Our Vision:
Gospel of Grace Church is committed to the following:
The Gospel. The "gospel" is the good news that in Christ God entered human history to save sinners and give people the only hope that matters: eternal life with God. The central focus of the gospel is Jesus Christ and especially His Cross (1 Corinthians 1:23). The Holy Spirit uses the gospel to melt human hearts into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. And so our preaching, teaching, fellowship, and daily lives revolve around the gospel.
Changing lives. The Holy Spirit uses the gospel to change lives in two ways. First, the Holy Spirit uses the gospel to make dead sinners alive in Jesus; this is commonly called "conversion" or "getting saved." Second, the Holy Spirit uses the gospel to grow Christians in conformity to Christ; this is commonly called "becoming like Jesus" or "maturing in Christ."
A problem many Christians face after conversion is growing. Instead of growing by focusing on the good news that brought us into Christianity, we try to grow by focusing on our living or our doctrine. When this happens we regress into one of two camps. We either regress into moral/doctrinal pride and think that God loves us because we are morally and/or doctrinally impeccable; or, we regress into hopelessness because we know that we are not morally and/or doctrinally impeccable. How can we avoid regressing into one of these two extremes? How can we grow in Christ?
The only way that Christians can grow is by centering their entire lives on Jesus Christ. Our lives become increasingly godly when we fixate upon Jesus Christ who bled, hung, and died for undeserving sinners. Pride is removed: who can boast at the Cross?; suffering is explained: if Jesus suffered, Christians will too; and hopelessness is alleviated: Jesus was forsaken by God so that God will never forsake us.
Because the Cross is the heartbeat of Christianity, we are committed to preaching and teaching the gospel in such a way that Christians grow in the Cross, not beyond it, and that non-Christians will come to believe that the essence of Christianity is not a set of religious rules we must obey, but a total surrender to the Savior who died in our place because we have not obeyed.
A New Community. The church is a new community centered around and built upon Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus unites Christians more significantly than biological blood; the sacrificial love we receive from Jesus spills over into our sacrificial love for one another; the patience Jesus has for us in our sinfulness is expressed in our patience with others in their sinfulness; Jesus' acceptance of us as broken sinners living on grace displays itself in our acceptance of broken sinners living on grace; and God's forgiveness of us through Jesus' sacrifice moves us to forgive one another. Jesus' perfect life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension provide the vitality for all our relationships in the church.
Also, the church is not a man-made community; if it was, there is no way that such a diversity of ages, social classes, ethnic backgrounds, and talents could co-exist in harmony. Diversity in the church is evidence that Jesus builds His church (Matt. 16:18), not men.
Therefore, Gospel of Grace Church is committed to building a new community composed of people from all social classes, experiences, conditions, abilities, ages, races, and places. Come unite with us and experience for yourself the joy of authentic relationships within a caring community.
Planting other churches. We believe it is unhealthy for churches to hoard God's grace and settle into a comfortable routine of self-maintenance rather than self-sacrifice. A church which merely maintains itself and does not sacrifice time and resources for mission work will be as unhealthy as a Christian who merely maintains himself/herself and does not sacrifice for the sake of others.
Therefore, we are not a "maintenance" church; we are a "missional" church. We are on a mission to nurture the faith of each member, and we are on a mission to bring the gospel to those without faith in Jesus Christ. We are already laying the foundation for planting other churches in the Springfield area.
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We are Bible-believing, Christ-centered, bringing the Gospel to Springfield, MO. Though presently independent, beliefs are Reformed and Presbyterian.
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