Vision: Transformed by the Gospel, Transforming the World.
Christian life begins by experiencing God’s transforming love in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Once we experience that love, we are transformed. When we are transformed, Christ sends us out to the world to transform the world for Him. Whether at home with the family, in the neighborhood, work, church, or even globally, our call is the same: to transform the world through the truth, love and power of Jesus Christ.
First, what kind of Christians do we want to produce?
We want to produce followers of Christ who seek intimacy with Christ, connected vitally to a community of believers of JOY, and who pursue their mission/calling from God. These three core values of JOY work from inside out as three concentric circles.
At the core is intimacy with Christ. Intimacy with Christ (“To love the Lord with all our heart” Matthew 22:37) is our highest call. Intimacy with Christ is the spiritual spring from which everything flows.
With that intimacy, we move to community. Spiritual life does not happen in isolation but in community. That’s why God gave us church, and we must be vitally connected in relationships with one another, encouraging and ministering to each other mutually (“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” Acts 2:42).
“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” Acts 2:42
Finally, everyone has a calling/mission from God, whether it is inside church, in the marketplace/home, or abroad (“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” Ephesians 2:10). We must find what our calling is and pursue it in order to bear much fruit. We want to produce Christians who are not ingrown but powerfully impacting the world both locally and globally. We want to produce followers of Christ who are continually growing in intimacy, community, and mission/calling.
Second, we have a special focus on the marketplace.
Our JOY members are highly professional people. We believe God has given us a calling to bring reformation in our society, to bring transformation in the marketplace by bringing Christ’s values in every arena of life such as business/finance, government/law, education, media, and arts/entertainment. We encourage everyone to see their workplace as mission fields, to win people to Christ, and to change its values.
Third, we are committed to church planting.
We believe God has given us a vision to plant churches where churches are needed. Luke 8:1 says, “Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.” We believe this practice of Jesus shows that we are not to stay put in one place, but to go to wherever people are and plant churches, ie, the bodies of Christ. We believe that Jesus’ model is not waiting for people to come to Christ, but to go to where people are. Thus, we are committed to training people and sending them out to plant churches, especially in metro New York area.
Finally, we are committed to world missions.
We believe God has given us more than enough for ourselves, and we are called to make a significant impact in the world. We challenge and encourage our church to give of themselves for world missions both in preaching the gospel and bringing humanitarian help.
