Rock Spring’s Vision

Rock Spring’s vision is to connect with those in our community who either do not know Jesus Christ or who do not attend church regularly. We believe that a person’s greatest need is to come to know and follow Jesus Christ. We further believe a Christian (Christ follower) should become active in a church family.

Rock Spring’s Mission

Rock Spring’s mission is to create environments where people can seek, serve, share and experience God.

The expectation we have as leaders is that an individual will seek, serve, share and experience God and then help others also to seek, serve, share, and experience their Heavenly Father.

To clarify, the church as an organization has the mission to create the environments, every individual’s mission is to seek, serve, share and experience and to help their neighbors do the same.

We believe that God’s greatest desire is for people to experience (know) him. John 17:3 says, “Now this is eternal life: That they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.”

If this is the goal, to experience God, how do people get there?

We believe that God has outlined a plan that includes three primary elements: Seek-Serve-Share.

Seek

Seeking simply means to look for God in order to find Him. God desires that we find Him so much that He did not wait for us to seek Him. Luke 19:10 says that Jesus came to seek those who were separated from God. The one thing God will not do is force us to know him; therefore even though he is already seeking us we must also seek him.

There are a number of ways in which we can seek God, some on of them are; by reading the Bible, prayer, gathering with other seekers (the church / community), building friendships with other Christians.

Serve

Seeking God will always lead to finding and finding always results in a love relationship. The nature of a love relationship is giving. John 3:16 says, “that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever wanted could live.” Love Gives.

We call giving that is motivated by love serving. Christ loved us enough to die for us and while few of us will give to that degree Philippians 2:5-8 says that we should have the same attitude as Jesus Christ “taking on the very nature of a servant.” Matthew 20:26-28 tells us that in order to become the best we can be we must be willing to give of our selves in order to help others find God.

Serving brings us another promise from our heavenly father. Matthew 6:33 tells us that if we seek first what is best for the kingdom of God we can be assured that God will provide all our other needs.

While we will find fulfillment through serving, self fulfillment is not the goal but the byproduct of helping others accomplish the goal of finding and experiencing God.

Rock Spring believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 but as verse 11 states, they are given at the direction of the Holy Spirit, and they are given only for the purpose of the “common good”. In other words they are given to help the church (or body) accomplish its mission.

We serve by becoming involved in a local church. Ephesians 4:11-13 says that the purpose of church leaders is to “prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ (the Church) may be built up.” The purpose of serving is helping the church accomplish its purpose of helping others experience God.

Serving out of love means helping to do whatever we are capable of doing while trusting that as we serve wherever needed, God will ultimately lead us to the best place for us to serve. We also believe that as our relationship and experience with God grows our areas of service will often change making room for others to serve and grow as well.

Share

Serving will always lead to sharing because sharing with others, especially the news of Christ, is the work of God.

John 5:17 says that “God is always at his work to this very day and I (Christ) too am working.” Verses 19-21 tell us that Jesus could only do what he saw his Father doing and that because the Father loves the Son He shows him everything the Father is doing. The purpose of the Fathers work was to restore relationship with himself to as many as were seeking him thus building the kingdom of God.

John 15:9-17 tells us that just as God showed Jesus his business Jesus showed his servants (followers) the Father’s business and as they shared in his work they became friends and were no longer considered servants.

This is the same promise we have that through sharing in his work we will move from servant status to a friend of God.

We share when our service is used as part of what of what our Heavenly Father is already working toward. Jesus gave us a simple statement in Mt 28:19 where he said “Go and make disciples’” in other words go help others seek, serve, and share so they may experience me and as we seek, serve, and share with others we become friends with God and his Son Jesus Christ which is the beginning of experiencing God.

Experience

We believe God’s greatest desire is for us to experience him.

John 17:3 says, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Jesus cautioned the religious leaders of his day that the kingdom of God did not come by “careful observation” (Luke 17:20-21) nor did eternal life come by “diligently studying the scriptures”, but life came by coming to him (John 5:39-40).

We will only experience God as we come to know Christ as a friend by sharing with others through serving in his work and we will only know where he is working by seeking to know him.

Strategy

Our strategy is to create environments where our friends can accomplish their mission of seeking, serving, sharing, and experiencing God. There are four environments at Rock Spring:

1. Front Porch – This is beyond our front door. Jesus always went to the people. Jesus created an interest in God. Jesus said for us to go. Luke 14:23 – “Go and compel them to come in.” The front porch is events like Flare, Christmas parade, movie nights, candy caravan, and sports and recreation.
2. Foyer – The foyer is for guests. The first place people see when they come in from the outside. The foyer is events such as, Sunday morning, Kidstuf, Married Life Live, etc.
3. Family Room –The family room is where you get to know someone. Family room events would be like Dinner Six, Starting Point, Group Link, serving in a ministry, and life groups (social).
4. Kitchen – This is the ultimate environment. The kitchen is for friends. This would be events like life groups other than social including Bible studies, prayer groups, even certain service teams.

Goal

To declare a move of God in our life.

Structure

The Lead Pastor leads Rock Spring in carrying out the vision and mission.

The Leadership Management Team is considered the board of directors of Rock Spring, and manages the day-to-day affairs of the church. Their area of influence is in the development of creative elements pertaining to worship services, events, and outreach activities. Eph. 4:11

The Elders are the shepherds of the church. They are charged with pastoral care and oversight of our church family.

You (the church) are ministers of God’s work. Eph.4:12, 1Pet.2:4-5. Every Christian brings gifts and talents necessary for the church. Your influence at Rock Spring is not through business meetings or committees but by serving in a ministry.

Membership

Christians are members of one body.

Rom. 12:4-5 – 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Christians are members for purpose.

Eph 3:10-11 – 10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

At Rock Spring we do not have a members-only mentality. Membership is not to promote the idea of benefits entitled to for being part of an exclusive group, but to fulfill a purpose together.

At Rock Spring a member’s purpose is to help create environments where others can seek, serve, share, and experience God.

Generosity

At Rock Spring, we believe that receiving is conditional upon giving. Luke 6:38 – Give and it will be given to you, a good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

We believe that giving of our time and money is evidence of our trust and faith in God.

Ministry – Eph. 4:11-12 – It was He who gave some… To prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up…

General budget – any undesignated gifts (tithe) goes to support our general budget. Our general budget supports are Sunday morning services, children and teen ministries, and any other day-to-day operation of the church.

Vision Builder’s (Building/mortgage) Fund – Gifts to our vision builders fund are used to first pay our mortgage – If more is received than needed to pay the mortgage, a percentage is then set aside for debt retirement and any additional funds are used to meet the needs of expanding ministries.

Missions

Rock Spring is looking to support indigenous missionaries in the future. Our goal is to partner with these individuals throughout the world by financial support and allowing our family to work along side them in the field as they feel led.