”The City Church is a family of disciples on mission, for the glory of God and the good of Fort Worth.” That’s our mission; that’s the truth we strive to embody each day. This mission is driven by the truth that as believers in Christ, we are individually and corporately centered on the gospel. The gospel then shapes our identity, both individually and corporately, as it calls us to be worshippers, family, and missionaries.

The Gospel - The Starting Point Of Our Identity

Everything we do is about Jesus. The Bible teaches that all things are for him, through him, and to him, so our lives, our careers, our relationships, our finances…our identity is founded, first and foremost, in the finished work of Jesus – his birth and life, and especially in his death, resurrection, and reign over our lives, which is known as the gospel.  Whether you’re a Christian or not; whether you’ve heard the gospel a million times or never before, we encourage you to click here to read more about the gospel. It’s the starting point for all we do, and it’s the starting point for your true identity.

The Gospel Calls Us To God (We Are Disciples)

The Bible teaches us that as a young man, Jesus grew both in height and wisdom. As he learned, he grew in his understanding and love of God, and he gave every moment of his life to God’s purposes. He called others to follow his ways; to be his disciples; to grow in wisdom and love and to give their entire lives to God. Then he sent those followers out to make new disciples, who in turn grew in wisdom and love and gave their entire lives to God. And so the pattern continued through history. The gospel calls us to a life changing, eternal relationship with God, to grow in our understanding and love of God and to give our entire lives to God. Far beyond singing songs and saying prayers, this way of life is true worship. The Gospel calls us to God. Our identity is that we are disciples.

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”(Eph 4:11-13). “…and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2). We live out this identity by taking ownership of our own spiritual growth and share the responsibility in the spiritual growth in others. We spend time, individually and together, in the Bible, prayer, and growing in our knowledge, understanding, and obedience to God. We gather to pursue God corporately. We joyfully give our lives, talents, time, careers, finances, and relationships to God. We serve God by serving others, and we strive to offer every aspect of ourselves to God as a “living sacrifice,” for God to use however he will, as we whole-heartedly worship him with all our lives.

The Gospel Calls Us To Each Other (We Are Family)

Through Jesus, we are children of God, and brothers and sisters to each other. The most widely-used metaphor for the church in the New Testament is one of “family.” A family loves each other no matter what, and meets each others’ needs whatever they are or whenever they arise. A family doesn’t just see each other once a week, at structured gatherings, but seeks to live life together. We ask, “how would we treat each other if we were actually, biologically family?” and “how would we treat our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, etc. – whether Christian or not – as the family of God, who Christ just might not have redeemed yet?” The gospel calls us to each other: to spend life together, to pray for, encourage, rebuke, exhort, cry with, and laugh with one another. Deeper than the widely-used idea of “community,” our church strives to be a family. The gospel calls us to each other. Our identity is that we are family.

“…We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess 2:8). “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim 5:1-2).  We live out this identity by sharing our lives together: our Village becomes a “second family” of sorts, and they’re based geographically to make it easier to live life with each other. In addition to the “official” weekly gathering, Villages and members of our church family are often together: we informally encourage, teach, correct, share meals with, and do life with one another throughout each week. We pray for each others’ needs, but we also go out of the way to meet each others’ needs, whether spiritual, practical, or otherwise.

The Gospel Calls Us To Mission (We Are Missionaries)

God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus, to Earth, to take on human form and live in the culture of the world. Jesus worked, ate, and lived among the people, living in such a way that those around him could see and experience what God was truly like. Jesus came on mission, so that God’s people and the whole earth could one day be restored to a right relationship with God (more…). In the same way, we are missionaries, sent into our culture – our city, your neighborhood, and the domains of society in which you work, play, and live. Our goal is the same as Jesus’: to live among our culture, to build relationships, and to seek to restore all things to God through Jesus. The gospel calls us to mission. Our identity is that we are missionaries.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:17-18). We live out this identity by seeing our neighborhoods, apartments or dorms, careers, classes, gym memberships, and every other aspect of our lives as tools God has given us to build relationships as we live our daily lives. We strive to build real relationships and friendships with people; to see folks as people, not projects, and to love them enough to share our lives, homes, and time with them, praying that God will work his salvation in them. We regularly have neighbors in our homes; we serve our city together often. And we regularly invest in specific areas of the world, carrying out God’s mission to the ends of the earth. In everyday life and abroad, the Gospel calls us to mission. We are missionaries.