Our vision at Grace Church – the reason we exist – boils down to what we often refer to as the three E’s: Equipping the next generation, extending our influence in the community and abroad, and entrusting our resources to God.
Equip - Ephesians 4:12 tells us that church leaders are called “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church.” The Greek word translated equip here is used in the Gospels to describe fishermen mending their broken nets. At Grace, we seek to mend lives and equip people for a life of spiritual passion, in which they will then give their lives away for the sake of God’s glory.
Extend - Our vision for extending our influence comes from Matthew 28:19-20, where Christ tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. It’s clear we’re called to move out of places of comfort and take the hope and message of Jesus to those around us, both through reaching out materially to those in the community, and freely sharing the life change the Gospel has brought about in us. We need to be regularly asking ourselves two questions: If Jesus lived in Greenville, where would he be and what would he be doing? And, if Grace Church disappeared, who would miss us?
Entrust - We believe that everything we have is really God’s, and we are just stewards, or managers, of the money and resources he’s given us. From a worldly perspective, we tend to view our resources in terms of scarcity and fear, but what we strive to become is a culture of people who follow Jesus and view our resources through a lens of faith and generosity. Instead of hoarding and wasting money on ourselves, we want to learn how to leverage those resources to expand God’s influence.
Click to read our Statements of Belief.
