Why the name Redeemer Community Church?
Redemption is the theme of the Bible. Humanity fell into sin in the garden bringing sickness and death to all mankind. Indeed, the whole earth fell under a curse. God however has not abandoned his creation, but has promised to redeem us. He is working out everything according to His perfect plan. Page after page in scripture, we get to see this plan of redemption unfolding. Through His Son, God has secured this redemption. We believe that the gospel redeems lives individually and communities corporately. We also believe that God has privileged the Church to be a part of this redemption. Through His Spirit, we are to be salt and light in a dying and desperate world. Redeemer Community Church is to be a city on a hill pointing the way to our Savior and King, Jesus.
What is our vision for Redeemer Community Church?
Word of God preached: Both Martin Luther and John Calvin said that where the sacraments are rightly administered and the word of God is preached, there is a church.
We believe that when the word of God is preached, Jesus is seen most clearly, and when Jesus is seen clearly, lives are changed. We believe that every page of scripture proclaims Jesus and the gospel. This gospel transforms lives and culture. The more we understand the gospel, the more we come to find that the gospel is not just the ABC’s of our faith, it is the A to Z. To bring redemption to the world, the church must embody this gospel message. The Bible must never be reduced to mere moralistic teaching, but Jesus must be seen as central (even when preaching from the Old Testament).
Our preaching and our theology are firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. The teaching will be primarily expositional and not topical. The only way to preach the whole counsel of God is to systematically go through the whole word of God. We want to allow the word of God to raise the topics we address and not the other way around. And although we might from time to time go through some topics, even these topical studies will be firmly grounded in a biblical text.
Community: To cite Martin Luther again; he did not like to use the word “church” to describe a church, because just like today this word had come to mean a building or an institution. He preferred to use the words “community” or “assembly.” This puts the emphasis back on the church being a people instead of a building. As much as possible, we want to do the same. We currently meet at Girls Inc., but this building does not define us.
Our desire is to be out in the community where unbelievers are, meet in peoples’ homes for prayer and Bible studies, use our money for missions, the poor, city development, etc. instead of the pursuit of a large building. By meeting in our current location and in people’s homes throughout the week, we hope to remind ourselves that we are part of a movement instead of a building that is part of an institution. We believe that one of the greatest assets our church has is our homes and we need to be good stewards of what God has already given us in reaching our communities.
Seeking the welfare of the city: Our aim is not just a great church, but great communities within a great city. God has a tremendous heart for the city. The Bible begins in a garden but ends in a glorious city. In heaven, we will live in a city for all of eternity. We want to be, not just a ministry to ourselves, but also for the peace and benefit of all of Birmingham. Like Jeremiah teaches, we need to do everything we can to get out of our holy huddles and identify ourselves with the city and to seek its welfare. We believe that the gospel can transform the culture and people of a city and all the communities within it.
Priesthood of all believers: Every person who is a part of a church has been given a gift(s) by the Holy Spirit to use for the edification of the body. We all minister to one another in one capacity or another. Peter said that we are all priests – meaning that we can now confess to one another, intercede for each other, and encourage and rebuke one another. We assemble to both minister and to be ministered to. The body should minister to the body.
By Rev. Joel Brooks
