Our Vision & Beliefs

We have a clear, biblical vision of what a church should be like.
We envision…

A High Impact Church—a regional church that reaches 1,000s of people for Jesus Christ and his Kingdom (Mark 4: 30-32)

A Life-Changing Church—that turns seekers into believers, believers into disciples, and disciples into disciple-makers (Matthew 4:19)

A Bible-Centered Church—where gifted and anointed teachers explain and apply the Bible for everyday living (Colossians 1:28)

A Celebrative Church—where worship utilizes music, media, and message to lead people into the joyful presence of God (John 4:24)

An Authentic Church—where people can safely and honestly share their lives with one another in small groups (Ephesians 4:15)

An Effective Church—that is organized around the wise and efficient use of members' spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11)

A Relevant Church—that is culturally indigenous to its setting, where the language, style, music, architecture, and art forms match the people in the target area (1 Corinthians 9:22)

An Encouraging Church—that affirms the value and worth of each person as a unique creation of God (Genesis 1:28-29)

An Influential Church—that serves the needs of the people in the surrounding area in Jesus' name, seeking to impact an entire community (Matthew 5:13-16)

A Reproducing Church—that starts dynamic new congregations in order to fulfill the Great Commission (Acts 1:8; 9:3)

OUR BELIEFS

We believe that life makes sense only in light of a God who is personal, relational and full of love.

We believe that God made the world and everything in it to mirror and reflect his character.

We believe that God made us humans to live in this world in peace and joy, sharing his love with one another.

We believe that God paid us the highest compliment by giving us the freedom to say YES or NO to his desires. Sadly, our NO has led us down the road to alienation, self-destruction, and death.

We believe that God so wanted us to find the road to wholeness and life that he sent his beloved son, Jesus, to show us the way.

We believe that Jesus was the most wonderful person who ever set foot on this planet. He taught us how to live with him in God's Kingdom. Although he was perfect, he suffered for our wrongdoings and was put to death for our sinful ways. He did this so that we might be restored to a right relationship with God, with others, and with ourselves. After he was killed, Jesus was raised back to life and then went home to heaven to be with his heavenly Father.

We believe that Jesus is still in the world today through his Spirit, calling all people everywhere to join him right now in serving God and others.

We believe that all who follow Jesus discover a community of fellow-believers and friends that becomes our spiritual home. We call it the church. Jesus calls it his body on earth.

We believe that the purpose of the church is to continue Jesus’ work of loving all people and helping them find and follow God.

We believe that baptism signifies and celebrates being born again into God’s family, and that Communion signifies and celebrates God’s pardon and presence in our lives.

We believe that there is an evil presence in the universe who seeks to undermine all the good things that God is doing in the world, in the church, and in our own lives. We resist this Evil One through prayer, perseverance and the support of fellow-believers. At the end of time Jesus will finally defeat him forever.

We believe that God is guiding human history according to his own perfect plan. One day, Jesus will come back to earth, and that will be the end of the world as we know it. On that day God will make all things new, fulfill our fondest hopes, restore broken relationships, heal our wounds, and reveal his love fully and perfectly.

We believe that this awesome story of God and his creation is told in the Bible.

Preston Trail Community Church is a member of the Willow Creek Association.

Since 1992, the Willow Creek Association has been linking like-minded, action-oriented churches with each other and with strategic vision, training, and resources. Our desire is to serve local church leaders in building biblically functioning churches that reach increasing numbers of lost people, not just with innovations from Willow Creek, but with God-given breakthroughs with widespread potential from any church in the world. The WCA is a not-for-profit ministry with more than 10,000 Member Churches from 90 denominations and 35 countries. They represent a wide variety of sizes, denominations and backgrounds, and are ministering in literally every corner of the world. As they pursue their own unique, God-given vision for ministry in their community, Member Churches confirm a shared commitment to Christ and a passion for reaching lost people.