About Us
Our ministry exists to create a biblically sound Christian Platform for local ministry and a grass-roots Network for ‘feet on the ground’ and ‘hands on’ Social Justice ministries and human services in our local communities. Although our neighborhoods do include many Christian Churches, yet we are no longer ‘publicly involved’ in our communities. Today we are hidden from the culture aroun
d us as we comfortably exist behind the walls of our churches and homes. This is something that neither Jesus nor his initial followers ever did. The first century church was radically Public, Missional, and involved in the community for a reason. Jesus expressed this fact to his unbelieving accusers,
“I have spoken openly to the world... I have done nothing in secret” (John 18:20)
Jesus also expressed this same desire for His followers, His Church, to be a public 'word' and 'deed' witness as described in His telling of “The City on a Hill.”
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mathew 5:14-16). Jesus calls His Church to live the Christian life publicly, missional, and in both 'word and deed' just as He Himself also lived. The Gospel of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is not just information to be believed but it is also an invitation to be received and lived out publicly. True faith therefore is not just mental assent to the facts of the Gospel but also includes us physically entering into its invitation for true community with God and others because Biblical faith becomes a reality only when both the 'facts' of the Gospel are believed and the 'invitation' to live the Gospel is acted upon. Such an acceptance of both the facts and the invitation of the Gospel necessarily includes activation of both our mind and body, and as such is incarnational and visible to the community. Whenever Jesus’ offered the Gospel to anyone, He always followed by giving a command for both the mind and body of that person to obey such as, “Follow Me”. The Rich Young Ruler believed in Jesus, but he did not accept the invitation of Jesus and therefore “He went away sorrowful” (Mathew 19:16-22). True Faith is always validated by both our mental acceptance of the Truth of the Gospel and our physical obedience to the invitation of the Gospel. The bible reveals this to us…
“…you are not our own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). In other words, true saving faith, when accepted in our minds, will always display itself in visible, bodily obedience (James 2:14-26) and these visible actions, though not meritorious to our salvation, bear witness to the reality of our salvation. This manifestation of a 'word and deed' public lifestyle is what Jesus is calling us to in His telling of “The City on a Hill” (Mathew 5:14-16). Join us therefore as we seek to be the visible, incarnational witnesses and Biblical Justice Warriors that Jesus speaks of in ‘The City on a Hill’. For more information Contact:
John Gibbs @ River Fellowship Church,
561-203-9160
