Excerpt from Authentic Pursuit: Chapter 6
At The Experience, our mission and vision is to make authentic followers of Jesus Christ through Authentic Worship, Authentic Community, and Authentic Community Service. Here’s what that means to us:
Authentic Worship:
As a church, we believe that all worship begins and ends in a genuine encounter with the person and completed work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not found in one or two scriptures but through a personal walk and relationship with Jesus. Therefore, weekend services are not about entertainment. They are not, nor will they ever be, a rock show or a concert. Weekend services are about pursuing genuine and authentic encounters with Jesus.
We are a community dedicated to Christ’s saving grace, constant repentance, baptism as a symbol and public profession of Christ’s work, the indwelling and empowering of the Holy Spirit (the fruit and gifts), and the marriage of faith and works as the evidence of genuine salvation. We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Bible as God’s inspired word, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Authentic Community:
As a church, we believe that as Christ-followers, we are strongest when we pursue Christ with other people. If we attempt to live the Christian life apart from intimate and genuine friendship and fellowship, we are more vulnerable to spiritual attack and prone to deception. We want to move people away from simply sitting in their seats and move them toward fellowship and consistent, meaningful community with each other… In our church now, we encourage all people to… invest heavily in a small group (we call them Life Groups). Life Groups exist to build relationships, discuss and learn the Bible in a small group setting, and give people the opportunity to pursue Christ together as a people united by His grace.
Authentic Community Service:
We do not believe that God saved us, redeemed us, and restored us through such amazing and scandalous grace just so we could sit in a seat on a Sunday morning or drink coffee in someone’s living room on a Thursday night. We strongly believe in moving people to a place of active, authentic Christian service in their community and world. As a church, we regularly do this through monthly acts of community service and giving generously to our friends and neighbors.
…We believe that Jesus has called us as His disciples to clothe, feed, and care for those in need. We believe He wasn’t joking, exaggerating, or speaking symbolically. We believe that He meant it, and as a church, if we are not doing it, we are not really a church at all.
So this is the vision and mission of our church. It’s not earth-shattering or groundbreaking. We feel that it is normal, everyday, and basic: Church 101.
—Excerpt from Chapter 5 of Authentic Pursuit: Second Edition by Corey Trimble with Josh Brooker