Engedi Church is holistic, connected, cross-cultural, compassionate and evangelistic.
We are a movement of people who together experience and extend the grace, healing and joy of the kingdom of God on earth.
We will be HOLISTIC, integrating every aspect of life into a fully committed apprenticeship to Christ Jesus.
Since the beginning, God has passionately desired for people to experience intimacy, lasting satisfaction, and wholeness, in their relationship with Him. Sin fractured that intimacy and results in all manners of pain as we pursue wholeness through avenues other than that for which we were created. At the most fundamental level, to participate in the kingdom of God is to experience restoration with Him. We are invited to join Jesus in the reconciliation which He accomplished through his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. We will give every aspect of life as an offering to God—our work, leisure, thinking, speaking, resources, and relationships—all of who we are.
We will be CONNECTED, experiencing deep connection with each other through our relationship with Christ.
From their creation, God lovingly intended for people to experience vulnerability, trust, and intimacy in their relationships with each other. Sin introduced shame, fear, and isolation. Jesus began His ministry by calling twelve disciples to follow Him and established a new community that would live life together, His way. To participate in the kingdom of God is to take part in relationships characterized by deep and holistic care, honesty, accountability for spiritual growth, and a desire to seek the kingdom of God together.
We will be CROSS-CULTURAL, extending the welcome embrace of Christ across boundaries of age, race, economic situation, and cultural background.
The Bible depicts heaven as a day when Christians from every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship together. Throughout His life, Jesus shattered the established cultural boundaries. Then through his death on the cross, He extended a radical invitation to all people. For us to live in the way of Christ is to accept and embrace people from every background as we journey together as an interdependent community.
We will be COMPASSIONATE, especially toward the poor and vulnerable.
Jesus frequently taught and expressed compassion for those who are often overlooked. He said that how we choose to treat the forgotten is how we choose to treat Him. Jesus knew that people who come to realize the depth of their own brokenness and the extent of God’s mercy become the kind of people who are broken-hearted for others. To experience the kingdom of God is to extend mercy to the forgotten from a heart that has been transformed by God’s mercy.
We will be EVANGELISTIC, seeking to love the lost in word and deed.
Jesus emphasized the expanding nature of the kingdom. He identified Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Having truly experienced the fullness of life in Him we will want to invite others into it. Jesus’ invitation combined words of truth with deeds of love and servanthood. He consistently met people where they were instead of asking them to come to Him. To follow Jesus is to be restored through Christ and invite others to the same.
