Our Vision:
To see people so full of Jesus they transform every space they occupy
Our Mission: Life to the Full!
To be full of Jesus is more than being a friend, fan or follower. It is to become one in heart, soul and mind with Christ Jesus. It is to be filled with his truth, his grace and his power to live the abundant life he died to give us. It is to see His Spirit impacting the people and situations we encounter every day, through us.
In an age of apathy and anxiety, distraction and division we believe Jesus is the only one with the truth, the only one who can make us whole, the only one who can lead us into the lives we were created for; lives that are meaningful and fruitful; lives that joyfully transform the spaces they enter and the people they meet.
As we look to the future, we see Grace as a beautifully renovated “home” packed full & prepared to host the presence of God for generations to come. While this will include physical upgrades, our greatest desire is to see our house become a home where pleasing God as Father, hearing from God’s Spirit and following Jesus as God’s son are the every-day norm. Only by giving ourselves to an all-in pursuit of God’s heart will we walk into the fullness of life that He has for us.
Life to the full looks like
- Children growing tall in their faith and young adults launch confidently in their God given identity and gifting.
- Unbelievers becoming believers who then disciple new believers. We see singles finding friendship, marriages finding unity, broken people (which is all of us by the way) finding wholeness.
- Every person at every life stage finding belonging and purpose bringing God’s kingdom to their homes, schools, workplaces and neighborhoods.
- A diverse congregation that reflects the ethnic and economic diversity of Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County and a church that grows every year in size and impact, reproducing with new churches or campuses as God provides leadership.
We envision all of this happening through intentional steps we each take to grow in wholeness and oneness with Jesus.
Strategic Priorities:
For this vision to happen we’re prioritizing the following (4) upgrades to our home for completion by 2028.
1. A deeper basement (Discipleship). We will build a new ministry taking people through an intentional pathway leading towards their wholistic healing and spiritual formation based on the truth of the scripture.
2. New chairs at the table (Leadership Development). We will double our volunteer leadership through the creation of new roles and the addition of leaders within existing roles resulting in a more sustainable and enjoyable ministry for everyone and an exponential increase in participation all around the house.
3. New exterior lighting (Outreach). We will brighten our outside lighting for the valley through increased engagement as every person in our church is involved in either our existing outreach work or one of our new church-wide outreach initiatives to provide service, love and care for our community.
4. Renovations + additions (Property). We will upgrade & renovate our facility to meet our current and future needs adding space for our growing family, especially our Next Gen ministry while also creating new visible beauty that reflects the invisible beauty of life in Christ.
GCC Vision-Mission | Scriptural Basis | August 2024
Full of Jesus: . . . That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19
- Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
- John 14:23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
- Romans 8:10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
- 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
- Ephesians 3:14-20 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us .
- Galatians 2:20, 4:19 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. . . My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.
- Colossians 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Full of Jesus’ Spirit: . . .be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18
- Luke 4:1-2 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.
- Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Acts 2:3-4, 4:31 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
- Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
- 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (ESV) 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.
- Ephesians 2:22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
- Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit
Transforming every space we (with Jesus) occupy: . . .they make it a place of springs… Psalm 84:5-7
- Genesis 1:27-28 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
- Psalm 84:5-7. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs, the autumn rains also cover it with pools. 7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
- Isaiah 61:3-4. . . .they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
- Jeremiah 29:5-7. “Build houses and settle down… Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
- Matthew 21:21. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
- Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt of the earth . . . v. 14 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 thatthey may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
- Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will bedbound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
- Matthew 28:18-19 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations .
- Acts 16:22-30. The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
- 1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your god deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Full Life (Whole, Complete Life) . . . that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
- Psalm 107:9 . . .for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
- Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace (wholeness) those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
- Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace (wholeness) to those on whom his favor rests.”
- John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
- John 6:35, 51 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
- Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
- Colossians 2:9-10 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- John 15:5-11 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
- Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
- Luke 14:23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
A full pursuit of Jesus: . . .with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
- Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- 1 Samuel 12:24 But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
- Psalm 119:10, 34 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
- Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
