Explanation of our mission statement
A mission statement is a brief description of what we aim to do and how we are trying to do it. Here is a phrase-by-phrase explanation of our mission statement:

"Changing Lives" - Our mission is changing lives, not merely learning Biblical truths or having fun (although both of these are good). We use the word "changing" instead of "change" or "to change" in order to express the ongoing nature of the change we are seeking. We should never stop changing because we never "arrive" at complete spiritual maturity in this life. Therefore, our goal is continuous change into the image of Jesus Christ. As far as the scope of change, our goal is not only changing the lives of people in our congregation, but also changing the lives of people in our community and in our world.

"Through Jesus Christ" - We are not changing lives in our own strength; instead, we are changing lives through Jesus Christ. That is, our power for changing lives comes through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

"Our Wellspring" - Jesus Christ Himself is our Wellspring. This means that Jesus Christ is our source of abundant and continual supply for changing lives.

Our mission statement is fulfilled in four stages: Exploring Christ, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, and Christ-Centered (these four stages are borrowed from the Willow Creek Association "Reveal" survey). Our mission is not just to change our own lives as we move along these four stages, but also to facilitate others' journey of change as they move along these four stages.

The first stage is Exploring Christ, which is leading explorers to faith in Christ. There are few things more exciting in the Christian life than leading someone to faith in Jesus. Just like there are few things in life that are more exciting than bringing a new baby into the world. Like a new baby, a new Christian has new life, new hope, a fresh start, a new relationship with God that he probably never dreamed he could have. A new Christian has an opportunity to join the family of God, the church, and to grow in his Christian faith and to learn how to share that faith with others.

The second stage is Growing in Christ. One way we grow in Christ is by learning about God’s principles in the Bible and by living by those principles. The Bible teaches that we cannot successfully live by God’s principles in our own strength, we need God’s grace to live by God’s principles (see Romans 7:7-8 and Romans 6:12-14). God’s grace is His favor toward those who do not deserve it. God’s grace is more than just forgiveness; such as, you failed, you are forgiven, now go back and try even harder to live by the principle next time. God’s grace includes things like desires to live by God’s principles and empowerment to live by God’s principles (Phil. 2:12).

The third stage is Being close to Christ. This stage is a close personal relationship with Jesus that comes from hearing His voice and obeying Him. We believe that Jesus speaks to his people in personal ways and wants to have an intimate relationship with them. We can have this intimate relationship with Jesus as we seek Jesus both personally and corporately.

The fourth and final stage is Being Christ-centered. This is highest level of spiritual maturity. Being Christ-centered means that Jesus is the center of our lives. Our lives revolve around Jesus and what he wants, Jesus does not revolve around us and what we want. Like the sun is the center of the solar system and the earth revolves around it; Jesus is the center of our lives and we revolve around him. We live to please him, we don’t try to use him to please ourselves.

Our mission statement of "Changing Lives through Jesus Christ our Wellspring" is fulfilled in these four stages: Exploring Christ, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, and Christ-Centered. We invite you to join us on this exciting journey!