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Our Vision

As we prayed toward a name for our church fellowship, some things have solidified in our minds regarding our vision as a church. Currently our mission statement is "Reconciling sinners to God...people to each other...and the world to King Jesus." This is a summarization of the biblical theology book on the church called Ephesians.

From this, a byline has formed in our hearts for this local church, and we want to share that briefly with you.

Church in the Boro: Pursuing the humility, simplicity, clarity, liberty, ecstasy, charity, and unity of the gospel of Christ.

Pursuing humility is clear enough to us all. We want to pursue that reflection of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-29 where Jesus tells us that He is meek and lowly in heart, welcoming all those who are weary and heavy-laden. If this is who Jesus was, and if the church is Jesus' body on earth, then the church is to be this reflection of Jesus character of a welcoming humility.  Access these resources to learn more about our vision of pursuing the humility of the gospel.

Pursuing simplicity is a byproduct of pursuing humility. Humble in essence means simple. You can't get much more simple than poverty, and Jesus tells us we're happiest when we're poor in spirit. Keeping it simple means pursuing the main thing, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ preached through the humility we're pursuing. We are people who have been humbled by something simple, yet profound: God's work for us undeserving sinners. At Church in the Boro part of our mission is to foster a poverty in Spirit that Jesus said is necessary to walk with Him, and that's found in nothing else but the gospel.  Access these resources to learn more about how we understand pursuing the simplicity of the gospel of Christ.

Pursuing clarity is a byproduct of simplicity. When things are simple, they are clear, easy to understand, easy to grab hold of. The gospel is not rocket-science. Praise God for that. Keeping the gospel simple - with no "Jesus Plus" stuff - means people see it with clarity. There's one thing we present to the lost and it's not our distinctives and opinions. It's Christ, Him crucified, buried, risen, and coming again. At Church in the Boro part of our mission is to enable people to see the main thing, and to see it very clearly: the gospel, and nothing else.  Access these resources to learn more about how we try to envision pursuing the clarity of the gospel of Christ.

Pursuing ecstacy, charity & liberty are a result of pursuing clarity. The issues are simple when the vision is clear. It's about the gospel of love and liberty. Those who have been set free by Jesus are free indeed. We are free from sin. Free from its power. Free from its consequences. From its master, Satan. This freedom enables believers to live in victory over sin and over its master. The grace of God brings liberty to people formerly enslaved by their lusts, desires, habits, and lifestyles. All of this enables and empowers each follower of Jesus to truly love one another.  It is a love that forbears with one another's weirdness, and a love that immediately and deeply forgives each others' sins and offenses.  This in turn brings unspeakable joy to our lives...a spiritual ecstasy which no substance of man can improve upon.  At Church in the Boro part of our mission is to help people walk in the full liberty of the gospel that rightfully belongs to them now as a slave of King Jesus. Then, in pursuing liberty, you will be led to pursue charity. A soul that's been rescued by God is a soul in love with God. When the love of God fills the soul of man, it can't help but spill over to everyone else around. So even though believers are free in Jesus, they do not use their liberty as a license to sin against God or against one another. They are loving towards God and charitable towards one another at all times. At Church in the Boro part of our mission is to help Christians walk in the gentleness, kindness, patience, forbearance, and charity of the gospel.  This total package of the gospel leads one to experience an ecstasy in their hearts and souls that enables you to truly taste and see that the Lord is good.  Access these resources here below to learn more about how we understand these three important pursuits in the gospel.

Finally, pursuing unity is a byproduct of humility, simplicity, and clarity. When we are humble, we can be at one with each other. When our aim is simple, we can be unified in pursuing that aim. When there is clarity on who we are and what we are about, we can be a team in getting things done. And this is what our Lord prays for this very minute: that we would all be one with each other, just like God and Jesus are one, so that the world would come to believe in Jesus Christ. At Church in the Boro, part of our mission is to preserve an equal-opportunity gospel that is impartial toward denominations, backgrounds, race, language, or skin-color. Jesus died to make His people one. And He prays for it now. This is our obligation, our pursuit as members of His community, the church.  Access these resources to learn more about how we pursue the unity of the gospel of Christ.

Pursuing the integrity of the gospel is the capstone of what we pursue at Church in the Boro.  Integrity is about the faithfulness of the gospel...and the fruitfulness of the gospel.  Faithfulness means is about standing firm in the gospel we have believed, which was brought to us by those preaching and teaching the Word of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Fruitfulness means that if the Bible has in fact been preached, and if the Spirit is in fact moving, then there will in fact be fruit.  A church that has faithfulness and no fruitfulness, is not truly being faithful.  And a church that has fruitfulness but no faithfulness, is not really being fruitful.  Access these resources below to understand more about our pursuit of integrity in the gospel.

 

Humility...simplicity...clarity...ecstasy...charity...liberty...unity...integrity. These are the things we stand for, labor for, live for, and die for. And they are all wrapped up and consummated in the death, burial, resurrection, and second coming of Jesus Christ.