What does this mean practically for New City Church?

Many churches who profess the same beliefs can have vastly different personalities or “feel.”   Here are some practical implications and applications of what we believe…

Intentional cross-cultural stretching. We intentionally strive to be a people of many different sizes, shapes, colors, backgrounds, etc… According to Revelation 7, the Kingdom of God is made up of people from every tribe, tongue, language, and nation. We simply ask, “Why not here and why not now?” This means that there will always be things at New City that you may not prefer (or are not familiar to you) – that is the price we pay for this vision.

No Pretending. You are a sinner. I am a sinner. We are saved by grace and made new in Christ Jesus…and yet we struggle with sin and will continue to do so until we die. Pretending that we do not is simply called hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is usually a silly attempt for Christians to look good for God and other people. God knows who you are anyway and others usually do not care and even if they did, their opinion would be overwhelmed by God’s opinion anyway. What’s God’s opinion of you? If you are connected to Jesus by faith, he loves you just like he loves Jesus (John 17:23). No pretending – the Gospel means we can be honest!

First Things First. Everyone has distinct theological views – everyone, including the leadership at New City Church. At New City we focus on the main things and living out the main things. What are the main things? The centrality of Jesus and living in His Kingdom. Instead of seeing Christianity first as “ideas to be believed” we see it first as a life to be lived.

Freedom . Where the Bible speaks clearly, we speak. Where it does not, we keep silent. What clothes should you wear to church? Should you drink alcohol socially? How should you school your children? What about body art? The Bible doesn’t say – neither will we. These are issues of personal conviction. Grace & Peace will remain a community where the personal conviction of one is not pressed upon another.

Commitment to Unity & Love. Biblically, a church that can do magnificent things, has a lot of money, powerful ministries, excellence in all things…but has no love, has COMPLETELY FAILED. Therefore we start with love. Love is not easy and requires clear communication, continual repentance, and dealing strongly with the “Love Cancers” like complaining, gossip, and bitterness.

No Lone Rangers. The only things Jesus did alone were pray and be crucified. All ministry he did do, he did with others. Also, when he sent out his disciples, he sent them out “two-by-two.” We do not want to break this pattern.