Our Vision
GraceCity’s vision is to be a diverse community of growing people who serve and renew our city through a movement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We live to see His kingdom come and His will be done in our lives, families, neighborhoods, cities and nations. And everything to which we apply our resources, receives our commitment for an entire generation.
Our Mission
By the grace of Jesus Christ, reconciling people to God and to one another.
Our mission embraces the desire…
- To create compelling environments where people may be transformed in God’s presence. (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18)
- To use our gifts and resources to sacrificially serve our neighbors and others whether they believe as we do or not. (Philippians 2:1-5, Nehemiah 6:3)
- To bring health and peace to the city through the creation of a new, reconciled community…people who love each other through the boundaries of class, who could not join together without the gospel, to serve as a model of God’s kingdom here on earth. (Galatians 3:28, Jeremiah 29:11)
- To build a great city empowering all generations with a Christ-inspired movement that brings personal conversion, discipleship and renewal of families, neighborhoods and cities. (Isaiah 58:7-14, John 1:12-13)
We want to be a church where all people are warmly welcomed and feel at home quickly, whether you have no church background or have been following Christ your whole life. We know the timeless truths of the scriptures are relevant and applicable to our everyday lives, and they have the power to reshape our lives to make us more like Jesus. As we are both “living in His presence and being His presence”, our desire is that God’s heart for our community, the Baltimore region, and the international communities in which we serve, will be increasingly realized as we tangibly demonstrate His love and goodness to all people, especially the poor, marginalized, and oppressed.
Doctrinal Statement
The importance of sound doctrine in the church was a consistent theme of the New Testament writers as the early church was established, and it is even more important for the church today. (1 Timothy 1:3-10, 4:16, 6:3; 2 Timothy 1:13, 3:16, 4:2; Titus 1:9-11, 2:1)
- it is essential to a church’s spiritual health (Ephesians 4:4-15)
- it is the standard by which the church is evaluated (Titus 2:1)
- it is the faith for which the church contends (Jude 3)
- it is the truth which the church upholds (1 Timothy 3:15-16)
At GraceCity Church, we affirm our dependence upon the Scriptures for our doctrine and gladly uphold the Bible as our final authority.
The doctrinal statements below are not meant to be exhaustive; rather, they represent a summary of those truths we hold as foundational to the orthodox Christian faith. They have been formulated to fulfill three main functions:
- to stand as a contemporary confession of our faith
- to identify us in a day of varied theologies
- to be a standard by which we evaluate ourselves
The Trinity
We affirm that God exists eternally in three persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are One God. Although each member of the Trinity serves different functions, they each possess equal power and authority. (Genesis 1:1,26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 61:1; Matthew 28:19-20; John 4:24; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:8-10; James 2:19)
The Father
God is great: He is all powerful, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, completely worthy of our trust, and above all, Holy. It is in Him that we live, move and exist. God is good. He is our Father. He is loving, compassionate, and faithful to His people and His promises. (Exodus 3:14; Numbers 23:19; Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2; Psalm 11:4-6; Malachi 3:6; John 3:16, 4:24, 5:26, 14:1; Acts 17:28; Romans 3:3-4)
The Son
We affirm that Jesus Christ is God incarnate – fully God and fully human. He is God’s only Son and the sole mediator between God and all humanity. We affirm His preexistence, His incarnation, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary atonement, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His bodily return from heaven one day. (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:5; John 1:1-14; Matthew 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:15; Romans 3:23-25; Acts 2:24-27; Acts 1:9-11; Titus 2:13)
The Holy Spirit
We affirm that God the Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune God, who regenerates, indwells, baptizes and seals all followers of Christ at the time of conversion, and indwells those followers who trust in Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19; John 3:3-7; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 6:19, 12:13; Ephesians 4:30; Titus 3:5)
The Bible
We affirm that every word in the original writings of the Holy Scriptures is inspired of God and without error. We believe that it is the final standard of faith and practice for the follower of Jesus Christ and for His Church. (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)
Salvation
We affirm that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, as a gift of God apart from human merit, works, or ceremonies. A person is rescued from eternal judgment and restored to right relationship with God when he/she receives and acknowledges this gift of eternal life from God. Salvation arrives in and through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sin, and once secured, is sealed and sustained by the Holy Spirit eternally. (Acts 4:12, 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9-10)
Eternity
We affirm the resurrection of the human body, and the eternal existence of all humanity in either heaven or hell. (Genesis 1:26-27, 3:1-6; John 5:25-29,11:25-26; Romans 3:10-18, 5:12-14; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 2 Corinthians 5:10; James 3:9; Revelation 20:11-15) THE CHURCH We affirm that the Church is the spiritual body of which Christ is the Head, and that there is a two-fold aspect to this body — the universal Church (which includes all followers of Christ); and local churches comprised of followers of Christ who meet together regularly for worship and teaching. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Phillipians 2:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation 2:3)
We affirm that Jesus instituted two ordinances for the local church – Communion (a memorial of the atoning death of Christ until He comes again) and Baptism (the outward identification of a person’s inward faith in Jesus Christ). We participate regularly as a church body in the sacrament of communion, and we encourage every Christ-follower to be baptized after trusting Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-24, 26)
Spiritual Gifts
We affirm that every believer has received from the Holy Spirit at least one spiritual gift. When a person exercises his/her gift, he/she contributes to the work of the Body of Christ. Therefore, we encourage every believer to discover and exercise his/her spiritual gift(s). (1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:1-16)
The Great Commission
We affirm that followers of Christ are sent into the world as ambassadors of Christ’s love and grace, just as He had been sent by God the Father. As Christ’s ambassadors, we are to make Him known to the whole world and make disciples in all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 15:8, 17:18, 20:21; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21)
The traditional creeds of the Christian faith provide a great summary of our doctrinal beliefs, and assure us that we are grounded in and united with historical, orthodox Christianity. Below is one of these time-tested creeds:
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.