CHRIST. GOSPEL. COMMUNITY.
As a church we have tried to boil down our core values into three key words. These words are not mutually exclusive but rather surge together, with their respective concepts, to characterize who and what we aim to be about as a local church. These three words are Christ, Gospel, & Community.
CHRIST
As a Christian church this is who we should be about. But as a church, this is who we love being about. We love Christ because God has first set his love upon sinners like us. He sent his Son into the world, not to congratulate or affirm us, but save us!
We love Christ because he is the perfect man; he is full of righteousness, love, goodness, and holiness. He is also fully God. Therefore, his goodness is Almighty goodness. He has no beginning or end. As God, he exists within the one being that is God, coequal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is our desire as a church to hear the Father's words in Matthew 3:17, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased" and have our lives and hearts echo back, "This is our beloved Christ, with whom we are well pleased."
GOSPEL
The Apostle Paul writes that the gospel is of "first importance" (1 Cor. 15:3). Therefore, as a church as we emphasize and prioritize the gospel we are being biblical. We are being Christian. The gospel simply means "good news."
What is the good news? It is all of what God has done in Christ. God the Father sent his Son Jesus to be the substitute for sinners. God requires perfect obedience to his Law. Failure to do so earns death (Rom. 6:23). But God, being rich in mercy, sent Jesus for us (John 3:16). He lived a perfect, sinless life of obedience to God's Law, earning our righteousness. He also willingly suffered and died upon the cross for sinners. Jesus took our sin upon himself on the cross; he was treated with the shame and guilt that is due rebels like us. This he did so that sinners could, through faith in him, be treated as if we had perfectly obeyed the law of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus, by taking the place of sinners on the cross, drank the cup of judgment for us so that we could drink the cup of blessing and acceptance. Then on the third day Jesus rose victoriously from the dead. This demonstrated God's acceptance of his sacrifice as well as the reality that Jesus had in fact defeated sin, Satan and death for his people. All of Christ's obedience was necessary in order to satisfy God's wrath and earn everlasting righteousness for his people.
As a church we don't just want to know about the gospel conceptually but we want to be calibrated by it organically. We want to be tethered to the cross of Christ that we might have true gospel growth abounding in this local church. Such demonstrations of this are love, joy, humility and grace within the church and a missional focus in the world.
COMMUNITY
When you read the New Testament you see pretty quickly that God is calling people to himself through the gospel of Christ. This is a calling to create local assemblies or communities of believers. This is a synonym for a church. A church is a local gathering of believers. This community of people has seen their sinfulness and Christ's glorious gospel and so therefore gather together as a local church to grow together in the grace of God through the Spirit of God. The Christian life is meant to be lived together, that is, in community. Therefore, we prioritize the gathering together of the church in order to worship God and encourage one another.
The second aspect of community is the fact that we, a local church, live within the context of a larger community. This area south of Omaha is our community. We live, work, play and shop among people in this community. Jesus himself said that as his Father has sent him into the world so he sends his disciples (John 17:18). Jesus was sent to accomplish salvation, the Holy Spirit was sent to apply salvation, and the church is sent on mission to proclaim salvation. Therefore, the burden of the gospel of Christ for the church is to reach this community (Matt. 28:18-20). Emmaus exists within a larger context with a mission of gospel expansion.
We aim to magnify Christ through his gospel in this community. These are three words with a lot attached to them. This commitment is hard-wired into the local church's DNA. The calling will outlast our lives. But, it is worth it, because the glory of God is of ultimate and infinite value!