Our Focus
Our mission is to connect people with God and other people so they
can experience life at its very best.
We have two phrases we try to keep in mind as we carry out our mission: "less is more" and "KISS" (Keep It Simple Stupid!). We don't have a lot of different ministries at LifeBridge--that's by design. We believe that the more we offer the less focused we become. So we try to stay focused on a few things because we think they will have more impact in people's lives, in this church, and in our community. Thus rather than building a complex church, we strive to Keep It Simple.
For more insights into who we are, see the links below.
Ministry Teams
Our ministry teams are the reason we continue to exist, especially on Sunday mornings! The Worship and Media teams arrive early on Sunday morning to fine tune what they've already prepared for worship and to make sure the audio and visual elements of our service are working correctly. A Creative team has worked behind the scenes during the weeks before to create sets or other creative elements that will be part of the service. Closer to the service time, a Greeter team is at the front doors welcoming people as they arrive, while a First Look team or Xtreme team is already preparing to help babies, preschoolers, and elementary age children learn more about God's love and His great plan for their lives.
Other ministry teams work through the week working with teens, gathering resources and supplies, writing cards, sending emails, preparing coffee, preparing food, editing and printing worship guides, preparing for special events, and more. While not all of them are as visible as the worship team, every ministry team is vital to our health as a church. Without them we couldn't make it!
We want everyone to be involved in a ministry team. Why? First, because it's a great way to develop relationships with some other people. But more importantly, when you're serving through a ministry team, you take the focus off yourself for a short time; that's where God wants you to be--to be focused on others and on Him because then you'll be on your way to experiencing life at its very best!
There are several teams that are "first steps" where you could possibly get plugged in. People who serve on a ministry team generally do so on a rotating basis--some serve once a month, others serve for a month then are "off" for several months.
Click here to email us with questions about a specific ministry team or about how, when, and where you can get involved.
Authentic Community
What is authentic community? It includes openness, sensitivity to the needs of others, encouragement, mutual spiritual growth, accountability, and unity in the midst of diversity.
Authentic community doesn't mean we're trying to create a therapy group. Instead, it means we're trying to be real with other people and allow them to be real with us. It means taking off the masks and sharing our lives with others.
But this doesn't happen too often in our culture. From an early age (especially through advertisements) we learn that "we should never let them see us sweat" or that we must "put up a good front" regardless of how things really are. Thus we see an increase in mental and physical health issues that are often caused by people trying to keep up appearances. And eventually the false front comes crashing down, often with tragic consequences.
That's why we work to create authentic community. It's not easy to create, but when it happens people will attest to the fact that life is far better!
Authentic community among the early Christians was first seen in the Book of Acts, "They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers." Acts 2:42 (MSG)
Relevant Worship
Relevant worship is not routine, which is why we try to "keep people guessing" about what they might experience from one Sunday morning to the next. Many people who have been involved in churches for years know that during their church's worship service things are going to follow a normal routine. But we've seen how these routines often cause people to "check out" for about an hour on Sundays and miss what God is doing or what He might want to say to them. So we place a high value on keeping our worship fresh and new. We work hard at including creative elements that may catch you off guard, and we design the services so you don't always know what's coming next.
Relevant worship also includes upbeat, exciting, reflective music, which may sound like the music you listen to on the radio or a CD during the week. That doesn't mean we won't include some familiar hymns occasionally during worship, but while the words may be the same the music could be very different!
Relevant worship includes engaging, helpful teaching. Thus we not only try to explain what the Bible means (if a certain passage is not easy to understand), but also give great attention to what we should do with what God has said--how we can apply that to our lives in this new millennium.
Relevant worship is like a celebration; it's something people are actually excited about attending! We believe relevant worship actually helps us to focus on, hear from, and respond to God so that we can experience the life He desires for us!
Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship…Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. John 4:23-24 (MSG)
Relational Evangelism
Author and pastor Rick Warren has stated that both unchurched and churched people have something in common: they both are uncomfortable with the term "evangelism." Why is that?
Many Christians (and non-Christians!) think of evangelism as knocking on a stranger's door and doing whatever it takes to get the person in the home to pray a pray in which they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, after which the person knocking on the door is able to put another notch in his or her belt (or Bible). But that's not evangelism--it's manipulation!
At its basic level evangelism is simply what a Christian does in telling another person the personal story about what Christ has done in his or her life. And at LifeBridge we've seen that this happens best when people develop relationships with others rather than doing a "cold-call" knock on the door or a stranger.
Relational evangelism includes developing relationships with non-churched people. We call this our “invest and invite” strategy: we invest in a person's life so we can invite them to LifeBridge Church and then later we (or someone else) may be able to invite that person to begin a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.
Relational evangelism means being able to share our individual stories of what Christ has done for and in us. Thus as a church we place a big emphasis on "My Story."
Relational evangelism includes being equipped to introduce people to Christ, remembering that evangelism is a process that requires people working together and becomes a lifestyle of sharing the love of Christ in words and actions with others both locally and globally.
When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 (NLT)
Focused Ministry
When many people think of ministry, they think of a pastor--a person who gets paid to preach or provide some other leadership in a church. But there's a lot more to ministry than just what the pastor does. The Bible equates ministry with service, and says it is the responsibility of every Christian.
Focused ministry includes discovering your unique God-given design and allowing God to use you in strategic service for His purposes. Your focused ministry may start by simply serving on a ministry team because it's a place to get involved and there is a need for you to be involved. But as you continue to grow you will discover how God has put you together (your personality, gifts, abilities, passion, experiences) and you'll begin to discover the place you need to be focusing your service (ministry) so you can be fruitful and fulfilled.
"Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace." 1 Peter 4:10 (NCV)
Intentional Multiplication
Intentional multiplication means multiplying yourself. It includes personal spiritual growth that results in helping others in the church grow and ultimately helping God's kingdom grow. It includes multiplying leaders for LifeBridge and for new churches that will develop through LifeBridge.
Intentional multiplication means that we are never satisfied where we are--either personally or as a church. While we may have a great worship service on Sunday mornings, the reality is that there are many people who still need what we offer, which means we will have to add additional services in the future. While we have some really great small groups, the reality is many people aren't in a group who need to be, and because our houses only hold a certain number of people we will need to start new groups so that more people can be involved. And while we have a great church we realize that many people struggle to come here (or may never come here) because it's a long drive, which means we may need to start a new church in another area so more people can experience God and discover the difference He wants to make in their lives.
"Take the teachings that you heard … and entrust them to reliable people, who will be able to teach others also." 2 Timothy 2:2 (TEV)