A Note from Our Pastor

WELCOME TO EASTSIDE COMMUNITY CHURCH. WE WOULD LOVE TO GET TO KNOW YOU.

Every church wants to make a difference in the lives of those who come on Sunday, but our hope is that we would not merely make a difference through Sunday services, but that we would make a difference in the lives of our neighbors and friends wherever we work, play, and worship.  

At Eastside, we are a group of people who want to learn what it means to know and follow Jesus in all of life.  We are far from perfect, but we are “Learning to Follow Jesus Daily”.  Each day we all live for something.  Whether it is power, pleasure, or peace we are striving to arrive somewhere and be someone at the end of each day. Sometimes we are just trying to get through the day and get home to a couch to rest. We believe Jesus is the word of God, he is the glory of God perfectly revealed in human person, He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to God except through a relationship with Him. Since Jesus came to earth, we believe its possible to know God.  We don’t merely know of God, but we can actually know and be in a relationship with Him.  We believe it is important to know that our relationship to God is as follower and not as leader or co-pilot. He is our Father and our Lord. God loves us as we are, but we also must believe in who He truly is, rather than remake him in our own image or likeness.  Even though we are an imperfect people, we are honest about it and don’t point you to our perfection, but rather, we invite you to explore who Jesus is and to come alongside us as we learn to follow Jesus one day at a time.
 
It is common for people to live their lives as isolated performers, but we at Eastside want to be “Living the Gospel Together” as family. The Gospel, which simply means good news, is that Jesus Christ has come to earth and lived a perfect sinless life, he died on a cross for our sins and in our place, and three days later rose from the dead, he has conquered sin and death, and he extends the invitation to be forgiven of all our sins to all those who repent and believe in who He is and what He has done in history.  But the Gospel is not something that remains in history or even in our heads, it must get into our hearts and our hands.  We believe that the Gospel must be lived out in community with others.  We believe that life was never meant to be lived in isolation and performance. Rather, because of what God has done for us in the gospel, we are motivated to live differently and together. (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)  We believe that we are not primarily individuals in relationship with God, but that God is making us into a family of people who encourage, challenge, and ultimately hold one another accountable to live life in light of what Jesus has done rather than built on what we have done or seek to do on our own.
 
The command to love the way Jesus did challenges and humbles us all, but as a church it is our honest desire to get to know and love our neighbors. We all too often want to be selfish consumers, but because we have experienced the love of God, we strive to “Love Our Neighbors Authentically”. Jesus defines neighbor much more broadly than geographic closeness.  Rather, Jesus teaches that our neighbor includes any and all we come into contact with and have opportunity to love.  Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment is to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourself.  Jesus told his followers that others would know them by their love for one another. He said that he was giving a new commandment to those who follow Him, that now they were to love, as He had loved them.  We desire to listen to you and get to know you and most of all, we desire that you would know the love of God through Jesus Christ that is willing to meet any of us where we are and leave us forever changed.

We hope to see you soon,
Pastor Josiah