Mission

The mission of the church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. The mission of the church never changes. It is the mission that Jesus Himself gave for the church before He ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father.

The vision of the church is the means by which the Holy Spirit intends to bring about the mission through that particular body of believers. The vision that the Holy Spirit has given The Garden Churches is “Plant, Grow, Send.”

At The Garden Churches we believe that it all begins with a seed. The seed is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news that Christ has come to bring salvation to sinners, (and all of us are sinners), and through that salvation the means to a lasting, eternal relationship with God the Father, that begins in this life and continues throughout eternity.

“Plant, Grow, Send,” is the process of that seed germinating and growing. The Planting takes place in our hearts, minds and spirits by the work of the Holy Spirit through the life of someone who plants it.

Then the process of Growing begins. Growing happens within the community of the church, through teaching, preaching, worship, and prayer. Growing is the function of discipleship; that we would all grow up into the fullness of Christ. Here at the Garden Churches we have many opportunities for growth to take place. We have our online Sunday worship services, our weekly teaching in THE DIG, ACTS groups, our Greenhouse Mentors groups, and Garden Parties. We also have online ministries offered for our children and our youth in which they too can be discipled.

Growing in Christ is revealed in each of us by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. That fruit is found in Galatians 5:22-23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” We believe that as we grow in Christ the fruit of the Holy Spirit becomes more and more apparent in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Send then becomes a natural part of the process. We are sent when the fruit of the Spirit and testimony of Christ’s love for us have so filled us that we begin to plant seeds in the lives of people around us. We become the people that the Holy Spirit uses to plant seeds in the lives of people.

And the process then begins in the life of someone else.

A vital piece of the vision; PLANT, GROW, SEND, is that this doesn’t need to happen in the context of the traditional church environment. Through our experience during COVID 19 we have learned deeply that the vision is powerfully lived out in the context of “Church Without Walls.”

Church Without Walls is the reality that church is wherever you are. The church is not a building, but rather the church is the people of God living out the life of Jesus Christ by the unction of the Holy Spirit in their moment by moment lives. It is the teacher that finds a way to shine the light of Jesus Christ in their classroom. It is the mechanic sharing Christ with customers in need of car repairs. It is the homeowner sharing the gospel with neighbors at a cook out. Each simply planting seeds, speaking about what Christ has done for them.

Then, as the seed takes root and begins to grow, it is taking the time to come alongside them, either over coffee, at lunch, in the breakroom, wherever it is convenient, and helping them to find their way into and through the scriptures. Helping those folks learn to hear His voice. Helping them to walk with the Holy Spirit, and to embrace the love of their heavenly Father.

Then, in Church Without Walls, they help them to learn to plant seeds themselves… simply sharing the work of Christ in their lives, and mentoring someone else in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Changed lives, change lives.