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Mission & visionAntigo Community Church is a community of Christ-followers growing in Christ and making new disciples.
Our vision is for each Christ-follower among us to: Represent Jesus faithfully and boldly in words and actions so the Gospel of Jesus is heard and responded to. |
values
1. The Bible is our goldmine.
As the very Word of God, the Bible is the highest authority in all matters. Our lives are enriched and situated within the storyline of God’s Word:
Best practices: Read the Bible every day. Reading approximately three chapters per day will get you through the entire Bible in a year. If you are very familiar with one translation of the Bible, try reading it in a different, solid translation.
2. The Gospel is our center.
The person of Jesus, and the historical facts of his death and resurrection are the turning point of history that changes everything forever, provides the only ground for our salvation, and lays at the heart of everything we do.
Best practices: spend time every day confessing sin and reflecting on Christ’s death and resurrection. Forgive others as God forgave you. Rest on Christ’s merits rather than trying to earn God’s favor. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. Regard yourself, your time, your body, and your possessions as God’s property bought by Christ’s blood to be used for God’s purposes.
3. Prayer is our fuel.
Through prayer our naturally-deviant wills are brought into alignment with God’s will so that we ask God to empower us doing things in us, through us, and among us that are otherwise beyond us.
Best practices: find a time and space each day to intentionally devote yourself to talking to God. Praying out loud can help you focus by engaging more of your body and senses. Jesus taught us to pray in a secret place to be noticed by the Father rather than men.
4. Intentional Discipleship is our mission.
We aim to be followers of Christ who multiply other followers of Christ. Discipleship is a life of trusting Christ alone for salvation that begins with hearing and accepting the gospel, demonstrating faith with baptism, learning the commands of Jesus, then putting those commands into action, functioning as a part of the church body according to unique gifting, and going about daily life making other disciples until the last disciple comes to Jesus and Jesus comes back to us.
A practical view of the believers call to discipleship can be seen in the continuum below. This shows both how we should be viewing ourselves and others as we come to the point of Salvation through faith in Christ (move from “Listeners” to “Believers”) and walk through the life-long process of Sanctification. God expects us to continue growing in our faith as we mature in Christ through the study of God’s word, becoming equipped to go out and make disciples (moving from “Believers, to “Disciples”, to “Disciple Makers”). Listeners --> Believers --> Disciples --> Disciple Makers
Best practices: Discipleship is encouraged life-on-life. Try to have at least 3 discipleship-related relationships. Find a Christian you respect and try to learn from them. Find another Christian with untapped potential, and help them become the person Christ is calling them to be. Establish a friendship with somebody who is not a Christian and let your light shine so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.
5. Obedience is our compass.
Jesus is our Lord and we orient our lives around him as his blood-bought slaves. As Christ’s disciples we are dedicated to learning to obey all the commands of Jesus. Our Free Church forebears went by the motto “where stands it written?” We also want the commands of our Lord to guide everything that we do.
Best practices: Consciously attempt to proactively follow a specific one of Jesus’ commands every day. The commands of Jesus are primarily recorded in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but are also recorded indirectly by his apostles in the rest of the New Testament. Matthew 5-7 is the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus’ lengthiest continuous teaching. Find at least one area of ministry at ACC where you can use your gifts to build up the body of Christ.
6. Grace is our lifeblood.
The one thing we deserve is immediate death and hell. Grace is all the kindness God shows us instead: from life and breath, sun and rain, food and clothing to eternity and salvation. By grace alone we are saved. In grace we stand. Through grace sinners like us can have relationships with God. And by grace we will one day be what we should be in God’s presence. In response, to God’s grace, we aim to show grace when people fail, sin, disagree with us, or just rub us the wrong way. Grace is not tolerance, which ignores evil. Rather, grace is redemptive by confronting evil for another person’s immediate and eternal benefit. Without grace, everybody would be spiritually dead. And without grace, human relationships die as well.
Best practices: Regularly remind yourself that you have earned hell, thank God for his grace, then prayerfully ask God how you can help another person be successful. If you see a need, meet it on Jesus’ behalf. Try to do it without being noticed. If somebody thanks you, tactfully deflect the praise to God.
7. Loving Relationships are our glue.
First, God loved us. In response, we love God. We love each other. We love other gospel-centered churches including those in our community and those in the Forest Lakes District of the Evangelical Church. We love the church and parachurch organizations. We love Antigo, its people, and the organizations that enrich it. Actively investing in these relationships holds us together as a church.
Best practices: Do lunch with somebody to get to know them better. Never speak ill of others. Build bridges with Christian co-workers. Collaborate with people and organizations that share your passions.
8. Family is our identity.
We are a family of the redeemed: adopted as children of the Father, paid for by the blood of his Son, and animated by the Holy Spirit. We also value earthly families as a lasting legacy of creation and the fundamental building block of human civilization. Anchored by an exclusively committed marriage, a family provides the best environment for raising children and making disciples of the next generation.
Best practices: Have at least one meal per day with family and/or other Christians and include elements such as prayer, Bible reading, discussion about God, or singing. Commit to a life group do develop deep relationships with other Christians from church.
9. Worship is our purpose.
Worship is an appropriate reaction to God for who He is and what He has done. We try to follow Paul’s model of thanking God for what he is doing through each other rather than merely thanking each other. For from God, and through him, and to him are all things. To him alone belongs all the glory forever.
Best practices: Live as though what you say you believe about God is actually true. Let people know what you see God doing in their lives, and thank God for them and what God is doing in them. Do everything to direct praise to God rather than yourself.
As the very Word of God, the Bible is the highest authority in all matters. Our lives are enriched and situated within the storyline of God’s Word:
- Creation – the perfect beginning, which was God’s original intention in which for man to dwell in harmony with in relationship with the triune God.
- Fall – perfection is trashed and distorted by humanity’s sinful and rebellious act of selfishness leaving us hopeless.
- Redemption – a lifesaving plan of God based solely on the glorious gospel work of Jesus Christ, which gives us hope for a future.
- New Creation – upon accepting God’s gift of salvation, we are a new creation in the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Best practices: Read the Bible every day. Reading approximately three chapters per day will get you through the entire Bible in a year. If you are very familiar with one translation of the Bible, try reading it in a different, solid translation.
2. The Gospel is our center.
The person of Jesus, and the historical facts of his death and resurrection are the turning point of history that changes everything forever, provides the only ground for our salvation, and lays at the heart of everything we do.
Best practices: spend time every day confessing sin and reflecting on Christ’s death and resurrection. Forgive others as God forgave you. Rest on Christ’s merits rather than trying to earn God’s favor. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. Regard yourself, your time, your body, and your possessions as God’s property bought by Christ’s blood to be used for God’s purposes.
3. Prayer is our fuel.
Through prayer our naturally-deviant wills are brought into alignment with God’s will so that we ask God to empower us doing things in us, through us, and among us that are otherwise beyond us.
Best practices: find a time and space each day to intentionally devote yourself to talking to God. Praying out loud can help you focus by engaging more of your body and senses. Jesus taught us to pray in a secret place to be noticed by the Father rather than men.
4. Intentional Discipleship is our mission.
We aim to be followers of Christ who multiply other followers of Christ. Discipleship is a life of trusting Christ alone for salvation that begins with hearing and accepting the gospel, demonstrating faith with baptism, learning the commands of Jesus, then putting those commands into action, functioning as a part of the church body according to unique gifting, and going about daily life making other disciples until the last disciple comes to Jesus and Jesus comes back to us.
A practical view of the believers call to discipleship can be seen in the continuum below. This shows both how we should be viewing ourselves and others as we come to the point of Salvation through faith in Christ (move from “Listeners” to “Believers”) and walk through the life-long process of Sanctification. God expects us to continue growing in our faith as we mature in Christ through the study of God’s word, becoming equipped to go out and make disciples (moving from “Believers, to “Disciples”, to “Disciple Makers”). Listeners --> Believers --> Disciples --> Disciple Makers
Best practices: Discipleship is encouraged life-on-life. Try to have at least 3 discipleship-related relationships. Find a Christian you respect and try to learn from them. Find another Christian with untapped potential, and help them become the person Christ is calling them to be. Establish a friendship with somebody who is not a Christian and let your light shine so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.
5. Obedience is our compass.
Jesus is our Lord and we orient our lives around him as his blood-bought slaves. As Christ’s disciples we are dedicated to learning to obey all the commands of Jesus. Our Free Church forebears went by the motto “where stands it written?” We also want the commands of our Lord to guide everything that we do.
Best practices: Consciously attempt to proactively follow a specific one of Jesus’ commands every day. The commands of Jesus are primarily recorded in the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but are also recorded indirectly by his apostles in the rest of the New Testament. Matthew 5-7 is the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus’ lengthiest continuous teaching. Find at least one area of ministry at ACC where you can use your gifts to build up the body of Christ.
6. Grace is our lifeblood.
The one thing we deserve is immediate death and hell. Grace is all the kindness God shows us instead: from life and breath, sun and rain, food and clothing to eternity and salvation. By grace alone we are saved. In grace we stand. Through grace sinners like us can have relationships with God. And by grace we will one day be what we should be in God’s presence. In response, to God’s grace, we aim to show grace when people fail, sin, disagree with us, or just rub us the wrong way. Grace is not tolerance, which ignores evil. Rather, grace is redemptive by confronting evil for another person’s immediate and eternal benefit. Without grace, everybody would be spiritually dead. And without grace, human relationships die as well.
Best practices: Regularly remind yourself that you have earned hell, thank God for his grace, then prayerfully ask God how you can help another person be successful. If you see a need, meet it on Jesus’ behalf. Try to do it without being noticed. If somebody thanks you, tactfully deflect the praise to God.
7. Loving Relationships are our glue.
First, God loved us. In response, we love God. We love each other. We love other gospel-centered churches including those in our community and those in the Forest Lakes District of the Evangelical Church. We love the church and parachurch organizations. We love Antigo, its people, and the organizations that enrich it. Actively investing in these relationships holds us together as a church.
Best practices: Do lunch with somebody to get to know them better. Never speak ill of others. Build bridges with Christian co-workers. Collaborate with people and organizations that share your passions.
8. Family is our identity.
We are a family of the redeemed: adopted as children of the Father, paid for by the blood of his Son, and animated by the Holy Spirit. We also value earthly families as a lasting legacy of creation and the fundamental building block of human civilization. Anchored by an exclusively committed marriage, a family provides the best environment for raising children and making disciples of the next generation.
Best practices: Have at least one meal per day with family and/or other Christians and include elements such as prayer, Bible reading, discussion about God, or singing. Commit to a life group do develop deep relationships with other Christians from church.
9. Worship is our purpose.
Worship is an appropriate reaction to God for who He is and what He has done. We try to follow Paul’s model of thanking God for what he is doing through each other rather than merely thanking each other. For from God, and through him, and to him are all things. To him alone belongs all the glory forever.
Best practices: Live as though what you say you believe about God is actually true. Let people know what you see God doing in their lives, and thank God for them and what God is doing in them. Do everything to direct praise to God rather than yourself.
