Working on a Dream
Three Pillars that we want to create at The Rising.
Pillar 1 – Passionate worship
Worship is what portrays how we think about, and experience God. It is vital to our vision to have a strong worship ministry. When you have a mission that is relational, you must have worship that is a connecting experience with God and with each other. Christianity is so much more than a set of propositions to believe, it is an encounter with the living God and our worship services are designed to give you an opportunity to encounter God and his son Jesus Christ, to be ministered to and prompted by the Holy Spirit, to reflect on his truths and respond in worship. Worship without connection and interaction with a congregation is just religious showmanship. We want to create an atmosphere of excitement and energy where there is an anticipation of God manifesting his presence and an expectation of the Holy Spirit working in us and among us. Our goal in worship is to create an atmosphere where hearts will be open and pliable to the word of God, the message or teaching.
Pillar 2 – Penetrating Teaching
The scriptures must be brought to life. They must come alive off the pages. Our Teaching must go from logos (Raw principle, meager concepts, unapplied truth) to Rhema. Rhema is a tailored text, something that has been cut to fit. It is a unique word that is applied to the specifics of your life and situation. And our vision is that Rhema would come from our pulpit, something that enlightens you, makes you think, and moves your soul.
Pillar 3 – Personal Care
“But encourage one another daily. As long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness”. Our vision is to serve and encourage those in need in the church and in the community and make a difference in their lives. The “one another” scriptures of the New Testament reveal the heart of God and God’s desire for his people to develop deep caring relationships with one another and our vision is to live in those one another scriptures.
Pillar #1
Passionate Worship: Let God have your life.
Pillar #2
Penetrating Teaching: Let God’s Wisdom Guide your life.
Pillar#3
Personal Care: Let people be your life.
Six Characteristics of New Community that we must cultivate and move towards individually and corporately.
1. New Community must first and foremost be Relational
At The Rising we seek to be driven by relationships, not programs or rules. Our desire is to cultivate a community where you can be authentic with others, share doubts and struggles, and find support and encouragement for your journey of faith.
2. New Community must truly Love people.
To love means to give you a taste of God. If the people you lead and the people you are in fellowship with don’t know God better because of you, you have failed to love them. If you don’t know how to rejoice and weep (mourn) with people you have not given them a taste of God. Love is about living to give others a taste of God.
3. New Community must be Reflective.
Reflection is giving thought to the ways we are living our lives, giving thought to the actions we choose, the emotions we feel, the thoughts we think, and the passions we pursue.
4. New Community believes in the Dignity and Depravity of every individual.
Every person is created in God’s image, therefore we have dignity. Every person is fallen, still in the image of God, but it’s now tarnished by sin, therefore we have depravity. As Fallen image bearers we are marked by Dignity (Because of God’s image in us) and Depravity (because of the fall). This is who we are and we must see people through both lenses. We must develop the ability in New Community to see people for what they could become, not for what they are right now, but what they could become if Christ really got a hold of them.
5. New Community believes strongly in Grace.
The Apostle Paul is constantly exhorting us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ. New Community is a place where we continue to explore and discover the depths and dimensions of God’s grace.
6. New Community must believe that the path to Recovery and Healing is a Journey and a Process.
The path to recovery and healing is Grace + Truth & Time. God is a God of redemption but it takes time and we must help and encourage people and stick with them through the process.
Notice the key words: Relational, Love, Reflective, Dignity, Depravity, Grace, Recovery, Healing, Journey, Process.
This is New Community
Two things the Holy Spirit has marked us to be in New Community.
1) The Holy Spirit has marked this small church, this little oasis, as a spiritual hospital to deal with three (streams of healing): healing for the soul and the struggles of life, healing for people who have given up on church and have been hurt by church, and healing for the religious bondage people have found themselves in and how that has affected their lives. There are many types of religious bondage and God desires to bring people here to break the chains of religious bondage in their lives so they can move in and walk in the freedom and liberty that Christ has provided for them and experience a new vigor and a new vitality for relationship with God and with others.
2) The Holy Spirit has marked TRC to be a model of a non-partisan, non-discriminatory church that is free of genderism, classism and racism. In Joel 2:28-29, the prophecy of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh says “And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, even on my servants both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (NIV). Joel was basically saying that I see the day coming when the Holy Spirit will arrive on earth and He will destroy our categorizing of people according to race, class, and gender. That’s why the Apostle Paul could say in Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek (no racism), slave nor free (no classism), male nor female (no genderism) for you are all one in Christ Jesus (NIV). A new line of people, one new race, one new people in Christ, a new priesthood, a peculiar people, a Holy nation. We want people to see a model, a model for the church and the world to see that a community of diverse people, a body, can function and live together and serve together free from the isms.
It all sounds real good. My daughter is going to be checking it out. I was a pastor in Somerdale from 1982 to 2003 and am now pastoring in the Western Catskills. Sarah is 34 and has to walk from Cherry Hill Towers. I am hoping she won’t have to always walk. She truly needs all the love and freedom that I believe you are providing. It seems that we have a lot in common when it comes to Jesus and how His Church ought to be. Maranatha, Tom Formica
We are happy to have your daughter come check out The Rising. The Cherry Hill towers are right around the corner, I wouldnt mind picking her up my self for the time being. My name is Jesse, I am the youth pastor at The Rising. I drive by the mall to get to Church. If there is a way to connect we can make that happen. You can email me through the website by going to my profile and clicking email.