From the Pastor's Pen

The vision and mission statement of CommUNITY church is to Love Jesus; love who Jesus loves; and serve who Jesus serves, and I’m confident we’re learning more everyday what that looks like.  In light of the recent decision by the Supreme Court, and thanks to some help from our friends at other churches all around this nation, I’ve been doing some research, and have had some information sent to me by dear friends in ministry.  I believe we need to make a few things clear.  The below statements are a conglomeration of research that will help us to be watchful and stand firm in the faith, as 1 Corinthians 16 states.

CommUNITY church desires to show each week that we are a people-loving church because we seek to be a Jesus-loving church and Jesus loves all people (John 3:16; Matt. 22:37-39).  So we do our best to do the same. 

CommUNITY church desires to show each week that we are a Bible-believing church because we are a Jesus-following church and we see in the Bible in John 1, verses 1, 2, and 14 that “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us… full of grace and truth.”  Jesus is the Word of God incarnate, and therefore we believe all 66 books of the Bible to be “God-breathed” and without error in their original writings (to see more of what we believe, go to our Statement of Beliefs). 

CommUNITY church desires to show each week that we are a Gospel-preaching church because we are a Jesus-centered church and He died for our sins and came back from the grave to give us an eternal life with Him and a Gospel (good news) to preach and He expects His church to do so (Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). 

At the end of the day, it gets back to this - it’s ALL ABOUT JESUS!
And so, based on the above statements, confirmed through Scripture and practice: 

1. We will continue to love and welcome anyone into our church regardless of his or her race, gender, age, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.  Every person who enters our doors will be treated with the love of Jesus and the respect anyone is due as a creation in God's image (Genesis 1:27). 
   
   
2. We unapologetically affirm the Scriptural Truth (Romans 1:16) that God's divine design for marriage from the beginning is to be a life-long, covenantal commitment between a man and a woman.  We will not recognize LGBTQIA marriages, nor will we perform them.  At the same time, we will not allow anyone to question our tolerance or our integrity by doing so any more than we question the tolerance or integrity of those who do not believe in Jesus or the Bible as God's word.  Tolerance works both ways and we will both be tolerant of those whose lifestyles we believe are out of the will of God even as we expect tolerance from those same people for our beliefs and convictions. 
   
   
3. We believe the greatest need of all people, no matter your race, ethnicity, gender identity, or political views, is the salvation that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ by the grace of God (John 3:17-18; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Martin Luther said, "Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me.”  As the bride of Christ, we rely on Him for guidance, strength, mercy, and grace.  God help us, too.

William Penn said: "Right is right even if everyone is against it and wrong is wrong even if everyone is for it.”  That still stands true today, and so now is the time for us as His church to show the love of Jesus, the patience of Job, the faith of Abraham, the courage of Moses and the conviction of Paul.  I would rather be hated for telling the truth than loved for telling a lie.  May God help us to always stand for what He says is right and against what He says is wrong.  But may we stand with truth in one hand and grace in the other.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  My love be with you all in Christ Jesus, Amen. (1 Cor. 16:23-24)