North Star
Faith Fellowship Church is about reaching people with God’s gospel, building them as His church, and sending His church into the world.
WHY NORTH STAR
WHAT IS NORTH STAR
NORTH STAR RESOURCES
Why North Star?
We believe that we need a North Star because there are a lot of stars, so to speak, in the sky of the North American church world that claim to help us navigate the uncharted waters of where we are and where we should be going. There are many buzz words, best practices and best sellers that often have different (and sometimes contradictory) definitions for the basic elements of our faith.
Into the confusion we are seeking to bring clarity. Into the hype permeating our churches, we are seeking to bring sobriety rooted in the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). In a world of increasing division, we are seeking unity through holistic Christianity. In a world of quick fixes, we are rejecting silver bullet solutions and grounding ourselves in God’s vision for the local church.
North Star is our attempt at doing this.
What is North Star
For thousands of years, a fixed point in the night sky has guided travelers on their journey. While other stars appear to shift with the passing of time, the North Star remains anchored in the same position, showing people both where they are and where they need to go.
That is what North Star is all about — having a theological North Star, a fixed point, which will allow us to explore all it means to be the people of God. Our hope is that this particular North Star will serve you as a map, light, and lens.
North Star as a Map
Maps outline borders so explorers know how to travel in safety. As a map, our North Star framework shows us the core realities of who and why we are.
North Star as a Light
Lights shine into the darkness to expose hidden dangers. As a light, our North Star framework shows us the dangers of paths that might be be harmful.
North Star as a Lens
A lens brings blurry images into focus so we can see them with clarity. As a lens, our North Star framework helps us see God’s plan for our lives and church.
There are four aspects of the North Star framework: Vision, Gospel, Church, and World.
Each of these aspects makes up our purpose of reaching people with God’s gospel, building them as His church, and sending His church into the world. Each is also necessary and connected to all the others. In order to accomplish His vision, God provided us with a Gospel. The Gospel gives birth to a new people, the Church. The Church is sent to live in the world.
Below, we explain each aspect and show you how it relates to the others. The invitation for each member and potential member of Faith Fellowship is to imagine the grand adventure that awaits and come aboard with us as we journey together toward the horizon reaching people with God’s gospel, building them as His church, and sending His church into the world.
Vision
Where are we going?
As Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
God has a universal vision for His church that He gives to us through His Word. Because He has done all that is necessary for His vision to be accomplished through His gospel, we can receive our role in His vision for what it is: a great adventure across a vast and endless sea chasing God’s glory, our growth, and the Great Commission.
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God’s glory is His infinite worth made public through men and women conformed to His image.
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The Christian life is centered around Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are set apart and recreated into whole people. This is happens at the specific point we became a Christian but is also a process of growth being conformed to Christ likeness.
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We fulfill the Great Commission by serving as ambassadors who are sent with the authority of Jesus, expecting to be changed, and sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Vision is a picture of what could be, combined with the conviction that it must be.
— Andy Stanley
Gospel
What is our message?
The gospel is our message. It is good news about how we have been rescued from peril and can be brought home. It is good news that a king has come and liberated us from captivity so that we are now free. It is good news that we are more sinful than we ever thought possible but at the very same time we are also more loved and accepted in Jesus than we ever dared imagine.
This is the message that both fuels and forms every aspect of our church and our lives. The gospel is a clear and powerful message to us, and yet it is not a simplistic message. There is one gospel, but there are three vital aspects we must understand in order to experience and live in this beautiful vision God has for us:
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The gospel of God’s Kingdom announces that life with God has come near to us and is once again available to all who put their faith in Jesus.
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The gospel of God’s cross announces that, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have been made right with God.
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The gospel of God’s grace announces that God accepts us and shares his life with us. We have not earned or deserved it. God gives it to us freely at Christ’s expense.
Now I would remind you, brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Church
Who are we?
As the message of the Gospel is proclaimed and received, something incredible happens: a new people is formed. These new people are given a new name, the church, and are also given a new identity as sons and daughters of God. We begin with who we are because how we understand our identity will inform everything that we think and everything that we do as a local church. Scripture speaks of five identities that we have:
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True worship is our loving response to who God is and all He has done. God is the most worthy object of worship, but whether we worship God or something else, every human worships.
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Disciples spend time with Jesus to become like Jesus. A disciple is someone who chooses to be with someone else so that they might become capable of doing what that person does and living as that person lives.
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To those who trust him, Jesus, “gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). The stunning reality of the church is that God has adopted us into His family.
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God’s design for life often reverses this world’s values. The way to success is through service; the way to preserve your life is to lose it. The fundamental orientation of the Christian is away from themselves and towards God.
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A witness is someone who has seen and experienced something and then declares it others. As we experience this redemption, we go to the ends of our driveways and to the ends of the earth inviting others to share in life with God.
Still, imperfect as it is, the church is the dearest place on earth to us. It is the nursery for God’s weak children, where they are nourished and grow strong. It is the fold for Christ’s sheep; the home for Christ’s family.
— Charles Spurgeon
World
Where are we sent?
As the Dutch Theologian Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not one square inch in the entire cosmos which Jesus, who is sovereign over all, does not emphatically declare, “Mine!”
The Lord of all the Universe has in mind nothing less than being Lord over everything that we do, everywhere that we go, and in everything that we say. God has already told us who we are so from our identity as the church, God sends us into His world as ambassadors of His Kingdom that has come and is coming. Specifically, His world can be divided up in terms of:
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Where we primarily live in our homes, neighborhoods and local church.
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Where we work and all that pertains to work, career, and finances.
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Where we rest and play including our hobbies, interests and creativity.
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Where there is brokenness, need, or injustice whether at the ends of our driveway or to the ends of the earth.
Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.
— Hudson Taylor
Putting It All Together
What is our mission?
Faith Fellowship Church exists to reach people with God’s gospel, build them as His church, and send His church into the world. As we have said before, God’s vision for His Church given in Scripture not only applies to Faith Fellowship but to every faithful, orthodox local church that has been since Jesus’ first coming and every faithful, orthodox local church that will be until Jesus’ second coming.
So how are we living out God’s universal vision in this local church?
Glorify God by proclaiming His Gospel
Pursue our Growth by building up His Church
Answer the Great Commission by going into the World
North Star Resources
North Star Sermon Series
North Star Guide
Click here to view the North Star Guide that contains this info plus a Small Group Guide
Faith Fellowship Beliefs
Learn more about the basic beliefs and core tenets of Faith Fellowship