Our Beliefs
At riv, we invite everyone to know and enjoy Jesus as we stumble together in our pursuit to love like Him.
We are refocusing our mission and values as a church and inviting you to stumble along with us in this together.
We all have our own life experiences; some within the church, some new to the church, and some hurt by the church. We each have our own family makeup; whether chosen, born into, painful, or life-giving. We all have our own hopes lifting us up and baggage pulling us down, and together, with all of that uniqueness, we are the riv fam. But what are our defining characteristics as a church family?
We are not a perfect group of people, but we hope to point to Jesus, who is perfect. As we look to Him, we have the opportunity to live in our community with the same love that He gives to us. So let’s take a look inward and ask some big questions
- How have we failed to love like Jesus?
- How might we grow together as we seek to know Jesus more?
- As we stumble through life, how can we care for this church family around us?
With a desire to love like Jesus and live out gospel-motivated lives, we are refocusing our mission and values as a church and inviting you to stumble along with us together. As we look to the next generation, we have a loving, selfless, always present, and ever caring example in Jesus; let’s be that in our community.
Gospel Focused and Motivated
The Gospel declares that Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the eternal consequences, guilt, and power of sin. Our new identity in Jesus renews the way we think, act, and interact with others. Because sin has infected all of society, we seek to shine the light of the Gospel in every dark place as we look forward to the restoration of all things. We call people to place their faith in Jesus alone for salvation and to faithfully live out the Gospel, working toward redemption and renewal in every place.
Isaiah 1:17; Matthew 5:14-16; Acts 3:21, Acts 4:12, Acts 17:26-31; Romans 3:21-26, Romans 5:21, Romans 12:1-2, Romans 12:9-21, 1 Corinthians 3:9, 1 Corinthians 15:56; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 1:27 -2:2; 1 John 2:2
Biblically Holistic and Humble
The Bible is inspired by God and is the highest authority over all other forms of revelation. We approach it with humility toward God, the human authors, and other Christians with whom we may disagree. We patiently, gently, and humbly present the message of the Bible to a culture that may find its message irrelevant or offensive. As the living and breathing Word of God, we apply the whole Bible to our whole selves and seek to live biblically faithful lives.
Psalm 119; Proverbs 30:5; Matthew 4:4; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 2:24-25, 3:16; 1 Peter 3:16-22; 2 Peter 1:20-25; Hebrews 4:12
In and In the Community
We are not meant to be alone and we need other people to fully live out our calling. We use our individual gifts to bless both our church and surrounding communities. We acknowledge that often the best way to care for individuals is to care for their community. We do not retreat from culture but fully engage in society as citizens and ambassadors of a heavenly Kingdom.
Leviticus 19:18; Psalms 133:1-3; Proverbs 14:21; Proverbs 27:17; Isaiah 1:17; Mark 12:30-31; Acts 17:17-29; Romans 12:4-5, 15:5-7; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14; 1 John 2:15-17;
Multi- and Next-Generational
The local church is made up of people from multiple generations. For the Gospel proclamation to continue beyond ourselves, we unapologetically invite older generations to lay down their cultural preferences and pour into the next generations. The church is the strongest at the intersection of the wisdom and experience of olders and the passion and innovation of youngers.
United in and Honoring Diversity
Created in the image of God, we recognize the dignity of all people. We are a diverse community, united around the Gospel of Jesus. We do not desire conformity or uniformity, but the full expression of our individual and cultural life experiences woven together by our common salvation. We choose to live with a broader cultural perspective than our own.
Genesis 1:26-27; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:1-6; James 3:9; Revelation 7:9
Relational and Missional Discipleship
Discipleship is the lifelong journey of being changed by, following, and becoming more like Jesus. This messy and grace-driven process happens best through the mutual sharing of our lives, with the Great Commandment at its heart and the Great Commission as its trajectory.
Matthew 22:36-40, 28:18-20; John 15:16-17; Acts 2:43-47; Colossians 1:28-29; 2 Timothy 2:1-2
Our Core Beliefs
These basic doctrines within our Statement of Faith represent what we believe to be the core elements of our faith.
We believe in one God who exists eternally in three distinct persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each of whom possesses all the attributes of deity and characteristics of personality with distinct roles and relationships.
We believe God created heaven and earth, man and woman in sinless perfection with dignity of life, in His image. We believe the worship of God is the ultimate purpose for which people are created and abiding joy is only found in God through this life.
We believe the Bible is inspired by God and the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. It is composed of the 66 books of the Old and New Testament, and was written without error in the original manuscripts. It is the highest authority over all other forms of revelation.
We believe the Gospel, which declares that Jesus lovingly gave Himself to rescue us from sin, Satan, and death. There is no other name by which anyone can be saved. All who believe in Jesus are saved by grace through faith. We believe this good news should be passionately proclaimed to all people.
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ is made up of all believers worldwide and should meet together in local churches for worship, prayer, teaching, and mission.