WHAT WE BELIEVE
New Joy Fellowship is a non-denominational Christian church. Many of us come from a Lutheran background, and our pastor is a graduate of American Lutheran Theological Seminary, ordained and in good standing with the Lutheran Churches for Mission in Christ. Even so, our focus is not on a particular denominational expression of faith – our goal is simply to follow Jesus and encourage one another in our life together in faith.
We believe that the Bible is the infallible, authoritative Word of God, and we seek to understand it and submit to its authority in all matters of faith and life. We accept the historic creeds of Christianity (the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed) as expressions of the true and biblical Christian faith.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
And sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
OUR VISION
New Joy Fellowship officially formed in January of 2005, around the vision of being real disciples of Jesus by walking with God, walking with others, and working in the Kingdom.
Walking with God means that our first priority is to know God better, and to become closer to Him. The only reason we can do this is because Jesus Christ suffered and died on our behalf, and was raised. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus reconciled us to God, forgiving us for our sins, giving us His own righteousness, and promising us eternal life.
We get to know God first through reading the Bible, and learning how to understand it better. We also learn to communicate with God through prayer and meditation, and seeing Him at work in the world around us. We seek to align every part of our lives, and our church, to God’s character and God’s purposes.
Walking with Others means that we recognize that when we are saved by Jesus, we are placed into a family of fellow-believers. The Bible commands us to be in loving fellowship with other Christians – it isn’t optional. So we try to love and support each other. We eat together, share our joys and challenges, pray together and learn together.
Working in the Kingdom means that we do not exist to serve ourselves. Life is not about getting what we want. Life is about aligning ourselves with God’s purposes in the world. We seek to find out what God is doing, and what part He wants us to play in that.
WORSHIP SERVICES
Our worship takes place in small groups in homes, and typically involves guitars, praise songs, hymns and spontaneous prayers. Occasionally, we make use of parts of historic liturgies.
During the week, before church, we listen to or read a sermon from Pastor Tom Hilpert. At “church time” we gather to worship, pray and discuss how we can apply the scriptures to our regular lives.
Our goal is to not only have church together, but to develop genuine Christian friendships which will help us and encourage us as we walk with Jesus.
If you’d like to visit us, please start by calling Pastor Tom at (615) 354-four-two-seven-eight (numbers are spelled out to foil spammers).
