A Deep Dive Into Our Core Values
FROM OUR SENIOR PASTOR, ANDREW HARWELL
Living Fellowship exists to glorify God by being a home in Christ for all people.
Welcoming all in love with a clear proclamation of salvation through faith in Christ, and partnering with God on mission as His ambassadors to make disciples of all nations for the renewal of all things in Alpharetta and around the world.
Our hope is that we would be both the church gathered to worship and the church scattered as light into our homes, our families, our communities, our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces, our organizations, our parks – anywhere our callings are assigned—seeking to advance His Kingdom in word and deed.
As we engage in our community with this vision, there are a few things we believe must be true about Living Fellowship:
- We must live in fellowship with one another.
- We must live in fellowship with Alpharetta.
- We must have a holistic orientation.
- We must be grounded in Biblical Truth.
- We must cultivate an environment of grace.
- We must be ministers of the gospel wherever we are.
We Must Be A Home Grounded In Truth
Living Fellowship believes in the truth of the Bible. The Old and New Testament and the ecumenical creeds and confessions help to inform and lead us to become a church whose foundation rests in the historic Christian faith that the Bible is the very word of God.
Because our truth is grounded in God’s word, we are able to communicate the gospel with clarity.
The gospel is the central message of the Bible and the central message of our church, and it transforms us into a gathering community that will begin to show others around us what type of home we will have in Christ - always and forever.
We believe the gospel is the biblical message of hope and grace for our world: it’s the message that God is redeeming His fallen creation through the coming of the kingdom of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
We Must Be A Home That Has An Environment of Grace
The gospel is grace. Paul writes, “for grace you have been saved,” not by beauty, education, wealth, or achievements.
We look to scripture to help us become an environment of grace.
During Jesus’s ministry, He cultivated an environment of grace by welcoming little children to his presence, touching those whom the culture said were untouchable, and forgiving those who participated in his death.
As we continue to seek, understand, believe, and practice the gospel, our hearts are transformed and grow into Christ-likeness. The gospel changes us from the inside out, replacing our shame with honor, guilt with righteousness, and weakness with power.
All because of grace.
We Must Be A Home That Ministers The Gospel Wherever We Are
Followers of Christ, “are not mere fragments of the church who are scattered about in the world and who come together again for worship, instruction, and fellowship on Sunday. They are Christ’s representatives, no matter where they are.”
In all that we do, we look for ways to equip all for the work of ministry.
As a part of the gathered and scattered church, we believe that it is our church’s calling to equip all believers to be God’s instruments of redemption in every place and vocation to which we have been assigned.
We Must Be A Home That Is In Living Fellowship With One Another
From creation (Genesis 1) to the throne of God (Revelation 7), we see God’s people in community and in relationship with one another and with God.
In Revelation 7, we get a visible picture of the type of people God has gathered as a reconciled people: people from every tribe, every tongue, every language, and every nation.
They are a multi-ethnic, multi-class, and multi-generational people who, through the reconciling power of the gospel, are made sons and daughters and brothers and sisters in Christ.
We Must Be A Home that Is In Living Fellowship With Our Community
We believe God created all people with the responsibility and the gifts to creatively rule, care for, and serve the world He created for His glory.
Sin misdirected our gifts, but we believe that through God’s grace and our faith we are able to work as ambassadors and stewards.
We can be a part of the work of redemption in our vocations, culture, and society.
No matter how big or small, we believe that the cultures of our hearts, our habits, our marriages, our families, our homes, our organizations, our communities, our neighborhoods can be made new.
We Must Be A Church Whose Orientation Is Holistic Toward God, Our Church Community, And The World
With these orientations, we desire to be a people that welcome all in our community regardless if they are following, skeptical of, or indifferent to Jesus.
We believe that we were all welcomed by the grace of God, even when we were strangers, skeptics, and indifferent to Jesus, and yet, Jesus welcomed us with open arms into His kingdom and into His embrace.
With that posture, in both word and deed, we want to welcome and to express to all the grace of God’s gospel restoration.
A Prayer of Thanksgiving For the Mission of the Church
Almighty God, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to reconcile
the world to yourself: We praise and bless you for those
whom you have sent in the power of the Spirit to preach the
Gospel to all nations. We thank you that in all parts of the
earth a community of love has been gathered together by
their prayers and labors, and that in every place your servants
call upon your Name; for the kingdom and the power and
the glory are yours for ever. Amen.- The Book of Common Prayer
