Truly we welcome all people, but that doesn't mean everyone will be comfortable with us.
The Christian Church has struggled with being more of a club than a clinic over the last couple of centuries. Who is IN and who is OUT? In a culture that is so concerned with pronouns, we often miss the most important One, because it's not mine, ours, or theirs, but His!
Jesus said He didn't come for the healthy or the "self-righteous", but for the weak, sick, and broken. This tendency we have to self-protection that has led some people to "justify" themselves as to why they don't need God or a Church that will only act in condemnation toward them. This is actually a sign of being and acting like an orphan.
Because a healthy Church is actually a messy Church when she knows beyond a doubt that we/us, the gathered community, belong to Him. We are like a building project in the works, there is always a mess on the way to healing, development, and growth. The goal of our existence is the movement towards God and developing in God's goodness and unfailing, faithful, redemptive LOVE, becoming full of His abundant LIFE, and LIGHT. If we're honest with ourselves, that means He came for all of us.
God wants us to flourish, so the Scriptures clearly promote lifestyles that are in alignment with what is God's Will, His expressed design, as spoken to us in His Word, The Christian Scriptures. The most important aspect to this is a vibrant and surrendered relationship with God – Father, Jesus & Holy Spirit. Only His Way to life will always result in more LIFE. His Work, then becomes evident in and through our lives. Any other lifestyle can only lead to theft, dishonesty, death, and destruction.
We are affirming of the image of God in all people, providing them dignity and acceptance, without accepting rebellious, destructive, and self-centered beliefs, practices, and behaviors. There is no end to these because of each of us has ties to the pervasive and corrupting orphan mentalities in our world of self-righteousness, scarcity, poverty, consumerism, revenge, or rivalry. These things are just symptoms of larger concerns.
As a community that belongs to Jesus, we also don't make a habit of "fixing" people–ourselves, or others. What is true of all people, is we are all in process, and searching for our true selves. Whatever label you've been burdened with, trust me, it is more about fear and seeking approval than it actually is about receiving His love and acceptance.
Pause and think with me for a moment... whatever the reality behind that label you are wearing (proudly or shamefully), it is so often more about control (either yours or someone else's) to make your existence more livable; rather than about engagement in a life-giving connection to God.
However you have chosen to identify yourself, or you've succumbed to being identified by others, only one identity ultimately matters... belonging to Jesus. All other identities are secondary. He is slow to anger and abounds in compassionate love. Believe this is real life! John the Apostle said of Jesus that "to all who believe on His Name, He has given the right to become the Children of God". We are all made in His image, but we have to receive what He is offering to us through Jesus, the right and ability to be and call ourselves the Children of Father God.
So, we do welcome you and invite you to come and encounter the Love of the heavenly Father and to surrender to His hope and healing as He makes your real need known to you. And let's be honest... all humanity has a real need. We are all born a certain way. No one is perfect, nor do we need to aspire to perfection or appearances of such. We don't need to defend or justify ourselves. What we all doneed is a restored Soul so that we can delight in the fullness of who we truly are as we dwell in Jesus' Presence together. It's not where life begins, but how we get to where it ends that means the most. This life of true meaning, purpose and wholeness is what we are all about.
So whether you are wondering about yourself, a friend, or a loved one, you are truly welcome here. We hope you will choose to engage in an authentic relationship with the One who has made you. He knows who you truly are, and we want to know you as well.