We believe there is one divine being who has existed eternally. He exists and reveals Himself to man in three distinct, equally divine persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the beginning of time, God created the entire universe and all its creatures. He continues to exercise His supreme power to sustain His creation. Throughout history, He has expressed His desire to be our God and to have a personal, eternal relationship with us.
We are a multiplying church helping the next generation fall in love with Jesus to create better futures.
We seek to be transformed by the Scriptures, love and serve the people in Grand Rapids. Our hope is modeled after Jesus' prayer, that God's will would be done in Grand Rapids as it is in Heaven. We are a church for the city. We believe the church isn't a building, but a people in a place, working and living out the Gospel each day in our lives, in our city. We gather together to open the Scriptures, pray, worship, listen to the Spirit, and experience the presence of God. It is our desire to make the Kingdom accessible to our families, friends, neighbors and entire city.
We believe Jesus changes everything. We are people committed to living out His teachings in the world. We seek to spend our strength on others and to take risks to see the Kingdom expand because we believe there is hope and life in Jesus for everyone. We're not perfect and we don’t have everything figured out, but that won’t stop us from humbly holding up the Bread of Life to a hungry world. One beggar, showing another where to find food.
We are a new church in the city, and we meet at 1601 Galbraith Ave SE Suite 304 Grand Rapids, MI 49546 on Sundays at 8:30, 9:45 & 11:15AM. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, with whatever you carry, we are for you. When you’re here, you’re Local.
WHAT WE BELIEVE...
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About God
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About Jesus
We believe that Jesus is the eternal divine Son of God. He chose voluntarily to be made in human likeness and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Although He lived a sinless life, He allowed Himself to be executed by crucifixion. However, as prophesied, He rose from the dead three days after His execution, securing salvation for all who will believe.
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About the Holy Spirit
The third person of God is the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christ-follower. His indwelling presence gives spiritual life to believers and distinguishes them as children of God. The Holy Spirit guides Christ-followers in applying God’s principles, equips Christ-followers with talents and abilities for the purpose of building up God’s kingdom. The Spirit is an Advocate for us, helping us, defending us and empowering us.
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About Mankind
God created mankind to live in relationship with Him. However, the first man and woman were deceived by Satan. They rebelled and chose to be wrongfully independent from God. We all fail to live up to the perfect standard God desires and are open to Satan’s deception. Our failure to please God, unless a relationship is re-established with Him, results in condemnation under God’s judgment and would cause us to spend eternity in hell. Furthermore, there is nothing we can do on our own (we can’t be “good enough” or do “more good deeds than bad deeds”) to re-establish our relationship with God.
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About a Relationship with God
Our inability to re-establish our relationship with God leaves us dependent on God’s mercy. God graciously provided the means to reconcile this relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. Our relationship is re-established when we make a commitment to accept Jesus as God’s son and our Savior and Lord. We demonstrate our commitment privately by faith (acting upon our belief that God has the power to save us) and repentance (turning back to God and depending on Him to control our lives). At the same time, we publicly express our commitment by confessing our acceptance of God’s salvation and submitting ourselves in Christian baptism.
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About the Christian Life
Once our relationship is re-established with God, we naturally want to spend time with Him and know Him better. The Holy Spirit enlightens us as we read God’s Word (the Bible), as we communicate with Him in prayer, and as we enter into loving relationships (Biblical community) with other Christ-followers. In this way, we begin to know God more intimately. The process of spiritual development motivates us to seek ways to serve God and prepares us to spend eternity in fellowship with Him.
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About the Church
The word church literally means assembly or gathering. It is the gathering of Christ-followers around Jesus and was created by God for our benefit and His glory! The Bible speaks of the church as Christ’s body. It compares it to a living organism, where Jesus is the head. He gives each Christ-follower special functions to perform for the good of the body. To remain healthy, the body’s members must work together. Each part contributes to the growth and maturity of the body. For this reason, it is important for Christ-followers to regularly gather together for the purpose of celebration. Celebration in this way enables believers to serve one another and neighbors in their sphere of influence.
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About the Bible
God divinely inspired human authors to write the sixty-six books of the Bible. He communicated through these writers the values, principles, and ideals which please Him and are in our best interests. We believe the Bible is entirely accurate, complete, and reliable. It can be trusted and it reveals who God is to us and how we can be reconciled to Him through Jesus.
