In Matthew 28 Jesus commissioned His followers to make disciples by going into the world, by calling unbelievers to put their trust in Christ and by teaching these new believers to live according to His teachings. The book of Acts records how they were used by God as agents of transformation as they preached the gospel and planted churches in Asia, Africa and Europe. Today, God continues His work through local churches that are scattered around the world. At Desert Springs, we believe that God has given us the mission of transforming people to impact their world for Christ. This mission is motivated by a prevailing love for God and a genuine compassion for people who are created in His image. Our methodology is centered around God’s grace. The scriptures teach us that we are saved from the penalty of sin by grace (Ephesians 2:8; Acts 15:11) rather than by our good works. They also teach us that we are to continually grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus (2 Peter 3:18). Because grace is to be foundational to all that we are and all that we do, we have ordered our core values and their corresponding practices around the acrostic of GRACE.
Growing in Christ
When we place our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, we are born again spiritually. Like a child should grow physically, God wants us to mature spiritually. He wants us to know the truth and to be increasingly transformed into Christ-likeness by it. We are to think and act like Jesus.
God has provided us with the Bible, to be a tool in helping to know Him better and to guide us in making life choices that are honoring to Him and healthy for us. Therefore, we are committed to teaching God’s Word in our worship services and providing a variety of Bible studies.
Our core curriculum strategically guides us in determining what to teach in our enrichment classes, community groups, Bible studies and mentoring groups. This is more than just sharing information it’s about life transformation throughout our homes, our church, our workplace and our community.
Reaching Out
As Christ-followers, we have received a great gift – the gift of God’s forgiveness through Christ. With this gift comes the mission of sharing that good news with others who need to hear it. From the foundation of the church until Christ’s return, we all are called to be His witnesses. While some people are gifted in evangelism, it is the responsibility of all believers to represent Jesus to the people whom God has placed in our lives. We are to make Him known by how we live and by what we say.
To assist our church family in more effectively sharing the good news, we provide classes on biblical training in personal evangelism. We encourage building relationships with our neighbors and promote several pre-evangelism types of events throughout the year to which Christ-seekers can be invited. We also provide financial assistance to people who are in need and sponsor programs and service projects that are directed to meeting a variety of needs in our community.
While these expressions of love are worthy endeavors in themselves, we also pray that they will build relational bridges from which we will have the opportunity to share the good news about Jesus. Beyond our community we continue to be committed to world evangelism through supporting our missionaries and sponsoring short-term missions.
Authentic Relationships
God designed us to live in community with one another rather than to try to go it on our own. The Bible often refers to the people who make up the church as being a family. Unfortunately there are many dysfunctional relationships within the church as well as within our community.
With so much superficiality in the world today, it is imperative that we exhibit honest and open relationships with one another. We must learn to speak the truth with one another, but always with the intent of building one another up. As we come alongside of each other to provide encouragement and support, we are reminded that we are not alone.
In addition to encouragement, we seek to hold one another accountable to living in a way that is honoring to God and is healthy for us. While this should happen informally as we interact with one another, the primary vehicle for developing authentic relationships at Desert Springs is to belong to one of our community groups. Characteristically, these community groups consist of approximately 15 people or fewer who meet regularly in homes for the purposes of caring for one another, learning and discussing God’s Word with one another, praying with and for one another, serving with one another and reaching out to those who need to meaningfully connect with others.
Compassionate Service
As we mature in Christ, we should increasingly be involved in helping others. From the life of Jesus and the earliest records of the church, we see how Christ’s followers loved one another and how they personally sacrificed to meet needs within their families, communities and other spheres of influence.
This is why we are intentionally involved in activities such as providing food for the needy in the Palomino community and in the inner city through ministries such as Rio Vista and H10. Through the generosity of people who contribute to our Benevolence Fund, we are able to help people in our church family and in our community that are experiencing financial difficulties. We are thankful that God has raised up people from DSBC to spearhead outreaches to the homeless in our city. We are excited about participating with other churches and ministries in building homes, and providing clothing and food in regular outreaches to Mexico.
These practical expressions of Christ’s love frequently result in a greater receptivity to the good news of the gospel. Along with serving those in need, we are also committed to helping people discover their spiritual gifts and to be equipped to serve in other ways.
Exalting God
Since each follower of Christ should derive joy from personally glorifying God, it stands to reason that our primary desire when we come together should be to exalt Him through worship. When God reveals Himself to us, we are to respond in worship to Him. When we unite our hearts and voices in worshipping the Lord, we join with believers across the ages in acknowledging that He alone is worthy of our adoration and devotion.
While there are many differing styles of worship, the unifying focus is to praise God for Who He is and to thank Him what He has done. We pray that our worship services will be Christ-centered and that through them God will be honored, believers will grow in their faith and seekers will come to know Jesus in a personal way. We affirm and regularly practice the sacraments of the Lord’s Table and believer’s baptism as expressions of our faith. While we value and utilize many of the historic songs of the church, our predominant style of corporate worship music is contemporary and celebrative. The reading and teaching of God’s Word are central to our services and are complementary to other expressions of worship.
We meet weekly for prayer as we praise God and petition Him for spiritual, emotional and physical needs within the Body. We encourage everyone to be involved in regular scripture reading, meditation upon God’s Word, prayer and praise.