OUR MISSION, VISION & VALUES
Our Mission (Purpose)
Deeper Life in Christ exists for the purpose of carrying out the Great Commission of Jesus the Christ, as found in Matthew 28:9-20 by making disciples and cultivating Christians to minister and engage in the Great Commission through the Word, worship, and witnessing, to its fellow congregants, family, community and the entire world.
Our Vision (Practices)
Deeper Life in Christ Ministries will fulfill its mission by cultivating committed Christian believers to minister in this ten-fold manner:
D - Discipleship Training (Witnessing)
E – Equipping the Laity (Word)
E – Exalting the Lord (Worship)
P – Praying for all (Worship)
E – Educating Leaders (Word)
R – Reaching the Lost through community outreach (Witnessing)
L – Living Abundantly for Jesus Christ (Word)
I – Impacting the Kingdom of God (Word)
F – Fostering Love, Hope and Healing to others (Witnessing)
E – Empowering people to understand their purpose and giftedness (Witnessing)
Our Values (Particulars)
WE WILL BE BIBLICAL
Prioritizing the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16,17)
WE WILL BE INSTRUCTIONAL
Teaching constantly and systematically ( 2 Timothy 2:2)
WE WILL BE ETHICAL
Practicing morality and integrity (1 Corinthians 6:19,20)
WE WILL BE INTENTIONAL
Sharing of our time, talent and treasures (2 Corinthians 9:6)
WE WILL BE INFLUENTIAL
Making an impact on society and the world (Matthew 5:13)
WE WILL BE INSPIRATIONAL
Motivating others to positive actions (Hebrews 10:24)
WE WILL BE SPIRITUAL
Relating and relying on the Holy Spirit for guidance (John 14:26)
WE WILL BE PRACTICAL
Applying biblical principles relevantly (James 1:22)
WE WILL BE MOTIVATIONAL
Inspiring others to positive actions (Hebrews 10:24)
WE WILL BE RELATIONAL
Developing healthy relationships (1 Corinthians 9:22)
WE WILL BE GLOBAL
Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to world (Mark 16:15
WE WILL BE EXCEPTIONAL
Operating with a Spirit of excellence (Colossians 3:23)
OUR STORY
The name Deeper Life in Christ comes from the Gospel story of Luke, where Jesus was teaching His disciples and talking to the multitudes. It was in this moment that Christ challenged Simon Peter and the disciples to launch out into the deep waters to catch an abundance of fish. This biblical story serves as the bedrock to all believers who have the assignment to be “fishers of men.”
The vision to have a church and ministry today was like Simon Peter. God placed in Pastor Juandolyn Stokes’ spirit in 1998 to launch out into the deep to start a church and to cultivate people in the Word and worship of God so that they may build the kingdom of God by being witnesses of the Lord.
Our first worship service was held on Sunday, August 2, 1998, at the Rainbow Office Park in Decatur, Georgia. A few years later we moved into a storefront plaza on Columbia Drive in Decatur, Ga. Eventually, we relocated to Conyers, Georgia where we have been doing ministry ever since.
OUR BELIEFS
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe the Scriptures of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God and the final authority for all matters of faith and conduct. We believe in one true and living God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of Man, conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary as the eternal Son of God. He received both a human body and a sinless human nature for the purpose of bringing salvation to the entire world.
We believe that Jesus died for humanity and was resurrected from the dead. His grave was emptied of its contents. And that He now exists in His glorified body at God’s right hand.
We believe in the Holy Spirit and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as a real experience at or subsequent to salvation. We also believe in the power and operation of the Holy Spirit and that He is still at work for the glory of God.
We believe that man was created in the image of God, after His likeness, but fell into sin and is therefore lost and only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit by believing and acknowledging that Jesus is Lord and Savior, can salvation and spiritual life be obtained.
We believe in the gifts of the Spirit for the edification of the body of Christ and for the perfecting of the saints.
We believe that the shed blood of Jesus and His resurrection provide the only grounds for justification and salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit, and through this process we become the children of God.
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances to be observed by the church during the present age. The Lord’s Supper is a holy sacrament and is a gift for everyone to experience. We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper to remember and proclaim Christ’s atoning death on the cross and to look forward to His return.
We believe that the true church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are unified together in the body of Christ of which He is the Head.
We believe in the person and pre-millennial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this “Blessed Hope” has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
We believe that a person’s sex (male or female) is determined by God in the womb and revealed at birth (Psalm 139:13).
We believe marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.
We believe children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage, parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
We believe in the transformed bodily resurrection of the dead: The believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, of the unbeliever to judgment and the everlasting conscious punishment.
We believe in the bodily ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven. We also believe in His Second Coming for His Church.