Our MISSION
To be a beacon of truth in a sea of confusion
We believe there is great hope for our world. This hope is found in the timeless, uncompromising truths of God's Word, which is why we say "At Northstar, Hope Lives Here."
WHAT MATTERS Most
Speaking the Truth to This Generation
To disciple the people of God to go and reach the world.
What does this world need most right now? Mature believers who know how to speak the truth and who lovingly do so
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Not only do today's Christians seem to, in large part, lack understanding of essential Christian doctrine, they seem very afraid to speak the truth. As a result, we find ourselves in a world where truth has become completely subjective. This philosophy has even taken root in many corners of Christianity. We can and must do better by getting back to the fearless speaking of God's truth.
Our mission is to teach believers to love the world enough to compassionately, but truthfully speak God's Word. We don't have to be mean-spirited and harsh to this, but we can't shrink back due to fear either. Wokeness is a demonic ploy designed to silence the church from saying what needs to be said. Our goal is to empower the people of God through Biblical discipleship, to get back to speaking the truth because it is our deep conviction that telling the truth is the most loving thing one could ever do.
Hope Lives Here
At Northstar, we believe we are to be a church that is geared to reaching those who are far from God while at the same time ensuring the growth of believers at every level of the Christian walk. We are especially concerned with those far from God because we believe Jesus is concerned with them. This current generation is the least churched generation of all time. They have very little experience with the things of God and the church must make it a priority to reach into today’s culture to fulfill the Great Commission. Our primary message to them is that HOPE LIVES HERE. Yes, there is great hope for the world because we believe God is not finished with us yet.
A Pentecostal Church
We are a Pentecostal church, which simply means that we believe in and practice the gifts of the Spirit. We believe God still heals, people still prophesy, speak in tongues, and worship should be an all encompassing experience full of joy, authenticity, and expression. However, in our modern cultural context, we also believe in doing things in such a way as not to confuse or scare people.
We believe we can be fully Pentecostal while being orderly and relatable during our services. Just like the Apostle Paul set up simple guidelines for church services so that people wouldn’t be confused, we also maintain an element of orderliness in our services so as to avoid an ‘anything goes’ mentality which only leads to chaos and confusion. At the same time we encourage people to fully experience the move to the Holy Spirit in worship and the gifts in both the services and their personal lives.
Families Are Important
As part of our focus to reach those far from God we focus on reaching families. The family is the foundation of societal morality. If the family crumbles, so does society. We believe God has called us to help build healthy families starting with strong marriages and healthy kids. Because we are called to reach families, much of our ministry is geared toward family ministries. This is not to say we aren’t passionate about ministering to single people. We value and wish to reach ALL people with the great gospel of Jesus Christ.
Military Families
Another people group that needs special attention in our region is Military Families. Military families have very unique struggles and need the support of a loving church. This is especially true for military spouses whose partners are deployed. We want to support military spouses and their children by making an effort to understand their unique challenges and providing solutions built upon being a true church community.
Worship and the Word
Worship
We plan our worship experiences to be understandable to those who have little or no frame of reference for what a church service should be. Everything we do on Sundays is geared to make sense and be digestible to someone who is unfamiliar with church culture. But this never means compromising or watering down the truth. For these reasons we use modern music and avoid antiquated tradition and language because every generation has it’s own spiritual glory to experience so we celebrate and embrace what God is doing in this generation. We also believe worship should be life giving and full of devotion-driven passion. We worship God unashamedly for who He is and we want everything that happens in a church service to bring honor and glory to the name of our great King.
The Word
While we value being understood by those who are new to the faith... we also value the timeless, perfecting, and inerrant Word of God. So while we endeavor to speak the language of this generation, we must never compromise truth. We believe the truth is what sets all people free. So truth must always be spoken and it must be done in love and in the spirit of evangelism. We will never compromise the Word of God in our efforts to make sense to this current culture. We believe we can do both because we believe the Word of God is the hope for this generation.
Prayer
Prayer is one of our highest values. Without God we can do nothing. Prayer is a vital part of being the follower of Christ you are designed to be. We emphasize prayer in our services and encourage people to build healthy prayer lives. We also have a prayer ministry that meets every Sunday morning at 9:30 in the church prayer room .
Becoming a Disciple of Jesus
“Come as you are, but don’t stay that way.” This the heart of Jesus for His people…come as you are, but grow. We believe growth happens best in the context of caring and deep relationships with other followers of Christ. Being on the journey together is how we strengthen, encourage, and love one another for the glory of God. We believe every believer should go from simple belief to being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. The phrase "come as you are" isn't used at Northstar to imply we should just live in sinfulness without challenge to change. It's not used as a woke mantra aimed at accepting any lifestyle in the name of being relevant. The Bible is clear that while Jesus initially accepts us as we are, we are commanded to grow and flee from sin.
Some of our discipleship initiatives are:
All-In Membership Class, Marriage Events, Children’s Events, Worship, Prayer, Small Groups, Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, Youth Ministry, Children’s Ministry, and expository Sunday Teaching.
Serving and Leading
Eventually we encourage every believer to serve the mission of Jesus in the church. Nothing will help a person grow in Christ like serving. When we serve, we get the heart of God for His people and for those who are far from Him. To that end, we provide growth and leadership opportunities for those who wish to learn leadership. The first and most important is our ALL-IN class which meets at various times throughout the year.