Our Vision -
Follow Jesus and Make Disciples
as We See and Share the Goodness of God.
We believe our call to follow Jesus isn’t just for one day, but our best good for today – and remembering that God is good is paramount to who we are in Christ.
What you see shapes who you are becoming. How we look at the world around us gives perspective and purpose.
What you see shapes who you are becoming. How we look at the world around us gives perspective and purpose.
Our mission begins as we see God’s goodness in all we do.
In our families, in our work, in our small groups, on Sunday mornings – in a culture bombarded by messaging, our mission is to look away from all the ads and propaganda and see the goodness of God right in front of us. Throughout the scriptures, giving sight is a messianic and divine act.
To see the goodness of God (or God as the best good) is the beginning of the gospel and is an ongoing call to followers of Jesus. It’s our duty and delight to see the work of God in the world around us – and to recognize God is not done working in our world
to bring about redemption and rescue.
To see the goodness of God (or God as the best good) is the beginning of the gospel and is an ongoing call to followers of Jesus. It’s our duty and delight to see the work of God in the world around us – and to recognize God is not done working in our world
to bring about redemption and rescue.
By seeing the goodness of God we are recognizing our need,
we are realizing his sufficiency, and we are re-ordering all goods around God.
we are realizing his sufficiency, and we are re-ordering all goods around God.
Simply put, we don’t dictate what is good – God does. Our definition of good flows from the one who created the world to function in a specific way. When our goods line up with God’s good – the world flourishes.
As followers of Jesus, we can’t simply stop at seeing the goodness of God, he has called us to more. It’s not enough to see God’s goodness, our role is to show it to others. From creation onward we were meant to share God’s goodness with the created world
as we filled and subdued it (Genesis 1:26).
As followers of Jesus, we can’t simply stop at seeing the goodness of God, he has called us to more. It’s not enough to see God’s goodness, our role is to show it to others. From creation onward we were meant to share God’s goodness with the created world
as we filled and subdued it (Genesis 1:26).
From creation to the great commission our charge hasn’t changed – show a world that needs God he is good.
Israel piled up rocks as a reminder for generations of God’s goodness to them, lest they forget, and the purpose of Israel at its conception with Abram was to bless the world by introducing them to the God it had forgotten. In the NT the church was to gather and scatter.
To gather as units and read text/tell stories about Jesus, while also showing others the reality of God through his goodness seen in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
To gather as units and read text/tell stories about Jesus, while also showing others the reality of God through his goodness seen in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
To see and show the goodness of God has been the call on the people of God for all time.
Our job is to allow others to see a God who is truly good to and for the world. It’s a gracious way to tell others about God, it leads with love, and it means we focus on the beauty and goodness of God in an American church culture more known for what it’s hates rather what it loves.
Our Values
Present When Possible.
More than a call for people to show up once a week – it’s a lifestyle of incarnational ministry that’s paramount to following Jesus. The incarnation (God showing up as a person) is the model for ministry for the people of God.
We live an embodied faith, a present faith, because God is present.
In the beginning there was God. In the garden God showed up after Adam and Eve sinned.
The story of the Old Testament is a cycle of God chasing down his people who kept running from him. And in Christ, we see God take on flesh and show up to take on our sin once and for all. Presence is God’s answer to our present pain and his promise for our future hope.
We serve a God who shows up – and so should we.
Presence is the means and method God works in our lives and is how he sent us out.
We simply cannot show others God’s goodness without presence, and in a distracted
and isolated world, presence is a powerful tool for the church needs to recapture.
At CBC, we show up on Sunday to worship and show up in groups to grow.
The value of presence shapes how we structure ministry. We value presence over online – and while we offer online as a grace to those who need it – the majority of our time and resources will go to embodied faith experiences and expressions of a present faith. Our best good individually and corporately is to be a people who show up when possible.
More than an ethic for how we gather, being present is also an interpersonal ethic that drives how we act when we show up. We will put away distractions to focus on the people, relationships, and what God is doing in our midst. In a distracted world, being fully present shows value and honor.
In all things there is grace. While there are moments when we simply can’t make it
(that’s why we say when possible) or are distracted for good reason, we want to call people towards less distraction and more devotion to one another.
(John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; John 3:16; Matthew 28:18-20)
We live an embodied faith, a present faith, because God is present.
In the beginning there was God. In the garden God showed up after Adam and Eve sinned.
The story of the Old Testament is a cycle of God chasing down his people who kept running from him. And in Christ, we see God take on flesh and show up to take on our sin once and for all. Presence is God’s answer to our present pain and his promise for our future hope.
We serve a God who shows up – and so should we.
Presence is the means and method God works in our lives and is how he sent us out.
We simply cannot show others God’s goodness without presence, and in a distracted
and isolated world, presence is a powerful tool for the church needs to recapture.
At CBC, we show up on Sunday to worship and show up in groups to grow.
The value of presence shapes how we structure ministry. We value presence over online – and while we offer online as a grace to those who need it – the majority of our time and resources will go to embodied faith experiences and expressions of a present faith. Our best good individually and corporately is to be a people who show up when possible.
More than an ethic for how we gather, being present is also an interpersonal ethic that drives how we act when we show up. We will put away distractions to focus on the people, relationships, and what God is doing in our midst. In a distracted world, being fully present shows value and honor.
In all things there is grace. While there are moments when we simply can’t make it
(that’s why we say when possible) or are distracted for good reason, we want to call people towards less distraction and more devotion to one another.
(John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; John 3:16; Matthew 28:18-20)
Grace is Our Guide.
We live from the heart of God and not for it. We don’t earn God’s affection. God graciously gives his love and it affects our actions. Grace is the motivation for the Christian life, and it is our guide in all we do and say.
Grace is the lens through which we talk to others and how we hear others.
It’s how we listen to sermons and read books – graciously interpreting what people are trying to say and graciously responding in the best way possible. In an overly critical world,
grace is crucial for others seeing God’s goodness.
Grace is the currency of our culture at CBC and is a guide that goes before us in all we do.
(Ephesians 4:32; Exodus 34:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 4:6; Romans 14:19, Romans 5:8)
Grace is the lens through which we talk to others and how we hear others.
It’s how we listen to sermons and read books – graciously interpreting what people are trying to say and graciously responding in the best way possible. In an overly critical world,
grace is crucial for others seeing God’s goodness.
Grace is the currency of our culture at CBC and is a guide that goes before us in all we do.
(Ephesians 4:32; Exodus 34:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 4:6; Romans 14:19, Romans 5:8)
Practice Not Perfect.
I’m a work in progress (and so are you), but thankfully the church exists for broken people.
While we look to Jesus as our model of perfection, we remember the purpose of the spiritual
life is transformation.
The spiritual life is not a spectator sport.
It’s the process of becoming what was intended at creation (we call it Christ-likeness) as we live intentionally into specific ways, rhythms, and practices God uses to grow us.
Referred to as “a long obedience in the same direction”, the work of the Spirit to transform us is slow but weighty. We won’t demand perfection from ourselves and others,
nor will we be surprised when it’s not attained or experienced.
We won’t allow perfection as an excuse to stop our pursuit of the better – but in community create a culture where we keep trying, motivated by grace, to look more like Jesus each and every day.
I’ll let you down, you’ll let me down, but God won’t let us down.
As we practice, the Holy Spirit is our guide, our help, and our power. We are not alone.
We have been given the Spirit that overcame death to help us overcome our pull towards sin. Through the power of the spirit and the practices, we partner with God to in the journey of transformation.
What God has begun, he will see through to the end, and through his power, we will one day become like Jesus.
Practice not perfect is a call to keep going, to try new practices, sign up for more studies,
get in new groups, and keep serving – because the only way towards Christlikeness is to keep practicing together. I need you and you need me. Paul says it well in Philippians 3, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold
of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
God changes institutions through individuals. He will change our world one heart at a time,
and the clearest picture of God’s goodness is a changed life.
(Romans 8; Philippians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 3:1-4)
While we look to Jesus as our model of perfection, we remember the purpose of the spiritual
life is transformation.
The spiritual life is not a spectator sport.
It’s the process of becoming what was intended at creation (we call it Christ-likeness) as we live intentionally into specific ways, rhythms, and practices God uses to grow us.
Referred to as “a long obedience in the same direction”, the work of the Spirit to transform us is slow but weighty. We won’t demand perfection from ourselves and others,
nor will we be surprised when it’s not attained or experienced.
We won’t allow perfection as an excuse to stop our pursuit of the better – but in community create a culture where we keep trying, motivated by grace, to look more like Jesus each and every day.
I’ll let you down, you’ll let me down, but God won’t let us down.
As we practice, the Holy Spirit is our guide, our help, and our power. We are not alone.
We have been given the Spirit that overcame death to help us overcome our pull towards sin. Through the power of the spirit and the practices, we partner with God to in the journey of transformation.
What God has begun, he will see through to the end, and through his power, we will one day become like Jesus.
Practice not perfect is a call to keep going, to try new practices, sign up for more studies,
get in new groups, and keep serving – because the only way towards Christlikeness is to keep practicing together. I need you and you need me. Paul says it well in Philippians 3, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold
of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
God changes institutions through individuals. He will change our world one heart at a time,
and the clearest picture of God’s goodness is a changed life.
(Romans 8; Philippians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 3:1-4)