Our Mission at CCC: To inspire people to become fully alive followers of Jesus Christ
“I have come to give you life, life in all its fullness” Jesus Christ in John 10:10
Outlined below is a more detailed description of the vision to be “Fully Alive” as a follower of Jesus Christ.
At CCC we want to help everyone we possibly can experience the life God has for them. The new and abundant life that Jesus promised is at the center of what the Bible refers to when it talks about “salvation” and the “gospel”.
Sometimes we can dilute the gospel to mean believing the right information to get to heaven someday. The eternal life that Christ promised is a great hope! (John 3:16) But biblical belief is not just about intellectual assent to the right information to get a ticket to heaven. Biblical belief is about yielding our life to Christ. The biblical vision of salvation involves not just our eternal destiny, as vital as that is, but it is about our life today.
Am I living the life I was meant to live? Am I becoming the person I was intended to be?
Jesus promised a full and abundant life. His teachings and the New Testament are filled with an amazing message that has been compelling millions of people for thousands of years. Jesus promises a life of purpose, presence, community, freedom, peace and joy. We all know there can be a gap between that vision and our reality. At CCC we want to help each other close that gap as we encourage each other to live moment by moment in the grace and truth of Jesus. As this happens our identity is transformed and we live with a new love, peace, generosity and humility. We become increasingly free.
In a growing way, we experience the life we were meant to live and we become the people we were meant to be. This is all possible because of the:
- Love of God
- Grace of Jesus Christ that was expressed in his coming to earth, living, teaching, dying, resurrection and ascension.
- Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives today.
So the church is in the human resource and potential business! We are about helping each other live life to the fullest! This is an ongoing journey. Life in Christ does not remove us from the real pain and hardships of this world. As we trust Christ we experience the reality of being led into the life we were meant to live. We discover that being fully alive in Christ is actually the life we’ve always wanted.
Fully Alive… Experiencing the Essence of Life
Being “Fully Alive” happens as I engage the profound and vital cravings of the human soul: love, spirituality, meaning, justice, destiny, hope and beauty. I thrive as I penetrate the depths, mystery and wonder of my very humanity.
Fully Alive… Becoming the person I was meant to be
Being “Fully Alive” involves growth. As I discover my identity in Christ, everything changes. Everything. As I am transformed, from the inside out, I thrive in new ways. I discover the wonder of life as a child of God, made in His image and called to His purpose.
Fully Alive… Right Here – Right Now
Being “Fully Alive” is extensive. It happens in all the highs and lows of life. I can be “Fully Alive” today. It is a present opportunity, not just a future destination.
Fully Alive… Relational to the Core
Being “Fully Alive” is relational. We thrive and are most truly human as we love God and love people.
The Paradox of Life: Give it away and receive it
Being Fully Alive happens when I give my life away to receive the life that is truly life. (Mark 8) When I’m willing to die, I’m ready to live. I’m most fully alive when I am fully surrendered to Christ and His leadership in my life.
The Source of Life: Jesus Christ
I am Fully Alive as I experience new life in Christ. It’s all about Christ living in me, me living in Christ and discovering my identity in Christ. (John 20:31 & Colossians 2:10)
At the core - being “Fully Alive” involves a life of…
- Connections and relational vitality as I love God and people.
- Calling as I embrace God’s purpose for my life and participate in His work in the world.
- Change as I grow in new ways and become the person I was meant to be.
Promises and insights on life in Christ and being Fully Alive:
“The glory of God is a human heart fully alive” - (Saint Irenaeus – 2nd century follower of Jesus)
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31
“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” Acts 5:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (I John 4:9)
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence. Acts 2:28
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5
“Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so live in Him…” Colossians 2:6
In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. I Timothy 6:19
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I John 5:12
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. II Timothy 1:1-2
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; John 11:25
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. – John 5:31
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35
You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. Acts 3:15
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4
“And it is all because of Jesus that we find ourselves called to live the way we do. More particularly, it is through Jesus that we are summoned to become more truly human, to reflect the image of God into the world.”
“Because you were made in God’s image, worship makes you more truly human. When you gaze in love and gratitude at the God in whose image you were made, you do indeed grow. You discover more of what it means to be fully alive.” (From N.T. Wright in: “Simply Christian”)
If you believe in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in your life, this is what it means. You are called to be truly human, but it is nothing short of the life of God within you that enables you to be so, to be remade in God’s image.” (NT Wright in “The Challenge of Jesus”