Living as a disciple of Jesus Christ doesn’t have to be all that complicated. Our vision statement here at FAPC represents what Tom Johnston calls the Irreducible Core of Jesus’ great commands and His great commission: FAPC exists to love God with all that we are, to love our neighbors as ourselves and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. I hope this captures the desire of your heart.
Loving God: Above all God desires that we trust Him, that we obey Him by faith, that our lives are an expression of worship—offering all that we are to love Him. We believe that it brings Him great joy when we do this together. As we love God personally, moment by moment, when we gather the Holy Spirit manifests Himself with grace and power. This is our great expectation!
Loving our neighbors: God has providentially placed us as a church in downtown Fresno and, individually, in our specific families & neighborhoods. He empowers us and calls us to live sacrificially so that others may not only hear from us but see in us the transforming gospel of His Son, Jesus. At our best, we are demonstrating interest and care to our neighbors.
Making disciples: Jesus calls us to follow Him, to become like Him in our character and in our priorities. He invites us to assist others to grow in the same way. This means we give ourselves to intentional relationships in which our goal is grow to reflect Jesus more fully. This means that we give ourselves to engaging the word of God and Spirit-led, scripture-fed, worship-based prayer.
It doesn’t get much more simple, purposeful or energizing than this!
