A working document.

We believe that New Life Christian Fellowship is called out by God…

• choosing to be the church, not attend it
• enjoying the richness and reality of face-to-face relationships in a technologically isolated age
• becoming true brothers and sisters in a family where God’s love and grace spreads contagiously
• wrestling through Scripture together, seeking God’s message for our church and our culture

To invite others to follow Jesus by

• welcoming all people outside the family of [nlcf] as valuable to Jesus and us
• knowing, living, and speaking the gospel (the good news of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and return) to each other and the world
• living lives of constant change from selfish and broken impurity to a renewed wholeness as a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in us
• creatively expressing the gospel from our unique perspectives through visual arts, performance, writing, and other media

To inspire each other to change the world by

• giving our time to serve and love each other, and to serve and love our neighbors, both here in the New River Valley and throughout the world
• giving our money to build a kingdom where the world is healed through the sacrifice of our King
• giving the control of our lives over to the King who invites us to live in a bigger story than we can plan for ourselves
• giving our careers for God’s glory whether cleaning toilets, preaching the Bible, programming computers, or feeding the poor in a distant land

Like stated above, this is a working document. Feel free to make a contribution.

Being a Christian is simultaneously the easiest and hardest thing a person can do. Simply put, it is an action of two words: trust Jesus. Some people say this is just a one-time mental agreement to a spiritual affiliation, but Jesus asks for a complete surrender of our heart, soul, mind, and body from beginning to the end of our lives. If it were up to us this would be impossible but God has made it possible.

It starts with a basic overview of history: 1) God created mankind to be in a relationship with him. 2) We blatantly rebelled. 3) Despite our best efforts we cannot restore the situation. 4) Because of his love for us, God took on flesh in the form of Jesus to win our hearts back. 5) Jesus broke the chain of rebellion by practicing and preaching a perfect life of love. 6) He not only lived a great life, he died a great death by standing in our place to take the punishment we deserve in a bloody public execution. 7) Three days later he came back from the grave to demonstrate his power over death. Jesus made it possible for everyone to be restored with God forever.

A Christian is someone who puts all their trust in the most amazing, powerful, intelligent, mysterious, compassionate, and meaningful person who ever lived. Just like following a master artist or musician or leader, one must begin a careful study of the person’s life so they can better know who they are trying to emulate.

Once we discover what Jesus said, what he did, and the significance of his life, we must make a decisive action to change our life’s course. This is what it means to repent, to turn from our own path and choose to walk on the path of Jesus. The actual event of repentance is a mysterious moment that happens both instantly and continuously throughout our lives. Repentance is only possible by God’s initiation, yet somehow, he holds us accountable for making this decision.

Once we begin to trust Jesus, God comes to reside in our lives through the Holy Spirit who gives further instruction on this new course. He is a guarantee that God will be with us until our final day on earth to help us follow through on our decision to trust. Some say that becoming a Christian is a one-way decision, but the Bible tells of situations where a person can deliberately push the Holy Spirit away and discontinue the relationship. In view of this possibility, the Bible urges every Christian to press on towards the goal of knowing God better and remaining faithful to him to the very end. Finishing is as important as starting.

In order to know God better, distribute his love, and remain faithful to the finish, Jesus established that his followers should share their lives with each other in an extended family called the church.

Further reading:

• John’s biography of Jesus
• Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
• The Cost of Discipleship – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• The Divine Conspiracy – Dallas Willard

John Eldredge describes the average church experience like this: “We come; we learn; we leave. It is not enough.”

You and I were created for community. Before God even finished his creation, he said it wasn’t good for us to be alone (Gen. 2:18); Jesus’ teaching that we should love one another can only be accomplished if we are doing life together; and Hebrews says we should “encourage one another daily.” These are just a few reasons we at [nlcf] believe so strongly in our home groups, smaller groups of 20 to 40 people who get together during the week for music, teaching, sharing—and usually food. A home group is one of the best places to develop meaningful, lasting relationships with people like you who are going after the same things in life.

Whether you are a freshman, or a grad student, or living and working in the area—wherever you are in life—I would like to strongly encourage you to check out one of our home groups. A couple years ago, a graduating senior said to me how much he regretted not getting involved in a home group. Now he was moving away, wishing he had his time in college to do over, wishing he could have shared it with a group of close friends.

This full life Jesus calls us to is too wonderful not to share it. If you’d like help finding a group that fits you, let us know. All of our home groups have a slightly different feel to them, so there is surely one that will fit your personality. We have home groups for undergrad students, grad students, married couples, townies—pretty much anyone. Drop us an email, and we’ll get you connected.

Matt Rogers
pastor, [nlcf]
matt at nlcf dot net