We are a new church plant that is going to try and do church in a radically community-centered way. We want to love one another in truth and in grace. The world we live in rarely speaks truthfully. Everywhere we go we are bombarded with advertisers trying to sell us products promising to improve our lives, and too often the church has turned Jesus into just another product promising self-improvement. The truth is this rarely works because we are broken people. At the heart of the Christian story is sin, which means we frequently don't live up to our potential in God. Being a community that relates to and loves one another in truth means we are going to be honest about our propensity towards sin. We aren’t going to sugar coat it and we aren’t going to cover it up.
But this is scary. As soon as people start getting real, there is a potential for rejection. That’s why we love each other not just with truth, but also with grace. The basis for our love for one another is rooted in the grace of Jesus Christ. I love each person in our community because Christ first loved me. I continue to love each person because Christ continues to love me. No matter how good, or bad, you are, my love for you is still rooted in Christ. That is grace. My love for you is not rooted in your personal performance or your goodness.
I believe if we become a whole church community of people who are committed to loving one another in truth and grace, something powerful will happen. I believe the world around us will see the way our community works and recognize something different. It will be compelling and contagious. Our name, New City, gets at this. It comes from the verse in Matthew where Jesus says that his church will be like a city on a hill, the light of the world, and the salt of the earth. We believe that if we truly love one another well, our community will reflect the gracious love of God in a radically revolutionary way.
Because our vision centers around the way we love one another, our focus isn’t on having the best Sunday morning show. We have great music -- Blaine, our worship pastor, is fantastic -- and I’ll do my best to preach a good sermon, but one of the highlights is for us to just be together. After every service we share a meal together, and I hope if you visit you’ll stick around and join us for that meal.
Also, because we value the relationships we have with one another, we need to develop these relationships outside of Sunday morning. We have a number of opportunities to connect to others through Connecting groups, social events, and service projects. I hope you'll check out our calendar and find a place where you can plug in and become a part of our community of truth and grace.