God is the reigning King of the universe and as citizens of His kingdom, we submit to His authority and our allegiance belongs to Him. God is to be exalted and treasured above all things. God does not exist for us but we were created by Him and for Him. Everything was created and exists for God’s pleasure. He is sovereign, holy, loving and just and everything we do must be centered in Him. We oppose a man-centered version of Christianity that places our felt needs, pleasures and comforts at the center of our faith. It is our passion to pursue God and to make His name great among the nations. This God-centered view determines how we understand missions, suffering, giving, and community.
Key Biblical Passages: Malachi 1:11; Col. 1:16; Psa. 57:5; Isa. 6:1-7
2. God’s Glory
The purpose of mankind is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. There are many good secondary motives that inspire us to follow our vision and core values, however, our primary motive is the glory of God. This keeps us from seeking personal glory for our service or getting our feelings hurt when unrecognized because we do not serve for the applause of man but for the all consuming joy of bringing glory to God.
Key Biblical Passages: Jude 1:25; 1 Corinthians 10:31
3. Mission
We are a people who have answered the call to follow Jesus in order to be his disciples with the goal of becoming like Him and helping others to do the same. We are a people in process, learning how to let go of this world, embracing God’s kingdom, and calling others to do the same.
At Crestmont, mission is not simply a verb that describes what we do, it is an adjective that describes who we are – a people sent by God to spread the gospel. We are not simply a church that supports missions, we are a church of missionaries. We believe that through the Great Commission we have been called to spread the gospel to all peoples for the joy of the nations and for the glory of God.
We are committed to becoming a glocal church whose mission outreach starts in our local community of Burleson and extends to the ends of the earth. Every Christian is called to the mission to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. In order to fulfill our commission, we are to engage culture as salt and light and use relevant and creative ways to clearly communicate the good news of Jesus to a postmodern world. The gospel is to be embodied and proclaimed to every people group, especially the unreached of the world. We are also called to ministries of compassion that care for the poor both locally and globally. We are committed to using our time, talents and treasures to advance the gospel.
Our desire is to spread our ministry in future locations through church planting. This allows us to multiply our ministry and the gospel to new congregations and communities that will in turn grow and plant new churches.
Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, John 20:21, Matthew 24:14, Revelation 7:9-10
4. Gospel
At Crestmont, we are committed to clearly and creatively proclaiming the gospel first to ourselves, and then to the world. The gospel is the declaration of the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he died for our sins and he bodily rose from the dead as the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and he is coming again to consummate his kingdom . On the cross Jesus accomplished the Great Exchange for our salvation when he became sin for us and bore the wrath that we deserve and that we, through faith, become everything that he is, receiving the grace and glory that we don’t deserve. Tim Keller beautifully describes the gospel this way: “In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.”
Key Scripture Passages: Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21;
5. Life Change
The outcome of believing the gospel is a changed life. We believe the gospel has the power to set people free from the bondage of sin. Those who are imprisoned by deep wounds, addictions, and hopelessness can be set free and set upon on a journey of transformation. When the truth that I am accepted by God, not on the basis of my personal performance, but on the basis of the infinitely perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ is fully embraced it will impact every area of my life. I am now free to enjoy God and worship him daily. I am no longer satisfied with the trivial pursuits of this world but I have found my life’s meaning and purpose in the gospel.
Because of the gospel, I now joyfully submit the whole of my life to the Lordship of Christ. As a follower of Christ, I now pursue holiness and godliness as a way of life, not as a means to earn God’s favor but because I have it through Christ. God has equipped me to succeed in this pursuit by given me His Gospel, His Word, His Spirit, and His church. By keeping the gospel always before me I avoid the pitfalls of legalism and licentiousness. My desire is to become like Jesus, taking on his character and seeing others as he sees them, and treating them as Jesus would.
Since I have been justified by Christ I now continue to work out my salvation through fear and trembling. I acknowledge that sanctification includes all of my life, therefore every aspect is informed and transformed by the gospel including my relationships, finances, marriage, parenting, work ethic, and commitment to my church. Though I have not arrived at what I will one day become, I strive to be progressively transformed and shaped by the gospel in mind, heart. body and soul.
Key Scripture Passages: Eph. 4:20-24; Col.3:12-17; Eph. 5:8;
6. Word
Looking at the biblical examples of Jesus and the early church, we are committed to the ministry of the Word. We believe that the Word of God empowered by the Holy Spirit has the power to transform lives. Therefore we are committed to diligent study, scripture memorization, personal evangelism, teaching and preaching. We believe that scripture is inspired by God and has authority in how we live our lives and function as a church. However, we do not believe that the goal of the ministry of the Word is simply the pursuit of biblical knowledge for its own sake. We must also become doers of the Word.
Key Scripture Passages: Hebrews 4:12; John 17:17; James 1:22; Acts 6:4;
7. Service
When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he set for us an example of how we are to serve one another as well as the world. Jesus said that greatness in his Kingdom is measured by service and that when we serve “the least of these” we are serving Jesus. As servants of Jesus, we seek ways to minister to one another and to the marginalized of the world. We seek freedom for the oppressed, food for the hungry, friendship with the lonely, and comfort for the hurting. We seek to be ministers of mercy. Our aim is not to function by the world’s standards of power grabbing and control but by humility, sacrifice and service.
Key Scripture Passages: Matthew 20:25-28; Matthew. 25:40; John 13:3-5;
8. Community
When we place our trust in Christ, we are then baptized into a new faith community. God has called a people to himself to represent Him to the nations. Through Christ we are sons and daughters of God our Father, thus we are a family of faith. As a family we are committed to loving and serving one another. We encourage one another, pray for one another, forgive one another and hold each other accountable as together we seek to glorify the name of Christ. Our goal is not uniformity but unity, recognizing the diversity that makes the Body of Christ so beautiful and effective. We do not see the church as an end but a means that God is using to establish His kingdom. As members of Crestmont, we submit ourselves to the church’s doctrines, leadership, vision and discipline. Our membership means we are not an audience but participants in the mission of the church. We use our spiritual gifts, talents and resources to build up the body.
Key Biblical Passages: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Acts 4:32-35;
9. Prayer
We humbly admit that we are powerless to keep these core commitments through human strength. We are desperate for God to do through us what we could never do on our own. Therefore, our desperation is demonstrated by our prayers. We not only believe in God but we believe God as he is revealed in His Word. We want to experience God and want to see his power at work in our lives and church. We want to be a part of a church that can only be explained by the power of God at work through ordinary, broken people. Therefore – we pray.
Key Biblical Passages: Acts 4:31; 1 Thess. 5:17;