Communion, Committed, Contemporary,
Compassion, Community

Communion :

Communion means “intimacy”.  More than we can ever know in this world, God desires intimate communion from every human being. For this reason knowing and experientially interacting with God personally is our priority.  Many have reduced their relationship with God to merely knowing objectively about God rather than knowing Him subjectively in an ever-deepening way.  Both subjective and objective knowledge are essential parts of God’s revealing Himself to us in a personal way.  As God reveals Himself  to us, we in turn reveal Him to others.  From this we derive our Mission statement “To know God and make him known”.

Committed :

The Word of God is just that, God’s words.  For this reason, we don’t meddle with it or take away from what He is saying, but rather try to get all of the richness out of what He has written to us.  The Bible is the authoritative, inspired, infallible way through which God primarily reveals Himself to us.  It is through the Bible that we have learned most of what we know about Him, including all we know about Jesus.  Regardless of what our experiences may be, they must all bow to the authority of scripture.  The slogan that summarizes this idea is “Sola Scriptura”, (Scripture Alone).

Contemporary :

We live in a post-modern society and although God Himself never changes, He has ever changed His approach throughout the ages.  Over the years he has revealed Himself through everything from Kings to donkeys.  In seeking to reach this generation, we must reach people with the Word of God in ways that are fresh, clear, relevant, and powerful.  It is our aim to be Christ centered in everything we do, believing that when He is lifted up freshly, clearly, relevantly, and powerfully, He will draw all men to Himself.   In being contemporary we refuse to compromise the timeless message of Jesus and the Apostles.  We strive to be so contemporary that the only thing that offends people is the Gospel.  Our approach is summed up by “Anchored to the Rock, geared to the times”.

Community :

It is out of compassion for the Church that Jesus sent His Spirit so that we wouldn’t feel abandoned or left as orphans.  For this reason, in his absence, Jesus called the Spirit our ‘comforter’.  It is the presence of the Spirit that brings a greater awareness of Christ’s presence, work and character.  This is powerfully communicated through preaching, worship, the Lord’s Supper, and the exercising of spiritual gifts.  For this reason, the gifts are exercised within Pillar Community Church only as they seek to glorify Christ.  When individuals seek to gain attention by the use of the gifts, Christ decreases as the individual increases.  This has led to much confusion in Christian circles.  Gifts are given to bring more of Christ to others and are a type of giving out rather than a means of getting.  His felt presence in the outworking of the gifts cause discouraged believers to be encouraged, those who feel forsaken to be brought near, and those who have been comforted to give comfort.  Through a balanced use of the gifts we seek to be “Real People, reaching out, as they’re released in their gifts”.

Compassionate :

As a church we seek to emulate Christ’s heart for those who are helpless in this world. Pillar Community Church strives constantly to review inwardly our outward focus.   A Church which exists for itself has lost the sense of God’s great heart for the world.  Starting with our local community, we pray to see people as Jesus sees them.  While on this planet, Jesus met people’s spiritual, physical, and emotional needs.  While as disciples we often want to send people home hungry, Jesus seeks to feed their needs.  With the resources God makes available to us, we seek to make “His compassion our passion”.