Our core values and convictions

At first glance, Emmanuel Church will look a lot like many other churches. Worship, kids activities, small groups - all the “things” you'd expect to see. But the attitudes and motives behind these things may be very different. Listed below are the seven core values that make Emmanuel Church a new and refreshing church family.

Gospel-centered:

We are a gospel centered church, meaning that we teach that the Gospel of grace is central to the entire Christian life. It is not merely the doorway into the Christian life, it IS the Christian life – not just the first step, but the way we make all progress (Gal. 3:1-3) and become renewed both individually (Col. 1:6) and socially (Gal. 2:14). Because of the gospel we are enabled and motivated to live in love and holiness.

Covenant Community (belong before you believe):

We are convinced that you should belong before you believe. Jesus spent a lot of his time with those who didn't believe he was the Son of God. His life displayed that anyone can belong. It’s not the responsibility of church members to know when a person is “ready to belong.” We welcome everyone regardless of their background, issues, or problems.

We believe in the Holy Spirit’s power to work in the life of an unbeliever and believer alike for conversion and spiritual growth. Neither of these can be measured or timed by human standards. Only God can judge who/how/when a person is ready to believe and who/how/when a person is ready to be set free from a sinful vice. Therefore, at Emmanuel, everyone is welcome to fellowship with us before believing all that we believe.

Kingdom-centered outreach and evangelism:

God is King over all things and all peoples and nations. The kingdom that He is building touches on every realm of life and culture. The blessings of His kingdom are most fully experienced by His church (the people that He has called out of darkness into light). We want to be a part of extending God’s kingdom in our neighborhoods, our cultural spheres of influence, and throughout the world.

Christ-centered, expository preaching:

Our preaching style is “expository” and Christ-centered. Expository preaching is a form of preaching that expounds upon the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. The topic is gleaned from the text as opposed to “topical preaching” which concentrates on a specific topic and references texts covering that topic.

By Christ-centered we mean that, as the Apostle Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified.”(1 Corinthians 1:23). The Scriptures were given to explain God’s plan for the redemption of mankind. Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of this plan. Therefore, Christ is the focus of every passage of scripture. There is nothing more refreshing and renewing like the gospel of Jesus, the Messiah. There is nothing like having your heart burn within you while your mind is opened to understanding the Scriptures, “that the Messiah should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 24:32, 45-46). That is life-giving, life-renewing news!

Children/Youth centric discipleship:

One police study on juvenile delinquency stated,

“Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered: he wants what he wants, his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toys, his uncle’s watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He is dirty; he has no morals, no knowledge and no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children, but all children are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a killer, a thief, and a rapist.” (Cited in Reb Bradley, Child Training Tips.)

We believe in the Biblical education and discipleship of children at an early age. The greatest need of every child is a knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ (especially in this generation). We want our children to grow up to be upstanding citizens in their community, to learn to love Jesus, to treat their parents, elders and neighbors with respect, and to love one another as Jesus commanded.

Blended & Culturally Diverse Worship:

The southeastern United States is changing (especially the metro Atlanta area). Our culture is becoming more and more diverse. Similar to northern cities such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and DC, our neighbors are Anglo, African, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, etc. As our culture changes, our tolerance for other languages and traditions must change as well. At Emmanuel Church our worship style is blended, contemporary and traditional, and culturally relevant to the diverse people of our community. We sing traditional hymns and contemporary praise songs in English and Spanish.

Church Multiplication:

The purpose of Christian mission is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. This conviction is based on the Biblical revelation that God longs for His son to be known, loved, and obeyed by people from every tribe and nation.

We believe the best means to spread the gospel of Jesus and achieve lasting impact in people’s lives is to follow the same approach as the early church apostles. They made disciples, trained leaders, and planted churches. They raised up leaders who led movements of new believers as churches grew and multiplied. Following their example, our church is a multiplying church that will plant other gospel-centered churches.

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