The Network Difference
Network does not want to reproduce church members, but disciples of Jesus Christ. Our desire is to equip and enable people to connect their faith to their marriages, parenting, workplace, etc., in short, in their everyday life that they may discover the fulfillment that comes through living life God’s way. Consequently, we approach membership differently than other churches. Rather than membership being my name on a piece of paper, we view membership as a covenant with God. Membership does not give voting rights but reflects a commitment to seek after and honor God through prayer, study, worship, giving, teaching, loving, and serving as one connects their faith2life. One need not be a member to participate and serve in the life of the church, but to be a member requires signing a covenant to strive to live a basic life of discipleship.
Worship Services
Worship at Network is casual and contemporary. The service is simple and incorporates the use of media through PowerPoint and, at times, video clips. The atmosphere is friendly and the teaching biblical. We share communion each week and are challenged to connect Faith2Life as part of our “worship” by encouraging people to consider what their “next steps” might be, and to offer their next steps up as part of their offering in response to how God may be leading them.
Included in the bulletin are fill-in-the-blanks to help facilitate learning from the sermon as well as a home life help, which is a devotional that can be done at home and ties in with the theme from Sunday’s sermon. We do not offer children’s church as we believe the family should worship together; however, we do provide activities for younger kids that can be done while sitting with their parents during the sermon time. We also encourage our youth to sign up to serve as Network is as much their church as it is their parent’s.
Faith2Life groups:
We believe that life change happens in small groups. Therefore we encourage everyone to plug into a small group to better learn how to connect their faith2life in everyday living. Groups vary from Bible studies to topical studies, including groups on financial peace, marriage, and parenting. We call these Faith2Life groups as the goal is to translate the word of God into everyday living.
Membership
Membership at Network is not traditional. While in many churches one needs simply to make a confession of faith with a baptism and they are a lifelong member, whether or not they participate, this is not the case at Network. We expect that membership means something more than a name on a piece of paper. People are able to attend, participate and serve without being a member. However, membership is a covenant with God to live according to basic discipleship. When people choose to become a member they covenant to pray, study, worship, give, teach, serve, and love as they seek to know and follow Christ. Membership is then renewed on an annual basis as people determine whether or not they desire to make this commitment to God to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in connecting their faith2life.
Below are a sampling of sermons that reflect the habits of disciples following Jesus.
Discussion