Our Vision

Our vision for Immanuel begins and ends with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This message not only brings one to salvation, but it is also the fuel by which the Christian life is to be lived.  This message tells us that we need Christ, and it tells us that we need other Christians to help remind us of how much we need Christ!  This message then compels us outward, to love people as ambassadors of Christ. 

We believe, then, that the gospel points us to community with a cause, and that the local church is the context where God has designed for this to happen.  Three pillars inform and direct us as a church: gospel content, gospel community, and gospel cause*.  We refer to this as gospel-centered ministry.

*the following excerpts are from the cool cats at Coram Deo (http://cdomaha.com/dna)

Gospel Content

The Gospel is a message that is to be preached and proclaimed (Mark 1:14; Acts 14:21; Rom. 1:15; 1 Peter 1:12).  It is the story of God's redemption of his fallen creation.  It is the good news that God has acted in history to conquer evil and reconcile sinners to himself through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-12).  A gospel-centered church is one where the gospel is proclaimed clearly, consistently, and compellingly (1 Cor. 9:16-23).

Gospel Community

The gospel is not just a message to be believed, but a power to be experienced (Rom. 1:16).  Jesus is not just saving individuals, he is saving a people.  Therefore, the gospel shapes a new community as those who were formerly God's enemies are reconciled to him (Rom. 5:10) and adopted into his family (Gal. 4:4-7).  The church is not a place, but a people—a community that is continually being reformed and renewed by the transforming power of the gospel (Heb. 10:23-25; Col. 1:6; all the "one another" passages).

Gospel Cause

The gospel is a call to action—a declaration that "the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).  The church should be active in alleviating all suffering, especially the suffering that comes in eternity for those who do not know Jesus as Lord.  So the church is to be about the work of seeking the good of all people, which must involve evangelism as well as seeking mercy and justice all over the world (Gal. 6:10; Jer. 29:4-9; James 1:19-27; Acts 1:8).