Purpose

TO MAKE GOSPEL-CENTERED DISCIPLES, IN COMMUNITY, ON MISSION, TO THE GLORY OF GOD

Our Vision

Life is hard.  No matter what stage of life you are in, we are surrounded by pressure.  The pressure to succeed in our careers, excel in school, raise a family, maintain a healthy marriage, or navigate the dating scene as a single person, to name a few.  On top of that, we live in a fractured and uncertain world.  The political climate is tumultuous and divisive, and the world is changing quickly.

It often feels like we are ships in a stormy sea, tossed about by the waves of life.  What will anchor us amidst the storm?

Most people see Christianity as a system of moral principles or merely a ticket to heaven.  But the Bible describes it as much more.  In Hebrews 6:19, Jesus is described as the “sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.”  When we come to meet Jesus truly, we are not only forgiven, but we are given a new identity that frees us from our insecurities, that can root us deeply in the storms of life — an anchor for the soul.

Our dream is to not to merely gather a crowd of people on a Sunday morning.  Our dream is to plant a church where college students, young adults, and young families who are unconnected to any church can come to discover this sure and steadfast anchor for their souls.

Our Story

In 2011, Pastor Ben was hired to be the English Pastor of First Evangelical Church of Diamond Bar (FECDB), which is a typical Chinese immigrant church.  FECDB had three congregations which spoke three different languages: Cantonese, Mandarin and English.  Like most Chinese churches, the English congregation started as the young children of the Chinese immigrants, and over the years these children became college students and young adults.  Since 2011, God has been faithful in growing our congregation to become a healthy and stable group of college students and young adults, mostly in their 20s.

In the summer of 2016, as Pastor Ben and the leadership of our congregation reflected upon the last five years, we were grateful for the many ways God had grown our congregation.  However, we dreamed of how we could better reach out to our surrounding community, especially those who were totally unconnected to any church.  We strongly felt that the best way to truly reach those outside the church was to plant an independent English-speaking church.  However, we still desired to mentor and minister to the English-speaking youth and children with Chinese-speaking parents.  We dreamed of an independent English church plant that could continue to partner with the Chinese church, but also have the flexibility to reach out to our generation and culture.  Amazingly, both the Senior Pastor and our church’s board of directors unanimously and enthusiastically supported our vision and pledged to support us.  In another sign of God’s blessing, Walnut Elementary School across the street had a multipurpose room that was available for rent on Sunday mornings.  We launched on September 10, 2017, and since then we have outgrown Walnut Elementary School and we now meet at Vejar Elementary School.

Partners

We also partner with our sending church First Evangelical Church of Diamond Bar (FECDB) and are part of the First Evangelical Church Association (FECA) network. You can find out more information about the two groups below.

our core values

1. Gospel-Centered
   The Gospel — the good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — is not just for the beginning of the Christian life, but is something we must return to and center ourselves on every day, and in everything we do as a church.

2. Biblically Rooted

   We all have a theology – beliefs about God and spirituality – but are these beliefs true? We believe the Bible is God’s trustworthy word about Himself and thus we will strive to study it deeply, to let it guide and challenge us, so that we will love God more deeply with our minds, in order that we might know and love God with our whole beings.

3. Formed In Community
   The way the gospel shapes and grows us is in community. Church is not merely a building, or event, but it is a new kind of family — imperfect people changed by the Gospel, supporting one another and inviting others to join in.

4. Cultural Engagement
   We are called to be on God’s mission to bring the Gospel to those around us. We will strive to see ourselves as missionaries by loving our neighbors and carefully listening to our culture’s questions in order to communicate the hope of the Gospel effectively and faithfully.

5. Justice and Mercy
   The Gospel says that we are all spiritually poor but that God in his mercy forgave and redeemed us though we did not deserve it; thus this must give us a radically new heart towards those who are materially poor. We will strive to make a long-term commitment to justice and mercy and to be generous with our resources.           

what we believe

1. We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and completely inerrant in their original writings. They are the ultimate and final authority in faith and Christian living.

2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the Almighty God who created and sustains the whole universe.

3. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was begotten of the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. He is true God and true man. He was crucified, died and buried for the atonement of sin. He rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended bodily into heaven as our Priest and Advocate. He will return bodily to earth.

4. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the triune Godhead. He is the Comforter who guides and inspires us to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He leads and enlightens us in understanding God’s Word and He also guides and inspires our daily walk with God.

5. We believe that human kind was created in the image of God. Human kind sinned and fell, thereby incurring not only physical death but also that spiritual death which is separation from God. All human kind is born with a sinful nature.

6. We believe that all who repent of their sins and receive by faith Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are born of the Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of God.

7. We believe that the local church is the gathering of the redeemed believers on the earth in a certain locality and is a part of the universal church of God. We believe in the principle of separation of Church and State, guaranteeing an individual’s freedom to choose one’s own faith.

8. We believe that every redeemed believer is commissioned to witness and make disciples both locally and worldwide.

9. We believe that every redeemed believer is to be light and salt of the earth, including leading a life that demonstrates, upholds and aids the welfare and justice of society.

10. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the believer and of the non-believer, and in the everlasting blessedness of the believer and the everlasting conscious punishment of the non-believer.

For a more detailed statement of our beliefs, click here:

our staff

Elders