glossary
terms that are helpful as you navigate our site
2/3’s
2’s and 3’s are micro groups that practice the activity of discipleship, and are not designed to be an entity themselves. They exist more for the hard work of spiritual transformation, obedience to Jesus, and the multiplication of disciples rather than community and comfort [though we hope every 2/3 will overflow those qualities]. 2’s and 3’s are a radical minimum standard of Christian discipleship and they grow organically out of relationships as they form throughout the Gathering Network.
Celebrations
Currently the Gathering Network hosts one weekly celebration service every Sunday night in Heartland Community Church’s main auditorium. These services provide worship, prayer, and relevant teaching accessible to anyone searching for a passionate expression of Christian worship and faith.
Discipleship
A disciple is a student. Jesus called his students disciples, and he taught them how to “make disciples, that could make disciples, that could make disciples.” Jesus’ students learned how to bring heaven to earth through obedience to his ideas, or commands. Discipleship is learning how to live like Jesus in a way that can be emulated by someone else, so the world can change—one person at a time.
Evangelism
Evangelism is almost a dirty word in our culture, because the way the church has “evangelized” people has been, in many cases, inappropriate and offensive. Yet, we believe Jesus has commanded us to share our faith everywhere, in human and sincere ways driven by love, sincerity, and a deep generosity of all that life in Jesus affords [prayer, service, miracles, giving, kindness, peacemaking, etc]. We call this value sharing Jesus generously and always.
Jesus
Jesus is the central figurehead of the Christian Movement. We recognize that his profound influence on humanity was motivated by something more than morality and conscience. We believe he was the Son of God, whose mission in history was to live a sinless life and then willingly die for sins he did not commit. We believe that on the cross, Jesus took upon himself the collective sin of humanity, and that he died under the burden of humanity's sin. We believe that Jesus was actually dead and was then miraculously resurrected by the power of God. His resurrection means everything to us, because we believe the same power that brought him back to life is actually bringing us back to life. We esteem him as the source of forgiveness, salvation, and grace.
Kingdom of God
Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God more than any other idea. The Kingdom of God could be described as the culture of heaven and the worldview that promotes its expansion on the earth. The commands of Jesus describe the look and feel of heaven, and when obeyed, bring experiences of heaven to earth. Thus, Jesus desires all who follow him to obey and practice his commands and ideas—and to share them with the world so that the world might be renewed and enjoy the kingship of God.
LTP
The Leadership Training Project is a summer internship providing an intensive leadership development path for college students wanting to learn about how to follow Jesus and impact their world.
Missional
A term used to describe the primary missionary calling of every follower of Jesus. To be missional means "to leave the church building” and join Jesus where he is working to build his kingdom in the world.
Missional Communities
“A missional community is a 'sent' community with one of its defining values being the development of a church-life and practice that is contextualized to that culture to which it believes it has been sent.” —Frost/Hirsch in The Shaping of Things to Come