"We long to become an authentic community of God-centered,
Bible-saturated, grace-empowered, highly contagious,
servants of the Living God."

This statement is rich. We could work for weeks and still not unpack all that it implies. But here is a brief stab at doing just that:

We long to become....

We believe that spiritual growth is a journey, not a destination. Like an extended family traveling together on an exciting, but dangerous, spiritual journey, we have not yet arrived. We are not yet all that God intends for us to become. But we are confident that with guidance we will reach our final destination. We regularly check our map, the Bible, because of the risks we face, and we are confident we are on the right path.

Key text: Hebrews 12:1-2

Authentic community

Not satisfied with playing church, we long to be real with one another. We're not there yet. Boy, do we know we're not there yet! But we believe that spiritual growth happens best in a supportive environment of mutual encouragement and accountability. We are praying that God will develop a network of small group Bible studies where our people can get together, learn from the Scriptures, be honest and real, and grow into the kind of people He created us to be.

Key text: Ephesians 4:11-16

God-centered

We believe that God is the center of our spiritual solar system. He provides both warmth and light in an otherwise cold and dark universe. His gravitational pull causes us to orbit along an orderly, but elliptical path--sometimes very near and very warm, at other times more distant and a little cold, but always there, and always pulling us back around toward Him.

And we occasionally remind ourselves where we would be if we placed something else at the center of our lives: We would be left to create our own warmth. We would need to find our own source of light. We would work very hard to maintain orbit. We believe that without God at the center of our lives we would flail about, helpless, hopeless, caught in a consuming darkness that would chill us to the bone.

Key texts: Colossians 3:17

Bible-saturated

We believe that the Bible is a unique book. It is God's word, living and active, a lamp for our feet, and as a source of blessing for those who delight in it. We believe that God has revealed himself through the Bible and that we gain strength by reading, memorizing, and applying what God has to say. We want to be a people who are so saturated with God's word that others get wet with it when our lives brush up against theirs.

Key texts: Psalm 1; 2 Timothy 3:16

Grace-empowered

Grace is deep and dynamic. It refers to the free gift that God gave us in his Son, Jesus Christ. But grace is not static. It is like fuel, giving us strength to do the good works God has prepared for us to do. When the fast burning fuels of guilt and obligation wear off, grace is still abundant. Grace overflows from who God is, filling us up, inspiring, and empowering us.

Key texts: 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:16

Highly contagious

We believe that the truths of Christianity are better caught than taught. Too many religious people today are willing to raise their voice and wag an angry finger in your face. We prefer to be a people known for walking wisely toward those who don't yet know God. We want to always season our conversations with grace. And we want to live in such a way that we make people thirsty, curious about why we live the way we do.

Key text: Col. 4:5-6

Servants of the Living God

We believe that God has called us to be both humble, and unashamed. God is worth talking about. He is big. We, on the other hand, strive to avoid thinking too much of ourselves. For we get our worth from him.

Key texts: Luke 17:7-10; 1 Timothy 4:10

So, these are some of the things that are most important to us. As we strive to live out these ideals in our everyday lives, we regularly gather together for encouragement to continue in that direction. Our Sunday morning worship services are somewhat traditional, and yet we strive to develop an inspiring atmosphere that is more like a family reunion. We sing and pray. We catch up with each other and learn from one another. We talk. We laugh. We learn from the Bible through sermons and Bible classes. Together we seek the face of God.

But we don't just meet on Sundays. We also meet in smaller groups throughout the week and across the city to share meals, pray, play, and serve the city of Topeka. We walk together down the path of life as God-followers. We have not yet arrived, but we are confident that we are on the right path. By faith we walk, embracing the adventure, confronting the challenge. Though we have not yet arrived, we trust that we soon will.

We invite you to walk with us.