We Exist to Glorify God by Making Disciples and Loving People.
Glorifying God
We all seek after and need purpose. Deep down, we know this. We can try to give ourselves a purpose apart from God, but eventually we run into the reality that no self-prescribed purpose is enough to satisfy our souls. Just as children look to their parents for their sense of identity, we all need something greater than us to give us purpose.
We believe God alone can give us our purpose, and that He has told us our purpose. Every person exists to know, love, and show the glory God (John 17:3-5). At Riverview, we join together to know, love, and show His glory in two very specific ways that God has already defined for us: making disciples (Great Commission) and loving God & people (Great Commandment).
Making Disciples
The Bible is clear. Jesus has called every believer to make disciples—no exceptions. no excuses. So how can we obey Jesus’ command to make disciples? We believe that disciple-making happens at two crucial levels that we can all participate in.
The micro-level: through one on one investment in others with God’s Word.
The macro-level: through actively joining the community of believers—the local church.
We believe BOTH forms of discipleship are necessary to make healthy disciples who will make more disciples.
Loving People
Even as we make disciples, we must never forget that God loves people (John 3:16). In fact, God loves people infinitely better than we love ourselves. Love is so central to the Christian life that the Apostle Paul tells us that we can do all sorts of religious deeds, but if we fail to love, then we are nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3). Therefore, one of the best ways we can reflect God’s glory and make disciples is by sharing the love God has already given to us with as many people as possible (John 13:34/1 John 4:7-21).
Connection to the Vision
Making disciples and loving people then, becomes the DNA we want to see lived out and passed on in the multiplication process. This kind of multiplication at the individual level is the building block for life group and church multiplication.
Spiritual Multiplication involves three levels for us:
Individual Multiplication: Individual believers must live out their faith and pass it on to others. As the oft-used expression says—healthy disciples make disciples. There is no short-cut for this kind of one-on-one multiplication. It is costly, but it is the starting point. One-on-one investment continues until the one receiving investment can multiply.
Life Group Multiplication: The lifeblood of Riverview is our Life Groups. These are small groups that meet for the purpose of community around God’s Word. As believers multiply, our desire is that our groups would multiply as well.
Church Multiplication: Built upon the multiplication of individuals and groups, we look forward to the day when Riverview is used by God to start new churches or revitalize dying ones. Taking this multiplication DNA to unreached and hurting areas in our state (and around the world) is the ultimate goal for Riverview.