St John Evangel Tabernacle​​
About us
WE ARE
...real people infused with dynamic faith, committed to a common vision, joined together in covenant love. We are Matures, Boomers, Busters, and Tweenies. We believe in multicultural and multigenerational ministry. We love the camaraderie we find in this family called City of Grace.
WE WERE
...the broken, grateful for undeserved redemption, astonished by amazing Grace, healed by forgiveness, humbled by the divine invitation to be included in the greatest cause on earth.
WE HAVE
...big dreams. Our hands are in the dirt, putting broken things back together, like families, communities, cities, and nations.
WE SERVE
...a good God. The nations are His dwelling and our lives are His vessels. We minister to the abased and the exalted. We have compassion for the poor. Our hearts are open to the rich. We believe God wants to prosper those who believe and are generous for His purpose.
WE LEARN
...to maintain our souls in the rhythm of abounding and abasing, direction and uncertainty, words and silence. We are comfortable with oxymorons. We have made peace with paradox. We celebrate humanity. We worship Deity. The God we adore is deeper than our thoughts and greater than our vanity.
WE DON'T
...check our brains at the door, but we have rejected cynicism and skepticism. We aren't too deep, so as to keep you from finding the bottom, nor are we intellectual snobs. We talk about things that matter to people: their doubts, fears, longings, families, relationships, goals, careers, failures, and successes.
WE COMMIT
...to fleshing out the Gospel as long as it may take us. We believe in miracles but we are comfortable with process. We are committed to integrity and transparency. We are irreverent, adventurous, conservative and serious.
WE BUILD
...our foundations on the timeless traditions of our spiritual forefathers. And we have rejected those fleeting fads which leave little impact upon a generation. We are committed to being these three: biblically literate, culturally relevant, and spiritually sensitive.
WE ACKNOWLEGE
...that Church is God's idea. We believe changed lives joined together can make an eternal difference in our communities. We are passionate about church planting, church life and church growth. We revel in big crowds and are committed to small groups. We find the Kingdom in both.
WE GATHER
...as the church consistently. We know that the true church are the redeemed followers of Christ. We love to worship and pray and believe and receive, give and go.
WE BELIEVE
...in a bright, colorful, positive, church culture. We abide by faith, hope and love. We are building a church that the un-churched are attracted to, filled with light, life, supernatural happenings, vision, purpose, loving people, great music and life-changing teaching.
Our Mission
We exist as a church to ignite a passion to follow Jesus.'
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Our Strategy:​
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Exalting Christ
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Experiencing Community
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Embracing a Calling
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Core Values:
Pre-eminence of Jesus
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While many things vie for priority in life, we are committed to centering our lives on Jesus-our Savior, our Lord, the Way to the Father, our example and enabler, our high priest and the One who is worthy of our worship and total allegiance. The main thing is to keep the main One (Jesus) the main thing.
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Authority of the Word
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The Bible is the foundation of who we are, what we believe and everything we do. We are committed to preaching, teaching, counseling, sharing and living by the sufficiency of the whole counsel of God, because it contains everything we need for life and godliness. Real life change is found in the Spirit-empowered Word not our ideas, thoughts, or opinions. God's Word is written in ink while our plans and theologies are in pencil.
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Redemptive Community
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We are broken people loved by the Father, redeemed by Jesus, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We strive to minister God's love by repairing the broken and bringing into restoration those lost to sin, by the power of the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus. Our focus is Jesus; our authority is the Word; our dependence is prayer; and our aim is Christ-likeness as we live together as the community of God's redeemed.
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Biblical Unity in Diversity
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Within the framework of sound doctrine, we value an atmosphere of theological freedom with humility and a non-divisive spirit. We want to reflect the unified beauty of Father, Son, and Spirit, participating in the building of the multi-faceted Kingdom of our triune God. In our theological systems, our ministry forms, and our personal relationships, we are committed to biblical unity in diversity.
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Extravagant Grace
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We desire to be a community of believers, who treat others with the same extravagant grace that God has lavished upon us. We yearn to demonstrate this grace through our church culture and our lives in a way that is transparent, real, and helpful. We are blessed to be a blessing to each other, the city of Indianapolis, and the world.
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The Call to Go!
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All of us are called to be Spirit-empowered catalysts for life change in our areas of personal influence. We approach ministry with a passionate resolve to equip the saints to engage our culture, addressing the most pressing problems and reaching the neediest people in our city and the world. While the body of Christ is made up of a variety of gifts, the calling is the same: GO!
Our Beliefs
Our beliefs can be summarized as follows:​
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The Bible: We believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original manuscripts and the sufficient and final authority for all matters of faith, practice, and life. (II Timothy 3:16)
God: We believe God is triune, being three in person and one in essence. The Father, Son, and Spirit are equally God but are three in person. This God is the center of our worship. (Matthew 28:19-20)
The Father: We believe in the sovereign rule of the Father who assumes headship of all that He created and continues to care and sustain in providence all that exists. (Isaiah 40)
Jesus: We believe that the eternal Son took on human flesh, being born of a virgin, and that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, the only mediator between God and man. (Matthew 1:23-25, I Timothy 2:5, Philippians 2:5-7)
The Holy Spirit: The third person of the Godhead who is given to every believer to empower for service.
Sin: We believe that all have sinned and are under the condemnation of death. (Romans 3:23 and 6:23)
Atonement: We believe that Jesus, according to the will of God the Father, offered Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice and that all who believe in Him have eternal life. On the cross, Jesus defeated evil, sin and death. He shed His blood so that those who repent and believe will have life in Him as their Lord and Savior. (John 3:1, Romans 10:9-10)
Salvation: We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, and that true faith in the gospel will be made evident by a life of godliness, which is only possible by walking with the Holy Spirit, and by participation with the community of the saints. (Acts 2:42, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:12, Hebrews 10:25)
Resurrection: We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus as the first fruits of our resurrection and His ascension into heaven to the right hand of the Father. We look forward in hope to His second coming in glory. (I Corinthians 15:3-8, II Peter 3)
Ordinances: We believe that baptism is a faithful response to God’s grace, signifying one’s identification with Christ and His church and the church’s privilege is to commune with the triune God and His people in celebrating the Lord’s Supper. (Acts 2:3)
The Church: We believe that the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, sharing in God’s redemptive mission through proclamation of the gospel by word and deed, resulting in transformed lives committed to God’s glory. The church is the community where the people of God share their lives in fellowship with God and each other. (I Timothy 3:15, Matthew 28:19-20)
Eternity: We believe in a coming Great Day where all people -- the living and the dead -- will stand before God in order to hear His verdict concerning their eternal destiny, either heaven or hell. (Revelation 20:11-15, I Corinthians 3:12-15)