Which people matter to God? We all do.  Rich people. Poor people. Young people. Old people. Addicted people. Promiscuous people. Divorced people. Gay people. Straight people. Greedy people. Angry people. Dishonest people. Immoral people. Judgmental people. Forgiving people. Unforgiving people.  People of all races, genders, and nationalities.  We ALL matter to God.

God does not want anyone to be lost, but He wants all people to change their hearts and lives. 2 Peter 3:9 (NCV)

At Life Church, we believe that people matter.  YOU matter. Whatever your background. Whatever your struggles. Whatever your personality, gender, appearance, occupation, race, language, strengths or weaknesses. You matter -- to God - and to us.

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)

Often, we don't know our foundation is being eroded away. We can't see it. We forget that there is a foundation that doesn't shift.  Our culture – and our own lower nature – tells us our foundation needs to be “Do what's best for me.  Do what makes me happy.” Every fractured family, every failed relationship, every addiction traces back to that shifting foundation.  We believe that the Bible is the perfect and timeless foundation for every life because it doesn't change and it can be counted on to give real life.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Romans 12:4-6 (NIV)

At Life Church, we believe that everyone is gifted.  Nobody gets left out. We need to accept, embrace, and invest the uniqueness with which we've been designed. People matter - and because people matter - God gifted me - and God gifted them - so that we could make a difference to each other.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)

You exist for a mission. To infiltrate your circle for a good purpose. To help people in Jesus.  To love people.  To lead people.  To infiltrate to offer the abundant life that Jesus came to bring to all.  At Life Church, we’re all about helping you be reconciled to God and to everyone made in His image.

God loves each of us as we are - but doesn't want us to stay the way we are.  That means two things:  we need to be making progress – changing, growing.  And we need to be patient with others as they change and grow.

I do not mean that I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine. Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason He made me His. Philippians 3:12 (NCV)

God loves us the way we are - but He has no intention for us to stay the way we are. He wants each of us to change to become more and more like Jesus. And He wants us to be patient with others as they change and grow.  Patient progress is at the heart of Life Church.