Mission and Vision

Mission:

Changing lives to change a city to glorify God:

The mission of the Church has been the same since her inception. The message is the same, but the methods are new. The call is consistent, but the context is ever-changing. Our mission statement succinctly describes our heart. The scriptures share the wonderful news that God is glorified through changed lives. Life change is both an event (salvation) and a process (sanctification). The process of life change begins at salvation, or rebirth, and continues throughout our life effecting change where God sends and places us. Our mission reveals that what is at the heart of who we are is God’s heart.

Vision:

The vision for Kaleomark Church is to have our five Core Values — Truth, Grace, Restoration and Love — expressed through our members and extended to our community. Where the mission of the Church is solid, static and not open for change, the vision is a growing and flexible understanding of God’s specific purpose for our local body. Our vision is dynamic and unique. Our desire is to see these values lived out by our church family throughout our city and surrounding counties. It is a vision that glorifies God one life change at a time. As we change through progressive sanctification we in turn help to change our city and counties. Success is not an attendance number, a large budget or recognition, but rather an expression of how well we live out these values to our various communities.

Life Together: Four Marks Four Values

(Throughout, you will see readings which our team will study together in the time leading up to the launch of Kaleomark along with other suggested readings which will further enrich your grasp of our church values.

In Matthew 22, Jesus confronts both the Sadducees and Pharisees. To the Sadducees much like those with a liberal form of religion influenced by secularism he says, “You don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God” (v.29). He then turns to the Pharisees, those with a conservative brand of religion mired in fundamentals, and says, “You don’t know love.” Loving your neighbor is so important to Jesus that he likens it to loving God (v.39

The mark these extremes were leaving on people and their culture did not honor God. Our life will be marked by listening closely to Scripture, experiencing the power of God. Our life will be marked by a deep love for each other and our neighbors.

 

The Four Marks:

1

Truth: Gospel Gatherings

John Calvin said the church “brings them to new birth by the Word of God, educates and nourishes them all their life, strengthens them and finally leads them to complete perfection”.


Word. Because the bible is the true story of God’s redemptive work culminating in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are devoted to bending our ears, hearts and lives to the teaching of Scripture. This means that a large portion of Sunday and Saturday gatherings is committed to passionate, intelligent, gospel-centered teaching.

Worship. Worship is about bringing glory to God and experiencing the power of God. The longing of the human heart is to come in contact with a God who is transcendent yet very present in the midst of human brokenness. Because of this we will cultivate an atmosphere on Sunday of both joyful expression and reverent awe. It will be done using Hymns and worship songs, including prayer, communion and baptism.

We will look at books like Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll and Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis and Jesusology by Gregg Allison to better grasp the importance of living a gospel life in word, community and mission.

 

2

Grace: Gospel Community

In 1 Thessalonians 2 Paul wrote about the natural extension that comes from the Word. :We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us”(v8).

John Stott spoke of community this way, “The church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. it is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is god’s new community. For his purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be perfected in a future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build his church, that is to call out the world a people for his own glory.”

The New Testament word for community is Koinonia, translated as “fellowship.” so “Church” and “Community are not independent of each other. This means that our individual activities all stem from community which I am a part. We weren’t designed to make decision as they relate to “me” but we are expected to make decisions in relation to our community we are in. And it is in community where we will experience God’s grace most greatly.

In a home a married man will make decisions for his family knowing that these decision will effect his family. The Apostle Paul wrote about such community in Romans 12:5 “in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Decisions are made with regard to the community. The way we live out community really exhibits what we understand about our new family and community in terms of (Adoption). We are Children of God (John 1:12) and so we related to each other as brothers and sisters. We also relate to God intimately as our Heavenly father because we have received “adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hears, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:5-7).

3

Restoration: Gospel Mission

Social Involvement. Jesus displayed course of action in John 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” We will work with organizations like The Compassion Group who is assisting the New homeless by meeting needs and restoring hope to families in Pasco Country Fla. Our posture towards the city will be marked by social involvement rooted in the gospel to our neighbors like the new homeless in our city who are losing their jobs, and homes, and families.

Evangelism. social mission without evangelism is like a sign pointing no where. Evangelism is not something to be undertaken in isolation. Evangelism leading to redemption and restoration stems from gospel mission being done in community. 

In their book Total Church, Chester and Timmis describe three strands to evangelism: 1)Building relationships, 2) Sharing the gospel, 3)Introducing People to community (p.61). Both our actions on justice and empowering people to fulfill their evangelistic calling and mandate.

Kaleomark will be involved in social ministry in our city feeding the hungry and helping the thousands of families who are finding themselves homeless and jobless through organizations like Thecompassiongroup.org . The church has to be the hands and feet of Christ contextualizing the gospel to our city through missions.

 

4

Love: Gospel Homes

A Mark of a church living out the gospel of Christ is in our home. Our day to day life, interactions, decisions from home to home go to the heart of who Kaleomark is. In ancient Near East cultures, to share a meal with someone was a sign of deep identification and relationship. “The Son of Man came eating and drinking,: and was labeled “a friend of sinners” (Matt. 11:19 He shared his table with “both bad and good” (Matt. 22:10), known sinners, tax collectors, and women of ill repute.

The reason why people buy homes with large kitchens in America and Channels like the “Food Network” are so popular is because people know real life happens around the table. We build community around the practice of shared meals with family, friends, Pre-Christians and some who are considered hopelessly lost. In our interaction we discover the marks God placed in us and on us from before the creation of time.

Being a member of Kaleomark means being open in relationship about your own life, issues, and lovingly confronted about them as we share in authentic love for one-another.

Dig Further into Our Beliefs