The mission of CR First is to love and lead people into an authentic, life-changing relationship with Jesus.
To create a movement in Eastern Iowa where we lovingly serve others so their lives will be full of hope as they discover their God-given purpose.
To live a life of faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope.
In order to help people take simple steps to get connected to Christ and each other, we will walk them through how to discover God’s BEST:
We help people begin a personal relationship with Jesus. We are not as driven by the amount of information people have about God, but we want to help them apply what they know deeply. John 15:16
First Steps: Life Groups, Newcomers Dinner, GROW Track, Baptism
We live the life of Jesus with others in order to draw others into the life of Jesus. We believe life is lived better in circles than in rows so we work hard to make sure everyone feels as though they belong. Hebrews 10:24-25.
First Steps: Life Groups
We help people discover freedom from sin and life controlling issues. Freedom happens in the context of relationships and God’s supernatural power. Galatians 5:1, James 5:16.
First Steps: Freedom Groups
We help people discover their God given purposes. We were created with unique strengths which can be empowered by the Spirit to lead people to Jesus. Ephesians 2:10
First Steps: GROW Track
God invites us to join Him in working to redeem and restore a lost and broken world. We help people connect with a mission that is bigger than them and together we make a difference in our world. Acts 1:8
First Steps: Serve Teams
We anchor our lives to Jesus and His Word. This is why we give up things we love for things we love even more. We bend our emotions, dreams and personal desires to be in alignment with the truth of God. We treat each personal interaction with the same respect we give to our creator and savior.
We know the Spirit of God will empower us to reach out to others. We will never insult God with small thinking and safe living. We look for opportunities for the Spirit to equip us to live by faith, to be a voice of hope and to be known by unconditional love for others. He is moving us towards greater things.
We will not rest until the next generation has personally encountered the love of God. We will not point the way, but we will walk with each young person and model how to love God loudly. Our ceiling will be the floor for those who come after us because we believe our best days are ahead of us.
God did not give us a small commission but a great commission to go into all the world to preach the good news of Christ’s love and grace. We will lay aside our comfort and our preferences to bear the burdens of those who are far from God. To reach people no one is reaching, we’ll do things no one is doing.
We want to lead the way in helping each person find their God-given purpose. True leaders serve others and help them fulfill their God-given calling. We follow Jesus’ example by not looking to be served but to serve. Therefore, if serving is beneath you, leadership is beyond you!
We know life is best lived out in circles of friends, so we will resist isolation and we refuse to let anyone walk through life’s difficult moments alone. We will be a place where everyone feels like they belong, because we have the audacity to think broken, messy people can change the world.
Unity does not equal uniformity. We will be a church of all generations, all nations, all races, and all backgrounds. The church should be the most diverse, and the most creative place on the planet because God has created every voice with an equally unique purpose. We are a beautiful mosaic.
We are called by God to our neighborhoods, work places and friends. He has placed us in Eastern Iowa for a purpose. We will be present in the lives of our neighbors during their good times and difficult moments. The church belongs in the middle of the marketplace. We are on a mission to bring the life of Jesus to our community.
Generosity is giving more than what is required. Because God has given us everything, we count it a privilege to be generous to others with our time, our talents and our treasures. We are committed to being spiritual contributors, not spiritual consumers.
We are passionate about equity and justice on a global scale. One of the greatest injustices in our world today is the unequal distribution of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are a sending church, committed to partnering with others all over the world to make sure every person has an opportunity to experience the life-transforming love of Jesus.
We believe in one God who exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is infinite, which does not always make sense to our finite understanding. He is not limited by time or space. He is creator, eternal, all-knowing, ever-present, and all-powerful. His character is multi-dimensional but no facet of His character diminishes another. In other words, His grace and wrath, mercy and justice, love and jealousy all work together for good.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, worked miracles and gave us an example to follow. Fully God and fully man, He died on a cross to pay the penalty for sin that separated us from God and rose from the dead to reconcile us to our Creator and to free us to have a new life in Him. Jesus did not simply teach how to live a good life, we believe he is life itself.
The Holy Spirit is given to every follower of Christ to guide, comfort, convict, and adopt us into the family of God. He helps us grow into Christ-likeness by producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a biblical experience that follows salvation and He gives us spiritual gifts to empower us to meet the needs of God’s people and a hurting world.
Written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells one seamless story: a passionate God on a relentless pursuit to redeem His creation. The Bible is the authoritative and inspired Word of God and is trustworthy, without error and reliable for telling us what to believe and how to live.
We believe every person matters to God for we are all created in the image of God to have a relationship with him, but became separated from God through sinful disobedience. As a result, people are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts. Through Jesus, we have the opportunity to trade our sin for His righteousness through faith. Jesus’ sacrifice is the only means for our salvation and reconciliation with the Father.
The Church is the Body of Christ and Jesus is the head of the Body. The Church is not a building, a religious organization, or an event but the community of individuals who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God, make disciples, make Jesus known to a lost world, and meet the needs of those in our communities and around the world. We believe the local church is the hope of the world. We celebrate baptism as a first step of obedience for new followers of Christ, and we celebrate communion as an ongoing remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.
We believe every follower of Christ is called to serve others as a minister regardless of their vocation. We believe the only way possible to live the Christian life is by God’s power within us. By obedience to the Word of God and daily yielding to the Spirit of God, every believer should mature and be conformed to the image of Christ. So, we seek to practice a daily dependence on God’s Spirit to enable us to do what is right and to obey God’s command to be filled with the Spirit and practice tithing to demonstrate where our treasure truly lies.
In the end of all things, Jesus will reign eternally. He will judge His creation according to the character that has been revealed to us through His word with justice and mercy. Those who have accepted salvation through Jesus Christ will enjoy His presence forever; those who choose to find life on their own will be separated from God for eternity.
CR FIRST is affiliated with Assemblies of God churches around the world.
You can find fuller explanations of the beliefs these churches share at www.ag.org
