Who we are

When we do this well, the following vision points describe the church we become to display Jesus to the world around us:

Failure isn't fatal.

We are imperfect; we all have a past. We have all been hurt and will experience failure as we navigate numerous trials in life. However, failure is not fatal; Jesus meets us in these moments, drawing us close and teaching us to trust and depend on Him. He is our Redeemer, present in our suffering to heal our hearts, deepen our faith, strengthen our character, and teach us how to live in His presence. As we learn to be with Jesus, He transforms us from the inside out, and we become more like Him: a church that sees redemptive potential in every moment.

We see value in every face.

‍We are all created in the image of God, and our diversity reflects the beauty and complexity of His person. The church should accurately reflect this diversity generationally, racially, economically, and socially. Definition is made up of people from many different church and non-church backgrounds who have gathered together around the person of Christ, are building our lives on His teachings, and are being transformed by His presence.  

We believe life's greatest experience is to be fully known and fully loved.

Every person has a deep, undeniable, and permanent longing to be fully known and loved. Sin shames us into hiding, but the love of Jesus draws us out. When we experience this unconditional love from Jesus and each other, it heals our hearts and opens our souls to God’s redeeming work. It is his love that inspires us to become the best version of ourselves and reflect the glory of God in our world. Therefore, we refuse to fake anything or hide behind a religious performance. We are courageously honest and transparent, knowing that love requires vulnerability. We also understand that change takes time—often, lots of time. Becoming like Christ is a life-long, relational, transformational journey we must take together.

Jesus is always the answer.

‍We believe the Christian life is a life-long transformational process. As we learn to live in God’s presence and trust in His grace, we are transformed from the inside out. Therefore, in a world full of distractions, we are careful to keep our focus on Jesus. We refuse to settle for religion when Jesus offers us a life-changing relationship. We refuse to be divided by politics because we believe the only way to transform culture is for Jesus to transform hearts. We refuse to be judgmental because no person or situation is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Instead, we choose to take up our cross daily and follow the example of Jesus—no matter the risk. Jesus left the safety of heaven and came to earth to seek and save the lost.  

Often it is a tension to manage, not a problem to solve.
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We believe a healthy life is a balanced life. We believe we find Jesus in this middle space between truth and grace, belief and practice, insiders and outsiders, spiritual and practical, faith and works, rest and sacrifice. Therefore, we carefully hold these seemingly opposing ideas, and many others, in a delicate tension. This is how Jesus lived, and by holding these ideas simultaneously, we develop a broad perspective, we accelerate our growth, and we develop deep empathy for one another.

The church exists to build people, not use them.

We believe the church exists to encourage, equip, and empower everyone to experience abundant life. Jesus spent three short years of ministry empowering twelve men to change the world. He gave his best to those willing to follow Him, and we believe we should do the same by creating a clear and simple path for all ages to follow. We go first in modeling what it looks like to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to do what Jesus did. Modeling and teaching this in a clear and empowering way to all ages makes it possible to develop strong families and great leaders.