LOVE OTHERS
We are a people who live in a community where we do not simply meet needs created by the world, we embody a different reality—the Kingdom of God—where people discover what it means to be known, seen, and chosen. When the Kingdom of God is present, people experience what many have been longing for all along: belonging, identity, purpose, safety, hope, and the love of a family they did not know they were searching for.
When someone walks into Formation Church on a Sunday or encounters us in the marketplace, our hope is that they experience what God is like. They discover they are known, seen, and chosen. They experience belonging, purpose, safety, hope, and the invitation to become part of God’s family. Through the people of Formation they discover:
- I am known.
- I am seen.
- I am chosen.
And then eventually:
- I am known by God.
- I am seen by God.
- I am chosen by God.
KNOWN
Belonging
Known means that before you ever knew God, He already knew you. He intentionally created you in His image, knows every detail of your life, and calls you by name. Formation Church seeks to reflect God’s heart by helping every person experience that they are genuinely known, not as another attendee, but as a unique image-bearer with a story that matters.
Key Scriptures:
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“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”
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“Zacchaeus, come down immediately.” Jesus knew Zacchaeus by name before introducing Himself.
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“O LORD, you have searched me and known me…”
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“You are Simon son of John…” Jesus knows Simon before Simon understands who Jesus is.
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Created in God’s image. Identity begins here.
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“Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” No one knows us like God. |
SEEN
Identity
Seen means more than being noticed. It is recognizing and calling forth the identity God has placed within someone, even when they cannot yet see it themselves. To be seen is to have someone look beyond your current circumstances, failures, fears, or labels and say, “I see who God is making you.” Formation Church aspires to be a community of people who experience this regularly.
Key Scriptures:
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John 1:42 Peter “You are Simon… You shall be called Cephas.” Jesus doesn’t simply acknowledge Simon. He names the man Simon will become.
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John 4: 1-42 Samaritan woman Although living a life of poor choices Jesus seems a person who has the capacity for a great faith that would spread the good news to gentiles (non-Jews).
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Exodus 3 Moses Moses is 80 years old and has spent 40 years as a shepherd when God saw the future liberator of Israel. Moses saw the end of his story whereas God saw the beginning of a new one.
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Luke 19:1-10 Zaccheus Whereas everyone saw a tax collector Jew who betrays his people, Jesus saw a man whose heart yearned for righteousness and had the capacity to change and be re-integrated into his people. |
Matthew 9:9 Matthew Whereas everyone saw a tax collector, Jesus saw someone who would be an apostle to advance the good news and eventually write one of the gospels.
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Judges 6:12 Gideon Gideon is a farmer and sounds meek by how he responds. God addresses Gideon as “mighty warrior.”
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1 Samuel 16:7 David Among all of Jesse’s sons God ensures that his prophet Samuel sees and calls out the future king in David.
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CHOSEN
Calling
Chosen means that God doesn’t merely know you or see your potential, He personally invites you into His family and His mission. Out of all humanity, He lovingly calls you to belong to Him and participate in His Kingdom. Being chosen is both relational and missional: you are adopted as God’s child and entrusted with a unique calling. Being chosen means discovering both God’s family and God’s purpose for your life.
Key Scriptures:
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John 15:16 Jesus to his disciples “You did not choose me, but I chose you”
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Genesis 12 The Call of Abraham “I will make you into a great nation,”
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Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17, Luke 5 Jesus chooses his disciples “Come follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
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1 Samuel 16:1 God chooses David to be king “I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
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Luke 19 Jesus chooses Zaccheaus “I must stay at your house today.” |
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 God chooses Israel, not on merit, but by grace. “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples” |
SHARING "THE LAWNMOWER"
We believe that God’s work is never confined to one church or organization. The metaphor “Sharing the lawn mower” means intentionally partnering across the body of Christ — sharing resources, prayer, and people wherever God is already at work.
We practice this by:
- Regularly connecting with leaders across churches to discern where God is moving and how we can join Him.
- Encouraging Formation members to serve and participate in the ministries of other churches.
- Collaborating on programs, conferences, and workshops that build up the wider body of Christ.
We listen first, share freely, and partner generously — because the Kingdom grows when the Church moves together.
RAISING IDENTITY & CALLING
To “raise” someone means to lift them into who God designed them to be. We believe every person has a divine purpose — a calling to walk fully in God’s design and share it with the world.
Two areas we emphasize are Career and Love:
Career
Discovering calling through four questions of formation:
- What are you good at? (the gifts of God)
- What are you passionate about? (the heart of God)
- What does the world need? (the service of God)
- What can you be compensated to do? (the provision of God)
Love
Healthy relationships begin long before marriage. We teach restoration and alignment with God’s design early — reconnecting people, especially young women and future parents, to their identity in Christ.
We emphasize:
- Fathers teaching daughters their worth in Christ.
- Women defining what godly partnership looks like before dating or marriage.
- Men honoring and supporting women in their spiritual journey.
Scriptural foundations:
- Galatians 3:28 — “There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
- Romans 16:7 — Junia, a female apostle.
- John 11:25–27 — Martha, the first to hear Jesus declare He is the resurrection and the life.
- John 4:10 — The Samaritan woman, the first to hear Jesus reveal Himself as living water.
- Acts 2:17–18 — Daughters and sons prophesy together in the early Church.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2–5 — Mutual honor, equality, and consent in marriage.
We raise identity and calling because God calls every person — male and female — to reflect His image and bring His love to the world.
LOVING FIRST
We believe that truth is best received when it begins with love. The Church’s voice should reflect the heart of Christ — not fear, defensiveness, or judgment, but compassion, courage, and grace.
To love first means:
- Leading with empathy, not argument.
- Listening before responding.
- Seeking to understand the heart behind opposing views.
- Testing every belief or desire against the question:
“Does this fulfill God’s best for your life?”
Even when we disagree, we choose to love. We intercede for others, lay their stories before Jesus, and seek restoration and redemption rather than division.
We also believe in the power of story — because stories open hearts where arguments cannot.
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them… There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear.”— 1 John 4:16–21