"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching.
At New Community we have a vision to see the life of each person built on a solid foundation.
A building is only as solid as its foundation. As Jesus noted in Matthew chapter 7, if we put his teaching into practice, this expression of his church will have a solid and enduring foundation. Here at NC, our vision is for each person to build a life that is solid. It's not enough simply to show up to meetings and to hear good Biblical messages. We want to see lives changed, lives that bear a family resemblance to the Father and to Jesus himself.
What we want to see is a lifestyle of faith, lived out in a healthy interdependence through cell or life groups, where our lives are shared with others, both those in the church and those outside. This reflects Jesus' own lifestyle as seen in the Gospels, where Jesus spent time with his disciples, teaching and modeling a life of faith, while inviting those on the outside into relationship with them. This way of life was referred to in Acts as The Way long before it was called Christianity.
In order to build such a foundation, we have a series of equipping events, or retreats, in which these things are taught, practiced, and talked through together with others. We desire to see each person participate in these Forma Retreats and become integrated into a Life group, or cell group in order to further grow and share their life with others who are likeminded. Every person who desires to follow Jesus Christ may be a potential leader and take on a role of helping others to grow and to ... That is our goal--to make disciples, or students of Jesus and see God's kingdom, his increasing rule or influence in our lives and our city, our community.