Our core practices

The mission statement of City On A Hill community is “to make disciples through the love of Jesus.” But what does this mean? What exactly is discipleship anyway? And perhaps even more importantly, how is it achieved?
In its simplest sense, to be a disciple simply means to follow and imitate one’s teacher in every way. Though there are many facets to discipleship, the concept becomes easiest to grasp when we focus on this simple definition: “imitation of one’s teacher.” If our mission then as a church is produce disciples of Jesus, we must not only ask ourselves how this goal will be achieved, but must find an objective measure to determine if we are meeting this goal as a community.
As Alan Hirsch notes, “thinking your way into a new way of acting” is the acting assumption in most American churches. Fill attenders’ minds with enough information about the Bible and theology, give them enough quality sermons and study guides, it is reasoned, and godly living will naturally follow. Yet this was not the model of Jesus or of the Hebraic model of discipleship prevalent in His day, which operated on the model of “acting one’s way into a new way of thinking.” In Jesus’ day and in His ministry, the emphasis in discipleship was on being rather than thinking, and on imitation of one's teacher rather than the mere assimilation of knowledge.
With Jesus’ example in mind, we then seek as a church to become disciples ourselves by acting our way into a new way of thinking. As we begin this pursuit, we have committed ourselves as a church to five core practices that will begin to define for us what discipleship should look like in the context of our community. Together, we pray these practices will be positive steps towards our goal of imitating our teacher: JESUS.

J- Commitment to Joint Ministry (Eph. 4:16)
E- Commitment to Evangelism (Matt. 5:16)
S- Commitment to Solitude (Matt. 6:6)
U- Commitment to Unity (Matt. 18:20)
S- Commitment to Simplicity (Luke 12:33)

Though these practices may sound basic and elementary at first glance, they will possess far-reaching profound implications for our lives if we are truly serious about employing them. In the weeks to come, we will begin to unpack each of these practices as we seek to better understand their implications in our daily lives.

Reflections on our celebration

I don't know about you, but I had a great time this morning celebrating Tim's birthday. I find it a microcosm of our calling as a church, as part of what it means to be the church is to celebrate one another. That's really what celebrating a birthday is; it's just saying to another, "thank you for being who you are." Certainly such a celebration for one's mere existence and being born among us is consistent with the mission of the church, to celebrate and accept each and every individual not for what they accomplish, not for what they say or do, but rather for their innate worth as human beings created in the image of God. I found it striking to read this week in Henri Nouwen's book "Here and Now" that he lists the celebration of birthdays as one of the hallmarks of living in the present as God calls us to do. As a church, I hope and pray that we become known as the church who judges no one, who celebrates and accepts all who visit our community. May we be known as a body who lives in the present, who does not complain and fault find about the mistakes some may have made in their past, who speculates not on what may happen in their future, but celebrates the present reality of God's glory resting on each individual that walks through our doors. What an awesome calling and an awesome ministry God has entrusted to us. May there be many more celebrations like this to come!