Austin City Life

Austin City Life exists to cultivate communities of Spirit-led disciples who redemptively engage peoples and cultures through Christ for the glory of God. This vision is driven by three central values: Gospel, Community, and Mission.

"The gospel is the good and true story that Jesus died and rose to defeat sin, death and evil in order to make all things new."

The Gospel

There are a number of things that come to mind when we hear the word "Gospel." Some of are what we mean but many of them aren't. For instance, some people think of a narrow dogmatism, “gospel truth” that finds no truth outside the Bible. Others think of hellfire and brimstone preachers or bad country music.

When we use the word gospel, we mean the historic Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. This gospel is more than a collection of facts to be believed. It is also the good and true story that Jesus died and rose to defeat sin, death and evil in order to make all things new. As the only person capable of such an act, Jesus is the rightful lord over every square inch of the universe. This Jesus is Lord gospel compels us to be a community that lives redemptively in all aspects of life.

As followers of Jesus, we have come to realize that we are far more broken than we really comprehend, but in Christ we are more accepted than we could ever imagine. Although we fail in following Jesus, we are confident that his redeeming grace is sufficient for our failures and strong for our successes. Austin City Life is part of this grand, historic Christianity which seeks the good of the whole person, city, and the glory of God.

"The Church is a not a loose collection of spiritually-minded individuals, but a family of people on mission in Jesus."

Community

Community is a buzzword that is overused and under experienced, but something we have all been created for. Our practice of community is a product of the way we understand church. Like the Gospel, church is a term with a lot of baggage. We don’t think of "church" as a social institution, a weekend event, or a political constituency. Nor is the church is a not a loose collection of spiritually-minded individuals. Instead, it is a family of people on mission in Jesus. Another way to think of us is as a missionary community created by the Spirit on the mission of Christ.

As a Christ-centered community we strive to love and serve one another and our neighbors. This happens in all kinds of ways in all kinds of places, but our primary community structure is City Groups—geographically-based, city-focused communities that share life and truth, meals and mission. City Groups are where the church is the church to one another and the city. They're pretty life changing and city-renewing.

"Mission is something we are that results in something we do."

Mission

We believe that the church should help make Austin a better city. As a missionary community created by the Spirit on the mission of Christ, Austin City Life is a church that is in the city and for the city. This plays out through neighborhood-focused and city-wide service like spending time with the elderly, feeding the homeless, and taking meals to the homebound.

We make it our aim to adorn gospel of Jesus through how we live and how we talk. Our mission is both local and global, taking us overseas to places like Thailand, Burma, and Africa. We hope you’ll join us in making the city and the world, a better place.