Spruce Creek Church is a community of believers existing for the glory of God to live out of the gospel in the church, in the community and in the world.
The word gospel means "good news" and it is the good news that in Jesus Christ the kingdom of God has entered into human history. As such it is the good news that although we are sinful and needy, through the work of Christ we are more accepted and loved than we could ever imagine.
The gospel tells us that Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of God. God's Kingdom is His rule, His reign and His power. God created the world to be under His rule. Life was created to be under His Lordship and Kingship. Things blossom and find fulfillment only under His rule. All areas of life are subject to disintegration when not lived under the kingship of Christ. The plan of God is to renew the whole world by bringing all things under the kingship of Christ.
The gospel of the kingdom is the transforming power of Christ that renews our minds, hearts and souls. It is the means by which we make all progress and become restored in our beings – both individually and corporately. This reality compels us to live for God's glory and pleasure, and to love Him with all our mind, volition, emotion, time and resources. In essence this is what it means to be a worshipper of God, and such worship defines and fuels every aspect of life in the community at Spruce Creek, and provides true freedom, joy and hope.
We exemplify the kingdom by making it visible in our lives of service and community and it is lived out in relationships. Everything we do is relational and relationships are foundational for demonstrating the reality of God's rule in our lives in a tangible way. We do not exist for ourselves as individuals but our fundamental reality is as beings in community.
Living out our lives in relationships means we are called to be a true community relating to one another in our weakness, brokenness, repentance, compassion and the power of God's love, mercy and forgiveness. Such a grace shaped community promotes honest relating as well as healing and encouragement in the midst of the struggle of daily life. It also develops disciples with informed minds and inflamed hearts, creating an environment where servant leaders are developed who reproduce themselves resulting in a community learning to live out the implications of the kingdom.
The gospel of the kingdom is a living power. It constantly moves and infiltrates our hearts, minds and lives, so that the gospel may reach all the cultures of the world, transforming them according to God's kingdom purposes. For us this will involve committing our lives joyfully to several kingdom commitments. First, we will be an outward facing community existing to be a channel of God's redemptive truth and love. Second, it also involves a commitment to personal evangelism, missions and church planting ventures.
Another fundamental kingdom commitment is to the area of mercy and care for the poor. We are called to demonstrate the power of the gospel in the broken places of society as we live our ordinary lives loving and serving our neighbors. These commitments will only be fulfilled as we devote ourselves to kingdom-centered prayer.