The design below represents the way we envision disciples being made in the AV. Our worship gatherings and missional communities are geared toward growing mature disciples of Christ who exhibit our six core values of biblical proclamation, desperate prayer, wholehearted worship, exponential multiplication, genuine fellowship, and sacrificial care. The growth of mature disciples will fuel local & global mission that results in new churches. We believe that the church is called to continue this cycle until the Lord returns.
Missional Communities
Some people might see our missional communities (MCs) as small groups, and while they are right, that term just doesn’t seem to be specific enough. They are communities because their focus is to live life together in an authentic, life-giving, manner. They are missional because they are not simply about Bible study with long-time believers. Instead, each of our missional communities has an intentional focus on fellowship, study, and outreach. Thus, embedded in the small group's DNA is an example of what a mature Jesus-follower should look like.
Worship Gatherings
Our goal is that our missional communities would fuel our corporate worship gatherings. As people are growing and maturing in Christ, their love for him, devotion to the saints, and desire to magnify his name will also grow. The corporate worship gathering is a great place to express this love and devotion to God, as well as, other believers. We also recognize that lost people will come to these gatherings. With this in mind we plan on developing a worship gathering that is pleasing to God, encouraging to believers, and convicting to those who don’t know Christ.
Global Disciple-making*
Our ultimate goal in Global Disciple-making is to equip and mobilize world-impacting disciple- makers to reach the nations for the glory of Christ. To achieve these goals, our priorities will be:
mission teams for 1-2 weeks. The primary purpose of short-term mission trips would be to: 1) Engage the lost in partnership
with the local field partner and 2) Equip the local church on the field through biblical, theological and practical ministry
training.
Mid-term Missions - Often, after participating in short-term missions, individuals or families feel the Lord leading them to
serve for longer than a week or two. Therefore, mid-term is for those who want to give a summer, a semester, a year or
two and serve the Lord in a cross-cultural context. Mid-term serves to better expose, equip and encourage those that have
gone short-term and are prayerfully considering planting their lives long-term.
Long-term Church Planting - In dependence upon God our desire is to train up and commission out from our local church
those individuals and families that God is leading to plant their lives among the nations. This includes domestic and
international church planting.
*Because we have a limited amount of resources and people we want to focus our prayers, resources and mission teams almost exclusively on the under-reached, unreached and persecuted throughout the world.
Some people might see our missional communities (MCs) as small groups, and while they are right, that term just doesn’t seem to be specific enough. They are communities because their focus is to live life together in an authentic, life-giving, manner. They are missional because they are not simply about Bible study with long-time believers. Instead, each of our missional communities has an intentional focus on fellowship, study, and outreach. Thus, embedded in the small group's DNA is an example of what a mature Jesus-follower should look like.
- Multiplication: these MCs are made to multiply. As outreach is done and disciples are made there will be a need for new communities to spring up.
- New churches: as more missional communities spring up they bear the potential of becoming new church plants.
Worship Gatherings
Our goal is that our missional communities would fuel our corporate worship gatherings. As people are growing and maturing in Christ, their love for him, devotion to the saints, and desire to magnify his name will also grow. The corporate worship gathering is a great place to express this love and devotion to God, as well as, other believers. We also recognize that lost people will come to these gatherings. With this in mind we plan on developing a worship gathering that is pleasing to God, encouraging to believers, and convicting to those who don’t know Christ.
- A culture of mission: In both our worship gatherings and MCs we want to ensure that members and visitors alike get the sense that we are serious about God’s mission to make disciples of all nations. It is our desire that there would be an infectious culture of mission that causes every person to leverage their gifts, talents, and resources for the sake of the gospel. This will be achieved through dynamic disciple- making in our MC’s, large group gathering communication, and the development of global efforts.
- A culture of sacrificial love: We want the love of Jesus to be on display in every gathering we have. At our worship gatherings people with servant's hearts will be front and center to help park cars, greet, and answer questions at our visitor center. More than anything, we want people to see that we have been changed by Christ in a way that expresses itself through inclusive, Christ-like care.
- A culture of authenticity: People can sense when a person is being religious or fake. Our generation has had it with artificial programs and arrogant people. That is why we believe it is so important that every person in our faith family open themselves up to the body of Christ in a transparent and accountable fashion. As this happens there will be a genuine sense in our gatherings that “these people are real”.
- A culture of hunger: Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. That is a promise that we want to take full advantage of! We believe that In order to create hungry Christians, we need to put God’s glory on display. This happens when God’s Word is taught and applied in a way in which he is shown to be the central, life-giving father, of all creation. When the greatness of God is compared to the weakness of humanity, a culture of hunger will drive God’s people toward greater desperation, and thereby, greater intimacy with him.
Global Disciple-making*
Our ultimate goal in Global Disciple-making is to equip and mobilize world-impacting disciple- makers to reach the nations for the glory of Christ. To achieve these goals, our priorities will be:
- Praying: During family worship times, weekly missional communities, and our corporate worship gatherings we will be actively engaged in praying for unreached peoples throughout the world.
- Giving: We desire that our overall church budget reflects our vision, mission and goal. We don’t want to be consumers, but want to sacrifice our resources for the sake of the glory of Christ among those with urgent spiritual and physical needs throughout our city and world.
- Going:
mission teams for 1-2 weeks. The primary purpose of short-term mission trips would be to: 1) Engage the lost in partnership
with the local field partner and 2) Equip the local church on the field through biblical, theological and practical ministry
training.
Mid-term Missions - Often, after participating in short-term missions, individuals or families feel the Lord leading them to
serve for longer than a week or two. Therefore, mid-term is for those who want to give a summer, a semester, a year or
two and serve the Lord in a cross-cultural context. Mid-term serves to better expose, equip and encourage those that have
gone short-term and are prayerfully considering planting their lives long-term.
Long-term Church Planting - In dependence upon God our desire is to train up and commission out from our local church
those individuals and families that God is leading to plant their lives among the nations. This includes domestic and
international church planting.
*Because we have a limited amount of resources and people we want to focus our prayers, resources and mission teams almost exclusively on the under-reached, unreached and persecuted throughout the world.