Distinctives

Like a person, our church has a certain DNA that defines us. The Stonegate distinctives could best be explained with three statements.

First, everything is about Jesus.

This sounds much easier than it is. It is estimated that 3,500 churches close their doors each year in America, illustrating how easy it is for a church to make everything but Jesus central. In Revelation 2 Jesus exhorts the church in Ephesus to return to its first love (Jesus), if not their lampstand (their church) will be taken from them. What a scary thought! If a church pushes Jesus to the side long enough, it will cease to exist. We want Jesus to be at the center of everything we do. Our church is and must always be about Jesus. How we program services, what ministries we offer, how we do missions, and the events we choose to hold are all built around the central component - Jesus.

Second, everything begins in the family.

I once heard a guy ask this question, "Your church is as strong as _______?" His answer to that question was, "Your individual families." We believe that statement to be true. Stonegate Church is only as healthy as, only as strong as the individual families that make up our church. This is why we have to proactively and intentionally build families. Moreover, our families are only as strong as our men who lead them. So, we want to be a place that builds strong men to pastor and lead strong families, so we can have a strong church that models and shares the gospel with our community.

Third, everything serves the mission.

The mission of Stonegate is to “extend the glory of God through lives changed by the gospel.” Everything we do must serve the mission of extending the glory of God, lives being changed, and the gospel being proclaimed.