Grace Foothills - Tryon, NC

"The Bible's purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible's purpose is to show you how God's grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokeness otherwise you would never be able to overcome...religion is 'if you obey, then you will be accepted'. But the Gospel is, 'if you are absolutley accepted, and sure you're accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey'. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference." --Tim Keller

We are one church desiring to extend the Gospel of Grace through multiple congregations and/or sites. Currently, we meet at Grace Center (located in Mills River) and Grace Foothills (located in Tryon). Our desire is to see the non-believer come to life and to see the believer set free, both through grace.

Our Ministry is Gospel-Centered.

 Grace from A to Z. Grace is how we become Christians, but it is also how we grow in faith. Any progress we make as individuals or as a community is the result of grace. Practically speaking, this means:  We minister with great hope and confidence in the power of the gospel to heal anyone and any place. When we preach and teach we apply the gospel both to Christians and non-Christians. We try to always do this in ways that are culturally appropriate and intellectually credible.  We seek to motivate with grace, not guilt. Many have confused the Gospel with Religion. They are not the same. Read this comparison between the Gospel and Religion.

Emphasis on Community
The gospel creates a new community. This is not a one-option-among-many, but is of the essence of what God is doing through Christ in the world. Practically speaking, this means: We are intentional in nurturing community life and growth. Our church is more than a ‘preaching station’. All our ministries seek to foster a rich and edifying ‘body life’ for all the members.

Our Ministry is Missional
The church is the principal agent in extending the kingdom of God, and we are specifically seeking the healing reign of Christ to flourish throughout our culture. Practically speaking, this means:

 A. A Distinct Approach to Culture. We neither demonize (e.g. fortress mentality) nor deify (e.g. America as Christian nation) our culture; rather, we seek to bring the gospel to bear on our culture. This is extremely important to understand in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic and “post-everything.”

 B. Cultural Sensitivity to Outsiders. We understand that we are ministering in a “post-everything” society (i.e. not Christendom) and minister accordingly. This means doing ministry in the vernacular of our culture, avoiding jargon/sentimentality, manipulative bait & switch tactics, and 'us/them' language.

 C. Cultivation of a "Bringer" Mentality. Given points A and B above, all of our gatherings (worship, education, community groups, service ministries) assume that non-Christians are present, and we seek and act accordingly. We seek to create a climate that encourages regular attendees to bring their non-Christian friends. Any Sunday is a good Sunday to bring a friend (vs. waiting for special 'evangelistic' events).

 D. Evangelistic Ethos. Evangelism is not just one department of our church, but an ethos present throughout the church's life.

 E. Seeker Comprehensible. Everything that happens should be explained in terms that are comprehensible to non-Christians. Tougher doctrines and harder teachings are not shied away from; rather, we explain and present them. This is different than a 'seeker sensitive' approach that would shield non-Christians from some of the more difficult /problematic teachings or a 'seeker repugnant' approach that would fail to sensitively explain anything.

 F. Cultivation of Diversity. We welcome non-Christians and Christians into our church. We are also intentional about welcoming people of other races and cultures into our church. We are committed to actively taking steps, and measuring our progress in becoming as diverse as the community in which we minister.

 G. Diversified Approach to Spiritual Formation. We seek to provide an open door and a clear path for spiritual growth and nurture for all kinds of people. For many in a “post-everything” context, conversion will occur after long-term exposure to a new community and a new way of seeing the world and of living life. Some may need teaching, others may need healing relationships. All will require patience, and gentleness. As we provide these varied doors into the church, we also seek to provide varied pathways for spiritual growth, nurture, and service within the church because of the myriad kinds and conditions of people to whom we minister.

 H. Aesthetic Integrity. We are committed to knowing our demographic and the genres and styles that are authentic and meaningful to them. This especially affects our approach to communication and worship arts.

 I. Effective Preaching. Preaching is essential for the health and life of any church. There are 3 distinctives in our approach: Jesus at the Center of Every Sermon.

Every sermon must challenge non-Christians and Christians with the gospel of Jesus. This can be accomplished several ways:

 a) From the text itself (e.g. Luke 15)

 b) How Christ 'fulfills' the text (e.g. Psalm 15)

 c) Gospel 'logic' applied to the subject text, e.g. “the unique Christian approach to money, which is only possible in light of the gospel.”

 Sermons are delivered in a culturally appropriate style.

Sermons are delivered, for the most part, in a conversational style, not in the affected tones of more encultured forms of preaching, e.g. angry brow-beating or sentimental/syrupy emotional manipulation.

Sermons are to be intellectually credible.

Sermons must be preached into the cultural/intellectual /psychological context of the culture. Current objections and questions must be considered and dealt with. We want to answer the questions the culture is asking with the gospel.

Our Values:

The Bible describes Jesus as one who is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14,17) Our goal in following Jesus is to likewise be full of grace and truth. The two go together. To divorce them creates an inauthentic Christianity. Truth without grace is oppressive; grace without truth is permissive. Truth points us to God’s grace. Grace is his undeserved favor given through Jesus Christ in forgiving our sins, adopting us into His family and healing us. Uniting grace and truth means, among other things, that God’s Spirit is placing in our hearts a desire to be:

Biblical: We rely together on His written word to show us who He really is, how much He cherishes us and how to love each other.

Grateful: God’s extravagant and passionate love moves us to worship Him and share His goodness with each other and beyond the boundaries of our church.

Interdependent: We too often live in lonely independence. God has chosen to provide His love and care for us through each other, despite and often through our weakness.

Honest: God’s forgiveness and love invite us to continue to face the darkest truths about our self-centered lives.

Dependent: God draws us further into relationship with Himself, our only hope for true joy and change.

Hopeful: We don’t despair in what we see because we know that the battle for our souls has been won. We trust Christ, our Savior, to continue to change us and use us for His loving purposes.

Creative: God is beautiful. All of the beauty we create reflects His beauty and arises from the heart, mind and soul He has given us.

Other Resources to Get a "Feel" of What Grace Foothills Is Like:

Tim Keller Article, "The Missional Church"

Tim Keller Article, "The Centraility of the Gospel"

Our Denomination, the PCA

Grace-based Racial Reconcilation

Westminster Confession of Faith

World Harvest Mission

The Sonship Course

Westminster Bookstore