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THE GOSPEL POWER
The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. The gospel says that we are so sinful, lost and helpless that only the life and death of the Son of God can save us. Those who trust in Christ are now "holy in his sight, without blemish, and free from accusation." They are new creatures in Christ. (e.g. I Corinthians 1:18-2:5)
THE GOSPEL CHANGES US
The gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom, but the new way to do everything and to face every problem and to grow every step. The gospel tells us that we are more sinful than we ever knew, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared to hope. Therefore the gospel gives us enormous power to admit our flaws and sins. It gives us an entirely new self-image that is not based in our performance or comparison with others. Therefore, we seek to continually preach the gospel to ourselves, then to the church and the world. It affects the way we do everything at New Life - how we motivate people, how we help them work through problems, how we worship, how we take criticism. (e.g. Romans 8:28-39)
THE GOSPEL CHANGES UNBELIEVERS
We seek to bring the gospel to our world, that many will find new life in Christ. We share the gospel out of weakness, as fellow sinners who also need Christ desperately. Yet we do so in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit who makes people into new creations. We share the gospel by lovingly including non-believing family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors in every aspect of our lives including home, family activities, our small groups, and worship services. We seek to include friends in the life of the church even before they come to faith in Christ so that they may be deeply rooted in Christ after conversion, and then draw in their circle of friends to Christ. (e.g. Colossians 1:21-23)
THE GOSPEL SHAPES COMMUNITY
If the gospel is at work in us, it will give us new freedom, new power, and new relationships. Through lives of daily repentance we will be delivered from self-righteousness, pride, competitiveness, a divisive spirit, etc. The fruits of repentance are seen in personal change, Biblical conflict resolution, sacrificial love, compassion, intimacy, and honesty. In the large gatherings of the church, as well as in small groups, ministry teams, and in all relationships, we seek to be a community that is truly transformed by the gospel. (e.g. Acts 2:42-47)
WORSHIPING COMMUNITY
Our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever as a worshiping community. Worship is what gets us back into the proper spiritual orbit. It is central to who we are as God's people. It is a basic element in our daily repentance, re-centering ourselves continually around the Lord. We seek to be a worshiping community in our corporate worship, small groups, families, and personal worship. (e.g. I Peter 2:4-12)
PRAYING COMMUNITY
Nothing of significance happens in the kingdom of God without the community of God seeking Him in prayer. In prayer we acknowledge our weakness and helplessness as we call out to the Lord, going to Him for power and grace. We are called to be a community devoted to kingdom prayer (as opposed to survival or self-centered prayer), that our lives might be God-centered and that we might see His power displayed in transforming us and the world around us. (e.g. Colossians 4:2-6)
SERVING COMMUNITY
We are not to be just a church "in the community," but a church "for the community." We are called to be salt and light in our culture through our work, Christian ministries, and all of our relationships. Therefore we seek to bring the power of the gospel, through word and deed as a serving community, to our area. We seek to bring social healing, racial reconciliation, justice, and cultural renewal to our world by God's power. (e.g. Galatians 6:7-10)
DISCIPLESHIP/ SERVICE FOCUS (Local)
Leadership flows out of servanthood. Christ gives gifts of leadership so that all the saints might be equipped, trained, and mobilized for ministry. We seek to mobilize our leadership gifts with this vision in mind, rather than having our leaders try to do the entire ministry themselves. We seek to constantly make room for new leaders as the Lord brings new believers into our midst, and we do this through each leader discipling an apprentice. We long to see people move from unbelief to membership to ministry to maturity to multiplication. We believe every member should be discipled and cared for, but in order for that to be effective no one should care for more than ten others, pouring him/ herself into at least two others. We are, therefore, compelled to bring people into community with one another in small groups and ministry teams. We seek to help every member discover God's calling for their life as well as their gifts and strengths, so that they might fully serve Him both inside and outside the church, both in their vocation and avocation. (e.g. Ephesians 4:7-16)
GREATER PHILADELPHIA MINISTRY FOCUS (Regional)
We seek to see the Kingdom of God advanced through building up the New Life Network. This network is a movement of healthy, growing, and multiplying churches, partnering and planting churches to saturate greater Philadelphia so that many people come to Christ. Together our communities are transformed by His gospel. Our partnership also extends to our sister churches in the PCA and the broader church of Christ, as we seek to impact the region with churches committed to the same core values. (e.g. Acts 1:7-8)
GLOBAL/ CROSS-CULTURAL FOCUS (Global)
We are also called to all the "nations" (cultural groups) of the world. Cross-cultural mission work is needed in Philadelphia and to the ends of the earth. We long to be involved in strategic evangelism, mercy ministry, and church planting efforts throughout the world. Therefore, we seek to make missions a priority in the allotment of our resources, both in terms of manpower and finances. (e.g. Matthew 28:18-20)