Emmaus City Church in Worcester, MA – Become More Like Jesus Together for the Sake of our City.
"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you ... and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." + Jeremiah 29:7, 11-13
“For I am with you ... I have many in this city who are my people.” + Acts 18:10
"When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices." + Proverbs 11:10
Vision
To see the Good News (i.e. Gospel) of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished transform Worcester, Massachusetts; we hope to do this as His sent Church – a network of missional communities (i.e. City Groups) including people from a wide variety of cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds – becoming more like Him together as we share the way He lived, the truth He told, and the life He gave with others throughout every hill and neighborhood of our city
Mission
To send followers of Jesus together in communities to be with people in every nook and cranny of Worcester, helping each other and those we love to learn what it's like to become more like Jesus daily through His Word, His Spirit, and life with His Church as we share His Good News of God's grace in word and deed with people throughout our city
Actions
- Pursue Jesus' humility and holiness through His words and by His Spirit
- Pray for people to know Jesus through sharing and showing His Good News with them
- Grow missional communities (i.e. City Groups) to send out more City Groups throughout all the squares and "seven hills" of Worcester
- Become a radically diverse community that represents our city and the cultures and nations of all the people in our city
Convictions
- Jesus Treasuring
- His-Story Honoring
- Disciple Making
- People Loving
- Diversity Celebrating
- Praying Constantly
- Worship Embodying
Values
- Gospel: Jesus changes everything. The Good News is that His life, death, resurrection, and ascension can and does transform everything we do. We continue to learn more about Jesus and become more like Him as we are shaped by His promises, commands, and statements about who He is and how He came to save us, redeem us, and restore us. We turn to Jesus as we grow in moving from unbelief to belief in how He shapes every area of life.
- Community: Jesus brings people together in gracious community, whether they are broken, cynical, apathetic, skeptical, hopeful, peaceful, or content. We learn from Him how to love each other in humility, forgiveness, and compassion in the midst of our different backgrounds, stories, races, and cultures. Trusting in the good news that Jesus is our Savior, Redeemer, and King, and having others who help us remember this whether we are "feeling it" or not, helps brings this to life in the big and small moments. The video "Missional Community" from Renovation Church captures a glimpse of how we hope to see City Groups live among and love people in neighborhoods throughout Worcester, MA, from the center of our city into the north, south, east, and west squares and hills.
- Mission: Jesus gives us new purpose and passion to live with and for others. He walks with us and shows us how to live in light of His life, trusting that He will raise us up from our selfishness and discouragement so that we can share the powerful love and grace we have been given from Him with others in our city.
- Prayer: Emmaus City Church will accomplish our vision, mission, and values first, by prayer. Check out the prayers included on the linked page, "How to pray for and with Emmaus City," and pray with us daily. After praying for His kingdom come, His will be done in our lives, our church, and our city, we desire to walk in grace, and teach and live from the identity God gives to all those who follow Jesus.
Learn more at Emmaus City Church's website jesuslovesworcester.com
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