Following Jesus together to see every home made fully alive

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)

These words recorded in the book of John not only remind us of the hardship of life, but that Jesus shines hope into what every human soul is searching for: A life fully alive. At Rock Island Church, our dream is to see every home made fully alive through the Gospel of Jesus. It’s only when we surrender ourselves, repent, and follow Him that we will ever be able to make sense of this upside-down world we live in. We can walk through tragedy because we know where our hope comes from, we have faith in the middle of confusion because we know that God is the sovereign author of our lives, and when the world seems to steal, kill and destroy, we can have faith that the savior of the world not only came to give us life, but one that is fully alive. 

PHASE ONE:

Reproducing disciples and missionaries to see microchurches emerge

Everything we do begins with disciple-making. The foundation of phase one is equipping and empowering everyday people to live on mission, find where God is already at work, and partner with Him there. When this happens, simple forms of church, known as microchurches, emerge. People come to know Jesus, together, and ask how they can live boldly as the church in their communities. We hope to see these missional communities scattered all throughout our city.

  • MISSIONARY

    An ordinary person who plants themselves among a pocket of people, plants the gospel, and makes new disciples.

  • MICROCHURCH

    An extended spiritual family that lives in everyday gospel community, led by ordinary people, and owns the mission of Jesus in a network of relationships.

  • NETWORK

    When people give their lives to follow Jesus, they not only become disciples but disciple-makers. When ordinary people see themselves as missionaries, microchurches not only emerge but reproduce. What once started as a small group of people following Jesus has now become the local church.

PHASE TWO:

2023  -  The Town House

Once we’ve seen the local church emerge in homes and unreached pockets of our communities, our dream is to come together as the local body just as the Early Church did in the temple. This is how the local church is planted. In Phase 2 of Rock Island Church, our goal is to find a space to worship, offer support, and provide programs to see our community thrive, and we will create a space for new businesses and nonprofits to emerge and serve our community. We believe that with the diversity and power of the local church gathered, we can come together to catalyze disciple-making to see every home made fully alive.

PHASE THREE:

Viral Reproduction

If we believe in the audacity of The Great Commission - 

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matt 28:19)

- then we must be a church that is devoted to planting churches. 

How do we see every home made fully alive? 

By planting churches, that plant churches.