OUR CONVICTIONS & VALUES

WHO WE ARE

Sparrow City Church is a community of precious individuals who have found new life in Jesus. As we embrace this new life, we are given evermore to the furtherance of the Kingdom of God by offering our lives and community as a witness to the person and work of Jesus.

Mission

We are resolved to seek the Kingdom of God by pursuing three core relationships

Communion | Community | Compassion

Our community practices communing with God in corporate gatherings through prayer, Scriptural study, reflection, and response. These gathered practices are intended to train up believers who are learning to become a people who walk moment by moment mindful of and present to the Lord (Mt. 22:37,1 Thess. 5:16-18, John 15).

Our love for one another is most tangibly and regularly seen on display in our smaller Contending Communities of believing practitioners.
These groups dedicate themselves to knowing, being known, and to participating in the mission of God. These communities prioritize loving one another through listening, encouraging, and praying for one another and the lost. These groups share each other’s burdens in life and diligently support and pray for each other in their pursuit of Jesus, holiness, and reaching the lost. (Mk. 6:7;30, Jn. 13:34 etc.)

We seek to make disciples of our neighbors through Spirit-led compassion.
We seek to love others as we love ourselves through forming meaningful relationships of understanding, kindness, and encouragement with all men. We seek to see, hear, and care for every person regardless of their circumstances, status, or any other dividing line. We desire to know others and their experiences so that we may know how to best administer grace and truth. We are determined to keep in step with the Spirit by following His lead as we seek to introduce people to Jesus. (Mt. 28:18-19; 22:39, Gal.5:25, Jn. 1:14)

Values

We, as an organization, closely resonate with the Lausanne Covenant and the following values which shape our philosophy of ministry.

We are Missional

We take the great commission seriously, viewing ourselves as contenders rather than consumers. We recognize that we are on a very real mission with Jesus to see the eyes of the blind opened and hearts transformed by the salvation and rule of Christ. This mission requires our best efforts and the power of the Spirit in the contention against powers of darkness that lurk behind sin of every kind, false ideology, and injustices in the world.

We are Jesus-Centered

We are fundamentally practitioners of the way of Jesus. We see Jesus’ life as the model to follow in all He did, said, and valued. We seek to emulate Him as our true leader and head. We, therefore, study His life often to glean all we can from the testimonies that He has provided the church. 

We Are Kingdom-Focused

Jesus has taken the responsibility to build His Church, we therefore entrust our Church into His hands (Matt.16:18) preferring to elevate the name of Jesus rather than our own. We sacrificially seek to see the Kingdom of God grow and thrive regardless of whether our church is acknowledged or benefitted. Our aim is to introduce people to Jesus, not introduce them to our church.

We Are Organizational Minimalists

We strive to minimize all that does not directly support the body of Christ in loving God, neighbor and making Jesus known to the world. We intentionally limit corporate church programing in favor of empowering Spirit led micro ministry outside of church structured events. All programming is tailored specifically to support the believers as they seek to live lives of mission and devotion.

We Are Living in Reverse

We allow our future reality in glory to inform our daily life. The knowledge of our eternal embrace and belonging as a child of God allows us to follow in the servanthood of Jesus knowing that the sufferings of this current age are seen by God who judges justly. We look to Jesus as the model who did not fight for fair treatment nor position but rather humbled himself taking on the form of a servant even to death. His suffering has brought us peace and so we recognize that our mistreatment for the Lord during this life is not an indication of our heavenly standing nor does it evidence the displeasure of God, but rather is necessary in bringing many sons to glory.

We live each day in the sober reality of a future judgment where we will each give an account for how we stewarded all that God has entrusted to us for life. This conviction drives us to risk all we have choosing to invest in the Kingdom of God rather than the Kingdom of man. We live each day to bring joy to the heart of God, longing to hear the words “well done, good and faithful servant.”

We Are United; Not Uniform

We see value in every individual, believing that God has intricately designed each human to uniquely glorify his name. We, therefore, seek to unearth the unique masterpiece that God has recreated in each follower of Jesus. We desire to see each person learn who they are in Christ and allow Him to restore and remake their person after the image of Christ.

We believe that a unified diversity is one of the greatest missional resources we have on Earth. We, therefore, prioritize unity over preferences and non-critical matters of the faith. We value different expressions of the faith within orthodoxy, believing that the global church and the mission of Jesus are enhanced, not diminished, by such diversity when grounded in supernatural unity.

Doctrinal Statement

We believe in God, eternally existing as three coequal persons in one essence.

We believe in the reliability of Scripture to reveal the nature of God, humanity, and our current circumstances. Scripture continues to serve as an authoritative rule of life in all it affirms and teaches.

We believe in the inherent value and dignity of every human life. Every person is made in the image of God and therefore worthy of being seen, heard, and cared for.

We believe in the goodness of God, who created all that is made for the primary purpose of sharing His trinitarian goodness with His image-bearing creatures.

We believe in the complete brokenness of humanity, born into sinful reality both in nature and in the personal expression of sinful rebellion against God.

We believe in the resilient love of God that seeks out the broken and rebellious through the redemptive work of the incarnation.

We believe in Jesus fully God and fully man, who lived a perfect life, He ushered in flashes of His heavenly kingdom and invited others to do the same.

We believe that Jesus died an undeserved dreadful death which serves as the once for all payment for humanity’s rebellion.

We believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus which demonstrates his victory as King over sin, death, and the devil.

We believe Jesus is risen to life, and now has the authority to offer life to all who would repent of their rebellion and pledge themselves to Jesus as their savior and King.

We believe that all who thus trust in Christ will be saved by the pure unmerited grace of God.

We believe that all believers are adopted as sons and daughters of God unified with the global church and are seated with Christ in the Kingdom reality.

We believe that God the Father and the Son have sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers for the sake of expanding the rule of God to the ends of the Earth through supernatural works, character, witness, and conviction.

We believe that God desires all of humanity to be reconciled to himself. This alone is what causes His delay in bringing His kingdom in fulness.

We believe in the bodily return of Jesus who will fully establish His justice and rule on earth as the eternal King.

(Mt. 28:18, 2 Tim 3:16-17, Gen. 1:26, Mt. 22:39, Jn 3:16, Mt. 5:45, Rom. 3:23, Mk. 2:17, Eph. 1:7, 2 Cor. 5:21, Lk. 11:20, Jn. 20:21, Mt. 28:18-19, 1 Jn. 4:10, Lk.24:39, 1 Jn. 4:9, Eph. 1:20-21, Rom. 10:9, Eph. 2:9, Eph. 2:6, 1 Cor. 12:4-6, 2 Pt. 3:9, 2 Pt. 3:10-13).