FOLLOWING JESUS, LOVING PEOPLE, & SERVING OUR CITY
At OneLife we do not have a long detailed vision and mission statement with lots of bullet points and the likes. We like to keep things pretty short and sweet, easy to remember, and easy to put into practice.
At OneLife the three words of our name encompass the three things we prize most. These three values inform and shape everything we do. These values are not the destination points that we have already attained. Rather, they are the direction in which we try to direct all of our efforts.
In other words, our vision is our name...
OneLife Community Church - "following Jesus, loving people, and serving our city"
IT'S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
In fact, when we look at the Bible, one of the surest things we can say is that God is big into relationships! We believe that the calling on every believer and every church is to be faithful on 3 levels of relationship. These 3 levels of relationship are seen in our vision and help form all of our decisions as a church.
Our Name & Our Vision | 3 Levels Of Relationships
[click the 3 columns below to learn more]
OneLife
We are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the source of our redemption and life, and it is through our relationship with him that we become like him. This is the basic requirement of faith—to be aligned with Christ. Through this relationship, Christ speaks life to us and through us.
This is the 1st part of our vision and our name... “OneLife.”
OneLife
"we believe that true, real life is found only through following Jesus"
Because of this belief, we want people who are not followers of Jesus to become followers of Jesus. In addition, we want those of us who are already believers in Jesus to mature in our faith and have that relationship shaping, forming, and directing every aspect of our lives. We believe all of this happens as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Image by Scott Erickson
Community
We are called to be agents of God’s kingdom in the world both locally & globally.
OneLife Community Church is committed to meeting the needs of those in our own neighborhoods through micro financing, entrepreneurial opportunities, our tutoring program, collaborative youth ministry, community garden, our dinner church, partnering with other local organizations, and other local faith communities. We are also committed to impacting the world through partnerships with missionaries in prayer, finances, and short-term trips. This commitment has been a strong part of our church’s DNA from its beginning.
This is the 2nd part of our vision and our name... “Community.”
Community
"we love, serve, & are purposely rooted in our community"
We believe that serving others is the most significant way we can reflect God's character into the world. Because of the belief, our vision is bigger than our congregation. The gospel rhythm has always been that God blesses his people in order that, through us, others are blessed [Genesis 12].
We see this happening when all of us are more faithfully present in our various communities and neighborhoods throughout the city of Seattle. The more neighborhoods we have represented in our church with people groups purposely looking to love and serve as Jesus did the better, because we want God's kingdom presence to be felt more and more in our city.
Image by Scott Erickson
Church
We are called to participate in the community of faith.
The church is the body of Christ, and God intends for each of us to find our place of belonging and proper functioning so that the whole grows up into maturity.
Although there is a real way in which the Spirit of God unites us, there is another way in which our intentional decision to join a church helps us to grow in grace and trust with one another.
Choosing to be part of a church body announces our decision to be present with one another, to care for one another, and to encourage one another in faith and good works. It’s a place that welcomes honesty and accountability, and is willing to commit to doing life together so long as it seems good to the Spirit and one another. This is even more authentically worked out in Core Groups, our weekly bible studies that meet in people’s homes throughout the greater Seattle area.
All of this reflects the 3rd part of our vision and our name... “Church.”
Church
"we are a church—nothing more, nothing less"
We believe that God has made it clear that it is important for Christians to be together regularly - to pray, worship, learn, serve, grow, support, care, encourage, and love one another. But it's also very clear that this gathering was to reach out to meet the physical, spiritual, social, and emotional needs of the community.
In short, the church has always been about following Jesus, loving people, and serving the city. What does this mean for us as a gathered people?
We like to think of the church as an organism - one that it is a living, breathing thing that is always a work in progress. This means we take a process-oriented, long-term view with one another. Whether we are extending grace to someone in our Core Groups, patiently teaching our children to worship alongside us on a Sunday morning, or cooking a meal for a neighbor, we give ourselves patiently to the slow, steady work the Lord has laid out for us.
Image by Scott Erickson
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT & THE GREAT COMMISSION
For us, our vision, our name, and these convictions are simply reinterpretations of Jesus’ emphasis of the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and the Great Empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We long to grow in our love for God, one another, and the world.
And we’re glad that you are interested in joining with us in our efforts to do so!