First-time visitors often say something like:

The focus is different…

Our primary focus is the person and work of Jesus Christ. We are an unashamedly Christ-centered and Gospel-motivated church. The Gospel is the amazing, life-transforming news that Jesus Christ did for us through his life, death, and resurrection what we could never do for ourselves. This good news is for unbelievers and believers alike, so that anyone can come to know and enjoy God forever. This focus on grace produces a church that is positive and redemptive in its outlook, rather than pessimistic and condemning.

The teaching is different…

We don’t try to use the Bible to support the latest fads or to confirm the opinions we’ve already formed; we use it to confront our presuppositions and to help us think “Christianly” about everything. Since we believe the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God, our approach to it is generally expositional—that is, we go straight through a text and let God speak for Himself. We also seek to faithfully interpret the Bible the way Jesus himself did—as a book that reveals the saving work of God in all ages through Jesus Christ. You’ll hear every week how the passage of Scripture connects to Jesus and presents him as the Hero figure of history. And you’ll experience for yourself how this kind of teaching encourages authentic worship and humility, while discouraging moralism and hypocrisy.

The people are different…

They’ve chosen this church for a reason—usually because they appreciate the emphasis on grace and the Gospel and Christ. So they’re not super-saints looking to judge you or entertainers looking to amuse you. They are your neighbors seeking humble means to love and serve you just as they love and serve God and one another.