The Ethos of TCC

The community of Trinity City Church exists to glorify Jesus by igniting a movement of the gospel for the joy of our city and all nations. Just what does that look like? Consider the ethos of TCC.

The ethos of TCC is the values that are distinctive to our community as we seek to live out our mission.  We want to value what Jesus considers most important, and he is clear about what he values in the great commandments and great commission(s).  Here are the four values that make up our ethos:

Our passion is to love God.  Jesus commands: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38, ESV).  Jesus is quoting the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:8) in order to say that God is most important.  God created the universe and all humanity to show himself off, and we primarily glorify God by joyfully loving him with our entire lives.  Our passion is centered on loving God through Jesus Christ, and through his Son God gets the most glory.

Our compassion is to love all people. Jesus commands that in addition to the first commandment, there is a second that is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 33:39).  Jesus is quoting the Torah again (Leviticus 19:18) in order to say that the vertical command to love God cannot be separated from the horizontal command to love all people.  The love of God motivates his church to love every person regardless of their religion, economic status, race and gender.  It is a love so radical that it even empowers us to love our enemies.  Our focus is on “our city” and “all nations” because all people in both the Twin Cities and around the world matter to God.

Our mission is to spread the gospel.   Jesus said: “it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48).  After Jesus rose from the dead, he commissioned his church to spread the gospel message that God has fully accomplished the forgiveness of sins through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus, God rescued us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and he not only forgives those who turn away from their sins but also restores the entire universe so that we can enjoy our new life with God forever.  That is why we are dedicated to starting churches locally, nationally, and globally.

Our devotion is to follow Jesus Christ.  Jesus also commissions: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).  Following Jesus is not only seen by a confession with our lips but also by the transformation of our lives.  If we love Jesus then we will be devoted to all his commands, and obeying thesecommands is a great source of joy.  We want to be known as a community that lets love be genuine, abhors injustice and holds fast to what is good, takes delight in honoring one another, is patient in suffering, is constant in prayer, contributes to the needy, and seeks to show hospitality, a community that blesses those who persecute us, rejoices with those who rejoice, and weeps with those who weep, a people that lives in harmony with one another, is not conceited or haughty but associates with the lowly (see Romans 12:9-21).  These are some of the marks of those who are devoted to Jesus.

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Image above from wikimedia.org

Mission statement above inspired by Antioch Community Church in NE Minneapolis