BEREAN BIBLE CHURCH EXISTS TO GLORIFY GOD BY MAKING DISCIPLES WHO HELP RESTORE THE CITY THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
“TO GLORIFY GOD BY MAKING DISCIPLESâ€
God created all things and orchestrated human history to display His glory. Therefore, the purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ has always been the same: the Church exists to glorify God. Though methods and strategies are always changing to adapt to the shifting culture, the ultimate purpose of the Church has never changed. Because of this truth, our purpose as a local church is first and foremost God-centered; we exist to glorify God. Everything we are and do as a church is designed with the ultimate goal of exalting and glorifying Him above all.
To that end, we believe God is most glorified by people who are finding their ultimate joy, life, and satisfaction in Him. This is why in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations…†A disciple is anyone who has been reconciled to God through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is growing in their love for and joy in God above all. Therefore, we believe this process of making disciples is inseparable from our goal of glorifying God.
To that end, we believe God is most glorified by people who are finding their ultimate joy, life, and satisfaction in Him. This is why in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations…†A disciple is anyone who has been reconciled to God through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is growing in their love for and joy in God above all. Therefore, we believe this process of making disciples is inseparable from our goal of glorifying God.
“WHO HELP RESTORE THE CITYâ€
The overflow of our deepening joy in God is that we long to love others in the same way that God loved us through Jesus. We believe the best way to love others is by working to serve them in any way possible, and showing them the beauty of the glory of God in every aspect of the world around us. The “City†is simply the particular part of creation that God has charged us with helping restore back to its original purpose of reflecting His glory for others to see.
The Gospel not only changes the spiritual landscape of the City, but when its implications are lived out by the church, the Gospel impacts, renews, and ultimately restores every facet of the City we live in – the spiritual, physical, psychological, and social. For example, marriage was created to reflect the perfect relationship of the true groom, Jesus, and the true bride, His Church. In our sin, we took marriage and made it about ourselves, and therefore the result is divorce, pain, and broken relationships. Jesus redeems us back to Himself, and shows us in the Gospel what true sacrificial love and acceptance really is. As a result, one way we help “restore the City†is we work hard to restore the marriages of our city back to a place of true love for one another and a true reflection of God’s perfect love for us. In this sense, while our call to “restore the City†includes joining in the ongoing efforts to rebuild post-Katrina New Orleans, it also goes much deeper. We are called to a life of mission; a life of loving others in our city.
This work of restoring the city happens in two major spheres:
THE LOCAL CITY
We believe the Gospel compels us to live missionally in restoring the City where we live. We seek to be deeply involved in the lives of our neighbors, co-workers, friends, families, and those in need in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
THE GLOBAL CITY
We believe the Gospel also compels us to work to restore the “global Cityâ€. We believe the scope of our mission has no limits and as a result, we are deeply concerned with and invested in a mission to see God glorified not only in our own neighborhoods, but throughout the world.
The Gospel not only changes the spiritual landscape of the City, but when its implications are lived out by the church, the Gospel impacts, renews, and ultimately restores every facet of the City we live in – the spiritual, physical, psychological, and social. For example, marriage was created to reflect the perfect relationship of the true groom, Jesus, and the true bride, His Church. In our sin, we took marriage and made it about ourselves, and therefore the result is divorce, pain, and broken relationships. Jesus redeems us back to Himself, and shows us in the Gospel what true sacrificial love and acceptance really is. As a result, one way we help “restore the City†is we work hard to restore the marriages of our city back to a place of true love for one another and a true reflection of God’s perfect love for us. In this sense, while our call to “restore the City†includes joining in the ongoing efforts to rebuild post-Katrina New Orleans, it also goes much deeper. We are called to a life of mission; a life of loving others in our city.
This work of restoring the city happens in two major spheres:
THE LOCAL CITY
We believe the Gospel compels us to live missionally in restoring the City where we live. We seek to be deeply involved in the lives of our neighbors, co-workers, friends, families, and those in need in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
THE GLOBAL CITY
We believe the Gospel also compels us to work to restore the “global Cityâ€. We believe the scope of our mission has no limits and as a result, we are deeply concerned with and invested in a mission to see God glorified not only in our own neighborhoods, but throughout the world.
“THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRISTâ€
We believe the only way for us to accomplish our goal is by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel isn’t a program, but rather it’s the good news about a person, Jesus Christ. Sin caused mankind to be hopelessly separated from God, but because of God’s great love, He sent Jesus to live a perfect life, to die on the cross for our sin, and to be resurrected, victorious over death itself. As a result, we are restored back to God not through our works, but through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus, and He now dwells in us through the Holy Spirit.
So the Gospel is the good news of our gracious acceptance by God through Christ. But the Gospel goes further than this. The Gospel is also the good news that because of this gracious acceptance, our entire lives are being transformed as we live out the implications of the Gospel day by day. And the Gospel is the good news that this transformation in us creates a new community of people (called the “Churchâ€) who are actively engaged in loving others sacrificially through the work of restoring the City (see previous section).
So as a church, Berean is “Gospel centered†in that everything we do as a church is driven by the Gospel and is designed to help us grow in our understanding of and trust in the Gospel and its implications in our lives.
We strive to accomplish this through three specific pillars:
GOSPEL-CENTERED WORSHIP
We believe God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. As we are reoriented to the Gospel, our hearts are transformed and begin to genuinely find their ultimate satisfaction and joy in God. The result is authentic worship of Him in every aspect of our lives.
GOSPEL-CENTERED COMMUNITY
We believe life transformation happens best in the context of small groups of people doing life together where we can use our gifts to constantly reorient one another back to the beauty and truth of the Gospel so that we are growing in our worship of God. Small group community is the backbone of our ministry and forms the baseline environment for us to accomplish our goal of making disciples for the glory of God.
GOSPEL-CENTERED SERVICE
We believe as the Gospel transforms our lives, it produces sacrificial and loving people on mission who live to glorify God by joining Him in restoring all things and pushing back the darkness of people’s lives with the light and power of the Gospel, in New Orleans and the whole world.
So the Gospel is the good news of our gracious acceptance by God through Christ. But the Gospel goes further than this. The Gospel is also the good news that because of this gracious acceptance, our entire lives are being transformed as we live out the implications of the Gospel day by day. And the Gospel is the good news that this transformation in us creates a new community of people (called the “Churchâ€) who are actively engaged in loving others sacrificially through the work of restoring the City (see previous section).
So as a church, Berean is “Gospel centered†in that everything we do as a church is driven by the Gospel and is designed to help us grow in our understanding of and trust in the Gospel and its implications in our lives.
We strive to accomplish this through three specific pillars:
GOSPEL-CENTERED WORSHIP
We believe God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. As we are reoriented to the Gospel, our hearts are transformed and begin to genuinely find their ultimate satisfaction and joy in God. The result is authentic worship of Him in every aspect of our lives.
GOSPEL-CENTERED COMMUNITY
We believe life transformation happens best in the context of small groups of people doing life together where we can use our gifts to constantly reorient one another back to the beauty and truth of the Gospel so that we are growing in our worship of God. Small group community is the backbone of our ministry and forms the baseline environment for us to accomplish our goal of making disciples for the glory of God.
GOSPEL-CENTERED SERVICE
We believe as the Gospel transforms our lives, it produces sacrificial and loving people on mission who live to glorify God by joining Him in restoring all things and pushing back the darkness of people’s lives with the light and power of the Gospel, in New Orleans and the whole world.