighborhoods and families should look radically different because Elevate City is there. We seek the welfare of our cities, bring light to dark places, create beauty like our Creator, and aim to see earth and Atlanta look more like heaven. This means that our expression of Church is not segregated by race, class, or generation. We are a multicultural, multigenerational expression of heaven on earth. 

Radical obedience is normal for us. We love God and neighbor. We live the Sermon on the Mount. We abide to bear fruit. We gather for sabbath worship. We announce the Kingdom. We preach the gospel. We study the scriptures. We pray the supernatural. We heal the sick. We care for the least of these. We pursue reconciliation. We deny ourselves. We seek the will of the Father. We see church as a family. We fast regularly. We give sacrificially. And we do it all full of grace and truth. We don’t water down Christianity—we do the Jesus stuff.

At Elevate City, the Great Commission is our lead strategy. We aren’t as interested in attracting attenders as we are with equipping multipliers. We believe in deep, relational, spiritual formation. We want everyone to be equipped with the tools to become a fully formed disciple-making disciple. EQUIP, EQUIP X, and small groups multiplying are our core book of business. The scriptural mandate of every man, woman, boy and girl is: multiply. Let us show you how.

We don’t believe kids and students are the church of tomorrow, we believe they are the church of today! We don’t see kids as the next generation, we see them as the NOW generation. We will do everything possible to help them encounter Jesus, fall in love with church, and lead the way in the Kingdom. We are committed to raising up the next generation of Kingdom leaders and leaving the Church better than we found it. Get ready for your kids to be begging you to go to church because this isn’t just childcare—this is the Great Commission. 

The gospel was first described as good news of great joy. We are recapturing that original message. We are shattering the stereotype that church is supposed to be boring. We are defiantly opposed to a form of religion that is exhausting. We are creating a culture where we understand the Father heart of God; where we have childlike faith, think fun is fundamental, laugh til it hurts, adventure into the unknown, rest well, become cheerful givers and see it as the great joy of our life to get to do this. What does it feel like to be a part of Elevate City Church? An absolute joy. 

Our heart beats for the nations, breaks for the next generation, and is moved with compassion towards the masses who don’t yet know Jesus. We will take the message of Jesus to the atheist, doubter, skeptic, addict, and unreached people group. We will multiply campuses, plant churches, send mission trips, engage the unreached, and run into places other people are running out of. We believe the world is changed one person at a time. The gospel of the Kingdom will be preached unto all nations until Jesus returns. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.