Impact Church International

To equip a radical people who will aggressively advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ from neighborhoods to nations in the power of the Holy Spirit.

PHILOSOPHY OF MINISTRY
*Compassion with Conviction *Theologically conservative - Culturally liberal *Jesus, the Church, and the lost *Family *Covenant Relationships: these are just a few of the phrases that we've adopted that would help you understand the way we 'do church' at IMPACT. Here are some values (not necessarily 'ideals' so as not to paint everything and everyone with the same brush) that have shaped our style, our thinking, and our way of interpreting the word of God in our city in this day and age...

HOW OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM WORKS
We are an autonomous (self-governed) local church, led by a local eldership team with one lead elder. Our eldership team works closely with and receives input, accountability, protection and friendship from our apostolic team. We also have a local deacon team that consists of men and women who are committed to serving the local elders and that help to take care of the different men and women that are a part of IMPACT Church. In plurality of leadership, there is wisdom, safety, and accountability.

Elders: What we see in the Bible is that the elders (the word 'elder' means 'overseer') are meant to govern, oversee, protect, love, and father the members of a given congregation. Elders are to be men (not women) full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, authority, and able to fight the good fight of the faith with integrity and strength. Elders are often times stretched beyond the limits of others and must not crumble apart when challenged by magnificent distress, tremendous odds, and heavy burdens. They must be strong men, able to shoulder a heavy load. Elders are often aided by the love of their wives, the support of the church and the broader leadership team. (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

Deacons: The word 'deacon' means 'servant'. Deacons are to work hand in hand with the elders in not only serving, but watching out for, protecting, serving, and ministering to the members of IMPACT Church. Biblically, deacons can be men and women. Although deacons are not in a position of government, they are a vital part of church leadership and should be full of the Spirit of God, able to help resolve conflict, able to give Godly counsel and able to stand their ground without buckling in the face of incredible adversity. (1 Timothy 3:8-13)

Apostles: In the book of Acts, we see that Apostles were the men who planted churches, raised up leaders, defended the truth from those who opposed it and fathered other leaders whom they had relationship with. Apostles endured persecution and seemingly insurmountable difficulties with perseverance and strength and they also manifested the power of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. A great description of an Apostle is "a father to fathers". Our apostolic team is closely involved in the life of our church and works together with our local eldership team. They come and minister regularly, look at our church finances, help to resolve conflict beyond the local context, defend our church and its leaders whenever necessary, ordain new leaders, counsel the elders in big decisions, and enjoy wonderful relationships with the leadership team. They are trusted and proven men with undeniable anointing and devoted to seeing the Kingdom of God expand on the earth. (1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 9)

Accountability: Through accountability there is true freedom, real safety, and the empowering to live more Godly. Humans are selfish, stubborn, and sin addicted by nature. Independence is applauded (especially in America) and the temptations of the world are all around us, but we can't withdraw from the world. We must be in the world and not of it. Most forms of accountability begin by the individual inviting it into their lives. It is based on trust with someone's best interests at heart, and is founded on the truth. Accountability is a principle that we should all be open to and willing to embrace. (Matthew 12:26, Romans 3:19, Hebrews 4:13, James 5:16)

Compassion with Conviction: Knowing that humans are all sinners by nature, we must have compassion on them, but we must not 'okay' their sin. A phrase we often use: "You can come that way, but you can't stay that way". It is our desire to see peoples lives transformed by the power of the Gospel so that they can become more like Jesus. We want to show people grace without compromising the truth. (John 3:1-21, 8:1-11, 2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Covenant Relationships: A covenant is not just a contract. The marriage covenant, like so many other covenants, isn't worth the paper it's written on nowadays. This shouldn't be. Covenant is the ONLY way to do any relationship right but it must be based on truth, not on blood, family ties, or a secular cause. Covenant means that I believe the best in you, that I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. Covenant means eternity: never to be broken. Covenant means unconditional. No matter what the circumstances are or how badly we get offended or hurt by one another, we are in covenant relationship and we are friends for life. (Galatians 3:15, Eph. 3:17)

The Local Church: A place where you can find help, grace, and healing. A place where a believer can commit themselves to growing more mature, learning to serve, contributing to the well being of, and benefiting from the meaningful relationships that are developed there. Our local church is best described as a spiritual family. In a family, there are responsibilities as well as privileges and that's exactly how we see the church, but on a much larger scale. It's incredibly important for a Christian to be a part of a local church (as opposed to an online church, television church, or para-church) where people interact with other people and not just an LCD screen. (Psalm 68:6, Hebrews 10:25, Acts 2:44, Acts 5:12, Galatians 6:10)

Culturally Liberal, Theologically Conservative (thanks Mars Hill, Seattle): We are into having LOTS of fun without compromising the truth of the Bible and entering into sin. Christians are meant to enjoy life while being completely glorifying to God, being "in the world but not of the world."

While we want to have fun in life, our priority is to bring glory and honor to Jesus in the way that we live. We cannot compromise our theology (our belief system/what the Bible says/what we believe about God) in the name of freedom or fun. The Bible tells us to "live life to the fullest" but it also teaches us to deny our sin nature. Glorifying God comes before freedom. Glorifying God comes before pleasure. Glorifying God comes before fun. The church must preserve God's word and the church must never compromise in its actions. (Matt. 9:9-11, Acts 17:16-34, Romans 14:17)

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