Our Story |
Gospel-centered, Spirit-led Community on Mission.If Polson Community Church were a town, the Gospel would be Main Street, the central hub and heart-throb of our gathering, living, and moving. The life of our community is found at the foot of a bloody cross and the mouth of an empty grave.
The Gospel is how this community relates. Having been redeemed by God’s grace, we seek to live graciously with one another. Our love for Jesus is tested horizontally in our love for one another. We value authenticity, doing our best to discard the masks of pretense. We have exchanged the fig leaf for the cross. Shame and denial have been replaced by grace and truth. The Gospel means that we are a people on God’s Mission. This mission requires our presence in the world. As Jesus was sent, so are we. We see God’s image in every individual. We seek to live relationally, with patience and compassion towards the world. The Gospel humanizes people. Being on God’s mission also includes the proclamation of the Gospel Message. We believe every believer is called to the happy discipline of proclaiming Christ, imploring all people to be reconciled to God. We understand that the happiest hour in heaven is when one sinner repents; this is our aim and delight. While we believe that every Christ-follower is called to be on mission in their zip code, the Gospel has made us a people of the Great Commission. In answer to Christ’s call to make disciples of all nations, we seek to train, raise, and release leaders into every sector of society, but with a particular focus on those who are called to plant churches. It is a costly call that echoes the Father’s apostolic heart to send workers into a plentiful harvest. The Gospel is also the central theme of our gatherings. We celebrate the sacraments of communion and baptism regularly. Our worship and preaching seek to explore its magnificent depth and breadth. We believe that the Gospel is a message with intrinsic power from God to save. We desire to live with the reality that the Gospel has not only pardoned us but has brought us near to the Living God. He is transcendent, but He is also immanent. We are intent upon gatherings that reflect both. We have a high view of Scripture and God’s sovereignty. We tremble at His Word. We believe that even more than reading God’s Word, we should allow God’s Word to read us. It does not merely inform us. It transforms us. Therefore, we seek to divide the Word rightly, preach and teach it soundly and powerfully, and respond to it faithfully. We generally preach through whole books of the bible rather than preaching topically because we are aware of the tendency to preach favorite proof texts rather than the whole counsel of God. As much as we have reverence towards God’s Word, we are also a people with a hunger for more of the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe that He has been tragically neglected and out-scripted in many quarters of the church. We honor Him as God, the excellent gift our Father gave, and the One whom Jesus left to empower His people to be on mission. We are persuaded that we cannot follow Christ without the Holy Spirit’s power. We believe every facet of the Christian life relies upon his infilling, anointing, and leading. We believe He does his best work through God’s Word but that His activity is not limited to the proclamation of God’s Word. He is also at work demonstrating the power of God through God’s people for the common good. We intend for our life and meetings to reflect a willingness to follow His leading and walk confidently in His empowerment; this would include a less scripted approach to our gatherings, the intentional involvement of the congregation in worship, and prayer for one another. This Word and Spirit journey is a more holy pursuit than exact science. It is a rather mysterious pursuit, but we are persuaded that God calls every believer to know both the scriptures and the power of God. John Wimber called it ‘the Quest for the radical middle,’ and we believe that in our day, there is a ‘request for the radical middle’ for the sake of the Gospel. It is not so much perfect balance that we are after. We simply want to live in all that God intends for His Church, His glory, our good, and the joy of all people. |
