OUR
NAME
We take our name from the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, verse
5, which reads as follows: "I am the vine,
you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much
fruit, because without me you can do nothing." This is the
core of what we are about as a body of believers in Jesus. We are branches
of the Vine. Our life comes from Him; we are alive because of Him; and
we can do no good thing outside of Him. This is the basis of all our
theology. It is a belief system based in our spiritual connection to
God, through Jesus the Anointed One, by the union of our spirits with
His Holy Spirit.
UNION
WITH GOD
We believe that all people are called into a close relationship with
God. This is what God desires. His love for us is so great that He became
one of us so that we could come back into union with Him. This is spelled
out clearly in the Gospel of John, chapter 1: "...the
Word was God. ...And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among
us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full
of grace and truth." God wants us to have His own nature
- to be like Him - to share in His life: "...that
through them you may come to share in the divine nature..." -2 Peter
1:4. This is what being a Christian is all about - coming
back into union with God and sharing His life now and forever. In Jesus
we have more than just a moral and idealogical "union" with God. We
have a real spiritual connection. It is through this "connection", this
union, that we have the ability to live a life which is truly abundant,
fulfilling, and fruitfull "...I came so that
they might have life and have it more abundantly." -John 10:10.
COMMUNITY
As branches of the same Vine, we believe that we are one as a body of
believers in Jesus. The oneness we have as the body of Christ is stated
clearly in Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verses 4 & 5: "For
as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the
same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually
parts of one another." So, the communion we have with Christ
we share with one another. If we are "in Christ" together, then we are
part of one another. This is one of our central values - community.
We are committed to living in close fellowship with one another in honesty,
transparency, and vulnerability as we help each other along our journey
to full and complete union with the Father, God.
THE
NEW COVENANT
We are a community based in the New Covenant of Jesus, not in the Old
(given through the Law of Moses). We say this purposely so that we are
aligned with what is said of this New Covenant; one that is not of "letter"
but of spirit; not one that brings death, but life. What we offer people
is not dead rules written on "stone" or paper, but the life that comes
from the Spirit of God which is "written" on our hearts. We say with
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians,
chapter 3, verses 4-6: "Such confidence we
have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves we are qualified
to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification
comes from God, who has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit
gives life."
TRANSFORMATION
We believe the New Covenant is a covenant of Transformation. God's intention
and desire for us is that we are transformed into His own image; that
we become like Jesus "...who is the reflection
of His glory, the very imprint of His being..." -Hebrews 1:3.
We believe that God deeply desires that we "...come
to share in the divine nature..." -2 Peter 1:4. Our life
in Christ is just that, life; not some new way of conducting the life
we had before. When we become Christians, we become something different
- our life is not the same. Paul writes of himself (and anyone who is
in Christ) in the 2nd chapter of Galatians, verses 19-20: "...I
have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ
lives in me..." This is the most wonderful truth of all for
us; that we have been made new, our life is now one with the life of
God Himself. We hold out to the world around us, and to our brothers
and sisters, that the truth and wonder of our salvation is this: "Whoever
is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him." -1 Corinthians 6:17.
