We Believe...

Faithful to the Scriptures: The Bible is God's inerrant Word and is relevant for every aspect of our lives. When we gather together for worship, we read God's Word, hear the Word Preached, sing the Word, and pray the Word. Our desire is to be a people who always hear the Word (read/study/discuss it), hold the word (cherish/treasure it), and herald the Word (preach/teach/proclaim it to ourselves and to others)!

True to the Reformed Faith: We affirm the "five solas" of the Reformation, namely that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, on the basis of the Word of God alone, all to the glory of God alone!

Obedient to the Great Commission: Christ made the mission of His church clear in Matthew 28:18-20, and we recognize that the mission that Jesus gave His disciples back then is our same mission today: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures

We believe the Bible is God's Word, completely trustworthy and without error. It is the ultimate authority for all that we believe and practice in life.

The Trinity

The Bible teaches that one real and personal God exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Human Beings

The Bible teaches that human beings are created gloriously in the image of their creator, to glorify and enjoy God as we live out his purposes for us in this world. Nevertheless, the human race, on account of our first parents, has become estranged from its creator through the overwhelming power of sin. Left to ourselves, we are unable to fulfill the magnificent purpose for which we were created, but would instead perish forever.

Jesus Christ

Out of God’s sheer love and grace, God the Son took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ in order to deliver humanity from its lost condition. In so doing, Jesus lived a sinless life, obeyed God's law completely, suffered and died on the cross of Calvary, and then was physically raised on the third day. He did all this to accomplish the salvation of his people.

Faith & Repentance

Each person can receive this salvation by renouncing their former manner of life and believing in Jesus Christ alone. This is not something we earn (by good works), but is itself a gift of God’s grace. An obedient life (good works) is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit and is evidence of the salvation we have freely received by grace.

The Church

The church is the people of God from all ages, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, the head of the church, also called "the body of Christ." Christians join together in local communities or churches to worship their Lord, to grow together in his likeness, and to enjoy serving him together.

Know God, Love People, Renew Our Place... Spiritually, Socially, and Culturally.

Everything we do as a community has woven into it the core values of:

The Gospel.

Story: The Bible is, first and foremost, the true drama of the Triune God's redemption of His people and His creation taking place in history, accomplished in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and applied in the ongoing work of the Spirit.

Identity: Our own stories are woven into and through this grand narrative of redemption by grace, we are transformed from enemies of God to adopted and beloved children because of His grace.

Economy: This grace changes everything, nothing in the life of the Christian is untouched by grace, there is no division of sacred and secular, all of life becomes a theater for God's redemptive purposes to be celebrated and applied.

Calling.

Worship: People are made to worship. The literary critic, David Foster Wallace, once observed that we all worship something, we are made for worship. In Christianity worship is the singing of songs, but also includes the focus of one's whole life.

Proclaim: As worshipping creatures, we're made to reflect the glory of our Maker-- this is what it means to be made in the image of God. So as we live life, we share, through our deeds and our words, who this God is and His personal rescue of us through His grace alone.

Multiply: At the outset of the Bible, humanity is directed to go forth, multiply, and create culture to expand God's glory. The church continues this calling as we bring the redemption of Jesus into every life sphere through our vocations, and the continual planting of new communities of faith.

Place.

Land: Physical place matters. Contrary to both a naturalistic worldview and some religious perspectives, the destiny of the earth is not a fiery destruction, but a glorious restoration in the life of the world to come. Thus, we seek to honor, enjoy, belong to, and care for our local environment.

People: Bloomington's diverse groups of people all have much to offer, yet we love others not because of the strengths they offer but because all people bear God's image-- this is why human brokenness doesn't scare us, nor glory surprise us, instead they compel us to compassion.

Culture: Culture is "what we make of the world," it’s what people do— we make stuff. Bloomington has its own unique cultures, and we want to honor those aspects that show true truth, beauty, and goodness because all these things point to the one personal creator God who is the ultimate culture-maker.

Community.

Hospitality: We love opening our homes, cooking great meals, treating people to dinner and drinks, we love throwing parties. We want to have welcoming dispositions wherever we go, because this is the very attitude God has toward us.

Friendship: We see our own need for deep relationships of vulnerability, commitment, and safety, and we know that others long for this as well. Simple friendship is a lost art, and we hope to regain this most basic of human institutions.

Discipleship: We long to encourage one another, weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice, and help one another cooperate with the Holy Spirit's ongoing work of grace in each others' lives.

Serving.

We're a community that's here for the benefit of this place, not vice versa. In Genesis 12, God calls and blesses Abraham so that Abraham and his spiritual descendants can be a blessing to all people. The gospel of grace motivates us to serve others out of delight for God, not out of religious duty or a feeble reciprocal altruism. We love-- God and others-- because God first loved us.

Renewal.

Spiritual: Life-renewal first comes from God and impacts the life of a person, confronting our idols, addictions, doubts, and fears with the atoning actions of Jesus in history, and the cleansing work of God's Spirit in the present.

Social: All people are interconnected, thus our brokenness and our redemption through grace inevitably will impact the webs of relationships we're a part of. We pray and strive toward God's goal of healing our broken family systems, neglected relationships, patterns of abuse, and systemic social issues such as racial injustice, gender and generational alienation, and socio-economic divisions.

Cultural: There are remnants of beauty in all that we make, yet these glimpses stand amidst great ruins of a humanity that's turned away from our Maker. Things that were meant to be good, have become ultimate and have now become determiners of our identity and sense that our lives mean something. Yet, all of creation belongs to Christ, and he is reordering all things to serve him in their proper place. By relating to all aspects of culture in this right relationship, Christians can cooperate with God's redemptive purposes. And, these former objects of misplaced worship can find their proper place as objects for our enjoyment and for service devoted to God alone.

As a member of the Presbyterian Church in America, we trace our theological and ecclesiastical roots to the Reformed tradition of Protestantism. The Westminster Standards are a wonderful expression of the Bible’s core teachings and have served as the doctrinal standard for many Christians since the seventeenth century.

While we value our theological tradition, to enjoy and serve in Jesus' community here, we don't expect you to sign off on every detail of our Confession. Rather, we expect all of our members to affirm a handful of basic Christian doctrines, and maintain the posture of repentance and faith in Christ as we serve and follow Him.

We’re hospitable to all regardless of your religious or personal story. King's Cross is here for the the devout & the cynic, the faith-filled & the doubter, the conservative & liberal, the bored & the burned. 

We invite you, wherever you are in the process, to King's Cross.