1. Worship :: “BLESSED”
We come together to worship the Triune God and to be formed as His people. In every weekly gathering—from children to youth to adults—we want Christ to be the unmistakable center of all that is said and sung. Together we enter and participate in a “Gospel-shaped Narrative”: moving from celebration in song to the proclamation of the scripture, from confession of sin to gratitude for God’s grace, from prayer and petition to being commissioned back into the world. The cross and table are the central symbols of this Story.
In doing this, we remember that we are BLESSED.
2. Connect :: “BROKEN”
As believers, our faith, though personal, is never private. We have been called onto this journey with a great company of others; we have been baptized into a family. Our gatherings at new life DOWNTOWN are meant to be a catalyst for forming community with one another. We move from the Lord’s Table on Sundays to our dining tables throughout the week. All of our groups at new life downtown are meal groups for this reason.
It is in meal groups that we begin to share our lives together. But a thing can only be shared when it is broken. As we take the risk of vulnerability, of letting others into the cracked and broken places, we find the grace of God comes flooding in through our love for each other. Christ then becomes the defining center of our community.
In doing this, we remember that we are BROKEN.
3. Serve :: “GIVEN”
We do not exist for our own sake. The people of God (like the bread and the cup in Christ’s hands) have been blessed and broken that we might be given for the sake of the world. Each meal group at new life DOWNTOWN takes on a specific way of serving our city, becoming a kind of missional community.
In doing this, we remember that we are GIVEN.
