Thank you for Visiting Radiant Church
We exist as a fellowship to help people grow in Christ so that together we may better glorify Christ; as we learn to make much of Jesus in our hearts, in our families, in our community, and beyond.
Below are some of the values that represent who we are.
CHRIST-CENTERED
The gospel (good news) is that we are saved from our sins by sheer, free grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, not through our efforts and works. It is our aim to celebrate this glorious truth in all we do – not by trying to help people become better versions of themselves, but by helping people to look more like Jesus. Looking more like Jesus does not come about simply by hard work or therapeutic effort. Instead, it comes through learning to rest in the grace of the gospel, and diligently allowing the power of the gospel to invade every corner of our existence (our hearts, identities, relationships, and practices).
The gospel is not simply the gateway into the kingdom of God, it is the motivation behind every kingdom action we can ever take. Gospel-centrality protects us from the pitfalls of both legalism and relativism. We do not grow in obedience to God in order to procure more favor from God (legalism), nor do we take the grace of Christ as a license to do as we please (relativism). Instead, in grace, our obedience becomes our love letter to Jesus, because in the gospel of Christ, we have received all the favor we could ever dream of.
Biblically Rooted
2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” We believe that God has graciously disclosed himself in the Bible—which is inspired, authoritative, timeless, and complete. In order for us to grow in Christ, we must look to God’s Word, not trendy cultural maxims. Rather than conveying thoughts, ideas, and stories with scriptural support we seek to present God’s word as it is and let it speak to our cultural context, instead of allowing societal trends to inform our theology.
To this end we seek to present the whole of scripture (Acts 20:27), offering sermon series from both the Old and New Testament and all of the Bible’s literary genres. Also, we provide a number of Bible studies and Community Groups to allow people to dive deeper into God’s Word together. Intentionally discussing the scriptures as a group provides a special opportunity to allow us to better see what the Bible teaches us, why it matters, and how we can apply it to our lives. This process helps us not let the Bible simply inform us…but transform us as well.
*We encourage you to listen to our sermons and podcasts to see how we handle and teach the Bible (Acts 17:11). These can be found through our app or online.
Authentic Worship & Prayer
Worship is not just something we do, but who we are made to be. Worship is more than just singing songs, it’s how we live our lives (Romans 12:1-2). We invite you into authentic worship as we make much of Jesus every weekend. Worship is not a concert, but our right response to God’s self-giving revelation in the person of Jesus.
We believe worship is God-centered, While it does edify the church but it’s not primarily about me–it’s about him.
We also believe worship is meant to be both formative and expressive:
Worship is formative in the sense that it forms us into the image of Jesus as we engage in the practice of worship. This is why we seek to re-present the gospel story through every service from beginning to end. Our culture is filled with narratives that try to shape us into its mold. Which is why we need to constantly be reminded of the true Story. We do this through songs, sitting under the preached Word, and even through occasional historical practices like reciting a creed or a confession. All of these things shape us into the image of Christ.
Worship is expressive in the sense that it’s an opportunity for us to respond to God’s love for us as we express our love, devotion, humility, and gratitude for him and towards him. To that end we trust the Holy Spirit’s leading both in preparation and in the service itself. We want to walk is the balance between freedom and structure. We desire fire and form…spirit, and sacrament. All for the glory of God.
Prayer undergirds all we do. If we’re not communing with God then we are in danger of falling into legalism. We need to do more than pray, but we can’t do that until we pray. Prayer is how heaven touches earth in us and through us. (Matthew 6:9-13)
family discipleship
Our heart at Radiant Church is to grow in Christ that we may glorify Christ. We do this not just as individuals, instead, we grow together. To that end, we welcome your growing family to worship with us. We value having different generations and ages come together to share in the gospel story through worship and sit under the preaching of God's Word. Most of the modern church experience happens when families are apart from one another, but we grow and experience transformation together. We call our approach to family discipleship: “Growing Up Together In The Gospel,” which consists of a few elements.
We recognize that worshiping together is one of the most spiritually significant and influential things your family can do. Our hope is for children to catch a desire and passion for worshiping God by seeing their parents do so in our corporate gathering. This is why your kids are welcome to stay upstairs for the duration of the service.
We have a variety of Children and Student Ministry programs we provide for kids age 11 on down because we value families worshipping together, and we value having a space focused on the discipleship of our children. We offer Nursery for ages 0-2, Little Space for ages 3-5, Rad Kidz for ages 5-8, and Middle Space for ages 9-11.
We also have Rad Youth, a program for Middle School and High School age students. In youth ministry we encourage teens to be integrated as a part of the church body, worshipping with us on Sundays, and participating in the same ways their parents and other adults are. We believe the best Youth Ministry happens when parents live gospel-centered lives and invite their teens into that reality. We also have a Youth Bible Study and regular Youth Events. We also value discipleship & fellowship opportunities for all different ages and stages. We accomplish this through weekly Bible studies and regular events.
*See the website or contact us for the most up-to-date info and availability.
Gospel community
The transformative power of the gospel makes us into people who can conduct far more transparent, honest, intimate, and loving relationships.
As such we have the resources and the mandate to create a new kind of community. A community, which radiates the grace of Jesus Christ as people see our humility as well as our boldness; our quickness to repent, forgive, and reconcile; and be peace-makers in a contentious world.
At Radiant we believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus doesn’t just bring us to heaven, it brings us together—we are growing together in the gospel.
In an age of social fragmentation and individualism… we are tempted to fill every gap with more work or more entertainment. But what you see in the Bible from the first page is that we were made to be in community (Genesis 2:18). In fact it is key to our flourishing as humans and as believers in Jesus. Growth in Christ is best accomplished in a relational community, not just in a classroom or through a book. We seek to provide an opportunity for this through Community Groups (small groups) as well as community building events and we encourage fellowship every weekend. It’s always great to see people talking, laughing, crying, and praying together long after the worship service has ended.
Salt & Light
It doesn’t take a high level of observational skill to recognize that something is wrong with our world. As both domestic and international headlines give us ample cause for concern — Christians must consider what we can do in order to respond to our contemporary moment in a way that is biblical and effective. There is great hope and encouragement to be found in the fact that scripture teaches us that we have a vital role to play in thwarting the chaos and moral decay we see at work in our world. Jesus calls us to be salt and light.
In Matthew 5:13 Jesus tells us that we are “the salt of the earth.” In modern times we tend to think of salt as something that adds flavor to our food, but for most of human history (before the advent of refrigeration) salt was used as a preservative. When put on meat salt would slow down the process of decay. The application of this metaphor for the Christian is to be engaged with the world, in such a way, so as to slow down the process of rot and decay at work in the earth because of sin.
In Matthew 5:14 Jesus says that we are “the light of the world.” Light is necessary for life on our planet. Like flowers were made for the sunlight so were we made for the glory of God. This metaphor teaches us that Christians are to actively reflect the light of Christ and push back the darkness of sin and evil that is present in our world, so that the glory of Christ would shine.
It is our desire at Radiant Church is to provide resources to aid our congregation in intentionally being salt and light in our world. These resources have been organized into 7 categories to make the goal of being salt and light more accessible to Christians of every age.
We can be salt and light through:
Political Stewardship — Policy matters, and policy is put into place by the consent of the governed. Voting is a way we steward our freedoms as citizens. So vote and vote biblically. (Jeremiah 29:7) In addition to this we have an opportunity to serve on counsels or in office, this is a powerful way to bring change to our community.
Foreign Mission — Jesus commissioned us to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Serving — Jesus came to serve us and build his church. We are like him when we serve the ministry of the church. We all do this in different ways with different gifts. (Mark 10:45, 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, Ephesians 4:12)
Local Outreach & Evangelism — Serving is ministry to the church body, outreach is ministry to the community outside of the church. Mercy and Justice is an important evidence our hearts have been transformed by grace. We do this formally through our R.A.D. Outreach team. (Luke 10:25-37) Evangelism is spreading the gospel message through word and deed. (1 Peter 3:15)
You can find these resources for each of these at the Salt & Light wall in our lobby.