OUR CULTURE
THE GOSPEL CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Jesus' life, death and resurrection, shapes how we see the big and small stuff of life. Jesus is the source of our freedom from the past, power for the present, and hope for the future.
1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:1-7; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 1:15-23
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HOSPITALITY IS OUR PURPOSE.
We work to create environments that give people a taste of what God is like. Whether with a friend over coffee, in a worship gathering, or in our homes, we live to display God's heart.
Genesis 1:27-31; Romans 15:7
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THE NEXT GENERATION IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY.
We love the college campus. We see it as part of our God-given calling to raise up the next generation of disciples, and reaching the campus with the gospel is at the heart of our church. Additionally, kids from birth-high school are so important to us. We mobilize our resources, our people and our prayers for the sake of the next generation as spiritual fathers and mothers.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 2; 2 Timothy 2:2; Philippians 2:19-22
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DEVELOPMENT IS OUR PRIORITY.
We make space for people to develop in their God-given gifting. We aren't using people to get ministry done, we're using ministry to get people done. We help each other grow in leadership capacity and influence for Jesus, rooted in intimacy with Jesus.
1 Corinthians 4:15; 2 Timothy 1:6; Hebrews 5:12-14; 1 Peter 2:2-3; 2 Peter 3:18
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SENDING IS OUR SCORECARD.
We are either sending or going on God's disciple making mission. This leads us to send one another on mission locally, and to plant churches in university cities globally.
Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 3:14; John 20:21
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HONOR IS OUR EXPECTATION.
We believe every human being is made in God's Image, which means everyone has dignity and is worthy of respect. This shapes how we speak to and about one another. “Here’s where I see Christ in you,” is a regular part of our vocabulary.
Romans 12:10; James 2:1-13
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A church is more than what it believes on paper. How does our theology affect our real life? That's where New City's values come in. We measure the success of our church, at least in part, by the quality of our relationships. Our values are meant to describe how what we believe shapes our lives together.
What We Believe
The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Jesus died in our place, for our sins, and bodily rose from the grave. Salvation is by God’s grace, and received by repentance and faith in the gospel. The Church is the people of God, who live on the mission of God, for the glory of God. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is a dramatic display of the gospel. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of remembering the death of Jesus and awaiting his return. In The Last Times Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, and rule over the renewed creation as rightful King. Marriage is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for one lifetime.
The College Campus
New City is an intergenerational church, passionate about reaching college students at UIUC. We have a campus of over 50,000 students in our back yard, many thousands of which come from countries that are closed to the gospel! We believe that part of our God-given assignment is to get the gospel to every person on the college campus.
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The
Community
Champaign-Urbana is an eclectic, “micro-urban” community filled with entrepreneurs, makers, farmers, and academics. Of the nearly 210,000 people in Champaign County, around 195,000 of those people don’t know Jesus. We’re not okay with that. God has brought people from diverse backgrounds and experiences together to help introduce CU to Jesus.
Why New City?
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelations 21:1-4 ESV
New City’s name comes from Revelation 21, where we get a glimpse into the future God is bringing into reality through Jesus. It's a future with no more tears, no more pain, and where God and his people live together without the effects of sin and brokenness.
New City was planted to be a church that gives Champaign-Urbana a glimpse of that coming future in the here and now.
CONNECT
Before we do anything for Jesus, we are called to be with him. We learn life from him, and we find healing and courage for the journey ahead. Following him will take grit, and without meaningful connection to Jesus-we’ll never make it. But through his grace, he keeps us. How? Through his life, death, and resurrection for us. You were created to be with Jesus.
GROW
Jesus loves us just as we are-messy, struggling, straining, and failing and falling. And it is equally true that he loves us far too much to leave us there. When we follow him, he changes us “from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). One of the main ways he does that is through healthy relationships with other Christians. In fact, we measure the effectiveness of our church by the quality of our relationships. Whatever your hurts, habits, or hang ups-through Jesus Christ, real growth is possible.
SERVE
We exist for the good of others and believe that every one of us is called to make Jesus known to those around us. This is why we labor to help you grow in character and leadership capacity- so that you are effective on God’s mission. We aim to take the gospel to the neighborhood and the nations.
Gospel
Centrality
We believe the gospel changes everything. More than a tagline at the end of our sermons, or the simple “ABCs” of the Christian life, we believe the gospel is actually the “A to Z” of the Christian life. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the forgiveness for our past, the power for our present, and the hope for our future. You'll hear it in every sermon and every song.
MULTIPLY
We exist for the good of others and believe that every one of us is called to make Jesus known to those around us. This is why we labor to help you grow in character and leadership capacity- so that you are effective on God’s mission. We aim to take the gospel to the neighborhood and the nations.
