Now, We Are A Church

Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, marked a historic moment for New City Church—our first formal worship gathering.  If God gives us His favor, we will often look back in the years to come to celebrate the birthday of a healthy, growing, maturing church. For almost a year, a small core group of people with big vision have faithfully gathered, generously given, thoughtfully planned, and hopefully prayed in preparation for this day.  

Our purpose is not to build a platform or promote an agenda. We will resist the temptation to become a community of consumer-oriented churchgoers who download our spiritual groceries for the week. 

We live with a sobering sense that we have been sent to a hungry world that is waiting for real Christians to display the real Jesus in a way that is impossible to ignore.

We will not be content to merely teach gospel doctrine until it creates a gospel culture that fuels love for God, love for our neighbors, and sustains us in the face of trials or opposition. 

We will not measure our success by attendance, money, or by meeting felt needs. We believe the world has seen enough of the church’s attempts to entertain, impress, or convince people that Jesus is still relevant or cool.

Our measure of success will be faithfulness to God, resulting in His continual transformation of our self-focused lives into Christ-centered lives, by the power of His Spirit, in response to the authority of His word. We simply want to be a church God can entrust with his glory. 

When the world sees God’s glory in the church, some will be drawn to it, others will be repelled, but we are convinced that God’s glory is the one thing our church cannot live without.

In 1 Peter 2, the apostle reminds us who we truly are. We are not spectators or consumers of religious goods. We are living stones being built together into a spiritual house, with Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. A single rock has little value on its own—but when joined with others, it becomes part of a dwelling place for God. Our church is not a building we attend; it is a people God inhabits. 

Peter also tells us that we are a chosen family. We are not merely God’s creation—we are His choice. Adopted by grace, we belong to a household with spiritual fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. In Christ, no one is an only child.

We are a royal priesthood, sons and daughters of the King, welcomed into God’s presence by the finished work of Jesus. The door that was once closed is now wide open. We have access—and we now help others find that same access.

We are a holy nation, citizens of a kingdom that transcends every earthly border. We live in this world, but we do not belong to it. We are exiles—strangers—a new city sent into an old city to display the glory of God through lives marked by holiness, love, and good works.

And we are a people treasured beyond our worth. Purchased at great cost, protected by God’s power, and given a purpose: to proclaim the excellencies of the One who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

New City Church, this is who we are. Let’s live like it.