You may be asking yourself...

"What makes this church unique?" "What do they stand for?" "What are they all about?"

Well we are glad you asked!

Below are the 6 core values of Emmaus Road Church. We see these values in the way that Jesus lived and also in the everyday rhythms of the early Christians. We believe God's design for the Christian life is for us to be missionaries to the people around us. The missionary life is characterized by these values and so we also call them our Missionary Rhythms. Next to each value you will find the Missionary Rhythm next to it in paranthesis. 

God-Centered (REJOICE)

A life with God at the center is the ultimate way to live. It is not easy. It takes courage and sacrifice. But such a life changes the world. Jesus modeled this Spirit-led mode of existence and claimed, “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me” (John 8:28). We too want to abandon our self-derived agendas and establish a high speed connection with God as our loving Father. We want his priorities and his tasks to become ours. This means we make our relationship with God the highest priority and we seek to live every moment, not just Sundays, in step with him.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). God-centered living is about soaking and abiding in the love and presence of Jesus and bearing fruit as a result. The fruit of this lifestyle is a deeper compassion for the people around us, a more vibrant, and constant, dialogue with God, and the lasting transformation of our broken world.

The Book of Acts describes how the early church lived this way, submitted to and empowered by the Holy Spirit. They greeted each day with a sense of adventurous faith,

not knowing what God would move them to do. Our greatest challenge to living this way is that God-centric living is opposite of self-centered living, something we and our culture know too much about. God knows this and so he gives us grace to live this way. He gives us the example of Jesus to encourage us. He fills us with his Holy Spirit who empowers us. And finally, he gives us each other to walk alongside of. As we grow into being the people of God we will find God-centric living becomes increasingly our default mode of doing life.

The Scriptures (READ)

God reveals himself to humanity through creation, through the word made flesh (Jesus) and through the written word (the Bible). The Bible is the written word of God. It is the blueprint for life the way God intends and we must constantly refresh ourselves on its truth and wisdom. It tells the redeeming story of our missionary God who loved the world so much that he sent his One and Only Son. The Bible is our instruction manual, our “help desk” as we seek to live lives that impact the world and build the Kingdom of God.

Jesus models this value in his constant reference to, and dependence upon, scripture. When tempted in the wilderness, Jesus responds to each temptation with quotes from scripture and the familiar phrase, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus had spent so much time with the written word of God that when the pressure was on he exuded it from his very pores. Witnessing his words and actions was like witnessing the Bible come alive. This is why John can write, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). God’s written word came to dwell among us and his name is Jesus.

We too depend on scripture to rescue us when we face temptation. We recognize with Jesus that knowing the Bible is an essential part of the Christian life. As his followers we meditate upon it, read it, study it,preach it and submit to it. It is through his word that God refreshes and renews us as his people. What an awesome God who can use such an ancient text to relevantly communicate in our postmodern world. But simply knowing the data of the Bible is not enough. What we seek rather, is to actively embody God’s story through our own concrete actions at home, at work and in our neighborhoods. We “do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive ourselves.” With the help of the Holy Spirit we “do what it says” (James 1:22). Such “doing” of the scripture helps restore us into God’s image and transforms the world around us.

Restoring People to Wholeness (RESTORE)

The church is created by the Spirit of God for the sake of the world, for the sake of others. Jesus models this value by constantly healing and restoring the people around him to wholeness. Jesus spent his days embodying the restorative plan of God. He restored people who were physically sick. He restored people who were financially poor. He restored people who were socially outcast. He restored people who were morally questionable. He restored people who were sincerely looking for God.

The one group of people that Jesus seemed to be harsh towards were self-righteous religious people who thought they had it all figured out. Jesus usually responds to such people in a cryptic and confrontational style. Yet, even in these encounters we can see his compassion at work dislodging religious moralism and replacing it with genuine relationship with God. As followers of Jesus we too will live lives of compassionate restoration towards the world around us. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will work to restore people to wholeness physically, emotionally, economically and spiritually. We will say with Jesus, “I have compassion for these people” (Matthew 15:32) and then live

in such a way as to bring healing and wholeness.

God has blessed us in order that we might be a blessing. We are therefore soft-hearted and open handed towards others. Freely we have received from God and so freely we give. Whatever we do for one of the least of these we do for Jesus himself. In this way we socially restore the world to a place of wholeness.

Missional Living (RELATE)

God is a missional God. From the Garden of Genesis to the Cross of Christ, God reveals his passionate pursuit of the people of the world. We are called to be imitators of God and live missional lives ourselves. Our mission is not to see who can make the most money but rather who can make the most disciples. Our mission is to enjoy the Gospel, to enjoy the good news that God loves us unconditionally and that we can be saved by believing in Jesus.

When you experience something good, you share it with other people. From new medical solutions to the hottest restaurant in town, good things are meant to be enjoyed, talked about and shared. The Gospel is so good we find ourselves not only enjoying it but talking about it and sharing it with our friends and neighbors. As the church we are a sent people. A people loved and restored by God and then sent into the world to love and restore others. We are a missional people actively seeking ways to embody and proclaim the Gospel to the world around us.

The early church embodied this value by constantly reaching out to others and bringing new people into the family of God. Acts tells us repeatedly “More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number” (Acts 5:14). “The Lord’s hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers” (Acts 16:5). It is part of the DNA of the church that it constantly reaches out and includes more and more people into the family of God. When this value deteriorates the church becomes no more than a social club catering to the needs of its members. This is not what Jesus had in mind when he launched his church by saying, “Go into all the world and make disciples” (Matthew 28). Still today he is sending us out and calling us to “go” across the oceans and across the street. People who are not sure where they stand with Jesus have a special place in our heart because they have a special place in God’s heart. We will strive to be accessible and relevant to our culture so that those who are curious can come and find new life.

Community (RECONNECT)

Life is a team sport. We need each other because we are all gifted and skilled in different ways. This diversity can cause division or it can make us stronger. In the church we celebrate our differences and strive to put ourselves together under the leadership of Jesus to accomplish the mission of God. The Bible refers to the church as a body where we are the various members. Just as the feet need the eyes and the eyes need the hands, so we too need each other. This goes against the grain of our culture that prefers self-sufficiency and independence. With the advances in technology the sound of the human voice and the touch of the human hand are becoming easier and easier to avoid. Yet in the beginning when God created humanity, he said “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Jesus embodied this value when he chose twelve men to join him on his mission. Even though he was God’s Son and clearly able to tackle the task on his own he formed a team. He knew the importance of sharing life with others, of not being a loner and of living in community.

By living in intentional community with others we guarantee that our Christian faith will be tested and verified. Much of the Christian life revolves around treating others a certain way. We are called to “love one another,” “submit to one another,” “accept one another as Christ accepted us” and to “honor one another above ourselves.” These commands can only be put into practice in community. When we live without community we miss out on part of the glory of being human. We are created to be in community. When we live amongst people who are different than us and yet work together as a team and serve each other with our various gifts we are a reflection of the Triune God. Thus by embodying this value we point the world towards God himself who is eternally existent as the community of Father, Son and Spirit.

Reproduce

Emmaus Road commits to spend 10% each year of its annual budget on planting other churches. These churches may come from our midst or they may be around the country and around the world. The good news is for everyone and we want to not just plant one church but many. We see this value in the early church that did not remain in Jerusalem but reproduced itself all around the Mediterranean world and beyond.