The Redemption Movement is a God-centered church. Movement for us means moving to, in, and for God by: Connecting People
to God --> Discovering Purpose
in God --> Impacting the World
for God. Each step with Connect, Discover, and Impact, is taken directly from the Great Commission of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 28:18-20. Because we are a church that intentionally lives out Jesus' commission, we refer to ourselves as a church that's
"on mission."
While every believer has the individual responsibility to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you;" we believe the most successful way to do Jesus' mission is by working together, side-by-side in the church, with everybody in the body dedicated to seeing the mission through.
Therefore, because the great commission is a corporate responsibility, we are very intentional about how we enact Jesus' plan. When it comes to Connecting People to God ("Go and make disciples"), we believe that the church should take every effort to make this connection easy and the love of God accessible--this is in contrast with some churches, intentionally or unintentionally, that do religious things to make connecting with God difficult, or even turn people away from God.
The Redemption Movement pays attention to the objections unchurched people have with "going to church." We believe these grievances are serious because, ultimately, they keep people away from seeking a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are making strong efforts to address these objections and by presenting the Gospel in a culturally relevant way, which for us, means doing church differently.
Here are 10 ways The Redemption Movement intentionally makes it easy for people to connect with God.
Seeker Sensitive
The Redemption Movement is sensitive to those who are not familiar with church, and are seeking truth and spirituality. We make room for questions, doubts, and provide a place where you can seek truth with others who are also looking for answers. We do our best to explain everything, cut out the "Christianese," while being open-minded and tolerant to those that believe differently than us. Ultimately, being seeker sensitive (which is different than seeker driven) means being authentic with everything we do.
If we make efforts to be sensitive to the beliefs and needs of people unfamiliar with church, Christian culture, or God, it will make it easier for people to connect with God.
Relational
Church should reflect the reality of the family of God where believers are brothers and sisters in Christ and God is our Father. This means church should be a place that's warm, welcoming, and easy to make caring friendships. We believe positive change happens through authentic relationships, and we want the relationships in our church to be more powerful than the cultural divisions that divide people everywhere else--differences like class, politics, age, faith backgrounds, etc.
A church that is more than a social club of like-minded people, but instead, reflects the diversity of the city, will stand as a testimony of the unifying power of the Gospel and make it easier for people to connect with God.
Casual Church
We don't want to be so focused on our image, looking good, and even being 'overly-professional,' that people who are unprofessional, or not hot, will feel judged or left out. It's easy for outsiders to feel this way when visiting a church that's overly-professional or too traditional. The Redemption Movement is a church that's casual in dress, casual in preaching, and casual in ministry. We are a church where the old adage “come as you are” applies.
If we create a church environment that's comfortable, enjoyable, simple, and free of judgment, it will make it easier for people to connect with God.
Open-to-Close Gatherings
Our weekly public gatherings on Fridays have been overhauled to make church more convenient. We meet on Fridays to give people a different time during the week to meet that may work better than Sunday morning, and we hold our meetings with an open-to-close format where you can come and go as you please, instead of a start-to-finish church service where you can be late.
Our Friday evening gatherings can be hard to describe because it's different and the flow of the night varies week-to-week. You can think of it kind of like a hybrid between a church service, a coffee shop, and a living room.
You are welcome to check out Fridays at The Redemption Movement yourself and tell us what you think. To help make it easy for you to join us, we open our doors at 6pm and lock up the Ol' Storefront late into the night.
No Pressure Ministry
When a church tries to make a spiritual experience happen, the methods can be interpreted as negative religious pressure from a visiting seeker. It can be easy to view the preacher as using manipulative tactics to "push God," which will actually push new people away from God. At The Redemption Movement, we value spiritual experiences, and we want to make room for them at our church, but we desire authentic encounters with God, not forced religious motions. The Bible teaches that The Holy Spirit is the evangelist and the initiator of salvation, not us and our methods of persuasion.
By leaving the spiritual experiences to the Holy Spirit, people will have authentic connections with God that will produce spiritual fruit of better quality and make us a stronger church, and make it easier for people to connect with God.
Experimental Ministry
We want to keep it fresh. Routine leads to religion and boredom, which keep people from connecting to God. At the heart of experimental ministry is the idea that it's good to be challenged, because it produces growth; and by challenging people to rethink their routines and boundaries, God will be found to be bigger than previously thought.
Trying new ideas because people and culture are always changing, will improve how we connect with new people, and helps new people connect to God.
Technology
Technology is a wonderful tool. By taking advantage of it we can maximize our effectiveness in communicating our message and connect people to the life of the church. We are trying to connect to a generation raised on technology, so much so that it has become their second language.
We must learn to speak this second language and use technology to help people connect to God.
No Politics
We are not going to try to “take America back for Christ,” or give political commentary that will influence elections. In America today, political issues are divided with 50/50 support; therefore, if a church takes a side, then its effectiveness in reaching people is cut in half. A church full of people who have different political views will be a testimony of the unity of the church. Jesus' stance on politics was "Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's, and to God what is God's." This means prioritizing the Kingdom of God above all others. People are passionate about politics because they believe it can bring change, but we believe God meant the church to be the agent of change people need, and this change happens with the power of the Gospel transforming lives.
If we make separate the churches mission from the politics of the day, it will make it easier for people to connect with God.
Community Outreach
In many social circles, Christians are ridiculed and not taken seriously. The church has to prove itself before people will listen because actions speak louder than words.
Doing regular community outreaches means less time warming a pew, and more time ministering to people where they are at. From a theological standpoint, the idea of outreach is tied to redemption with God reaching out to lost and hurting people who are in need, with the love of His Son Jesus Christ.
If we outreach and serve those in our community, it will make it easier
for people to connect with the servant God, Jesus Christ.
Love
Everything the church does must be done in love. Love for each other and love for those who are different than us. "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2). Translation: if we do church out of any other motivation then loving people, then our church will be nothing.
The best thing you can do to help connect people to God, is show them love.
We call these our "10 Connection Intentions." We have discovered that these 10 connections gives our church a unique feel that helps us effectively live out Jesus' mission by making it easy for people in our post-modern culture to connect with God.
These 10 Connection Intentions are important to how The Redemption Movement "does church," but because they are designed with the changing needs of our changing culture in mind, they are subject to change in favor of better ways that will help people better connect with God. What doesn't change is the Gospel message, the mission of Jesus, and
the 7 values the Redemption Movement is founded upon.
