Who We Are
OUR MISSION
Living Peacefully. Simply. Together.
We here at the Bermudian Church desire to enable every person to experience the living Christ in transforming ways. In continuing the mission Jesus placed before His followers, when He commanded them and us to go and make disciples, we have dedicated ourselves to four intrinsic values. These on-going values of Experience, Connection, Growth, and Impact are interwoven and cannot be taken singularly, but together as a four-fold approach to our call as a local expression of Christ's worldwide church.
So then, we must pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. - Romans 14:19 (HCSB)
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. - Mark 16:15 (NKJV)
Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. Keep putting into practice all you learned ... and the God of peace will be with you. - Philippians 4:8-9 (Living Bible)
EXPERIENCE
The Reality of God through Jesus
Throughout Scripture, God made His presence known to individuals like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Isaiah, among others, as well as to His people - the Hebrews, and to the early Christian Church. The presence of God powerfully transformed them in that time, and in us still today. We place great emphasis on worship, on prayer, on sacraments like communion and baptism, and spiritual disciplines to be practiced individually and collectively, while fully acknowledging that our very access to God was secured in Jesus' sacrifice at the cross on our behalf. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. - James 4:8 (EVS)
Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
Connection
With Others in a Community of Faith
In contrast to today's individualistic "go-it-alone" culture, we are intentional about connecting with others, because life with God was never intended to be solitary. We need one another in order to be shaped into the image of Christ, so we build one another up with the gifts and talents God has given each of us. We give confidence to one another, we exhort one another, we pray for one another, and we help meet the needs of one another. members are not anonymous but are known and know and connect with others. We encourage all to do life together in smaller groups, yet become part of the larger faith community.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)
Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2 (ESV)
Growth
In the Knowledge of God and His Word
Just as parents want their children to grow and mature, so our Heavenly Father wants us to grow. He has provided His Word, the inspired Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as nourishment for all believers, whether new to their faith or experienced in years. The Bible reveals God Himself and acts as a mirror, showing us for who we really are, as well as shaping our view of the world around us. We strive to provide means of understanding Scripture and how to relate to God, through Bible-based preaching, topical classes, and scriptural studies. Growth and maturity in faith is the desire we have for all believers.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. - 2nd Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved. - 1st Peter 2:2 (Good News Translation)
Impact
The World by Demonstrating the Love of Christ
The church is intended to be a beacon of light in a world shrouded in darkness. Where there is hopelessness, we share the hope of Christ. Where there is sin, we impart the message of forgiveness and reconciliation through Christ. Where there is suffering and injustice, we act on God's behalf in service to convey His grace. Where there is hurting and loneliness, we share in ministry to reveal the love God has for all. We are identified as followers of Jesus by our love for one another, and we are marked by our ministry of reaching others with Christ's love. Therefore, we have confidence and boldness to live simply, peacefully, together in love.
All this is from God, who through Christ the Messiah reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. - 2nd Corinthians 5:18-19 (ESV)
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. - 1st John 4:12 (NIV)