Red Hills Vision

We have a dream that one day, all people in our community would be fully embraced, fully transformed in Christ. But the problem is our world is driven by fear, and thus we create cultures of division, isolation, and shame. That is why we exist, to foster a community following Jesus from fear to love.

The Narrative

A trellis is a frame used to support a growing vine. We have been called as followers of Jesus to "abide in the vine" (John 15), that is Jesus, and in this way, we yield the fruit of Christ's life. The Red Hills Trellis is a framework which tells the story of what abiding looks like in our community. We've all been invited to abide in Jesus, but how we share the story of God is special in every context.

The following is how we have discerned God is guiding us to love in our community here in the Red Hills area.

How do we follow Jesus from fear to love?

Red Hills Church Core Values

Intentional Spiritual Formation

We believe that the nature of following Jesus is to accept the invitation of Spiritual Formation. Spiritual Formation is the way in which a person is shaped in every aspect of their life based on who or what they worship. The theologian James K.A. Smith wrote, “Love is like autopilot, orienting us without our thinking about it.”

  • Who or what we love is ultimately what shapes us the most. As followers of Jesus, our desire is to be shaped by the love and life of Jesus. And we believe that when we abide in Jesus, formation is transformation.

    We experience spiritual formation through our liturgies in worship, our personal prayer lives and contemplative rhythms, our discipleship in Groups and with mentors and peers, how we love and serve those around us, etc. Ultimately, Intentional Spiritual Formation means that we believe everything is spiritual and that everything we do is worship and, therefore, shapes us.

    You can watch or listen to this message from our Vision Series for our teaching on this subject.

  • “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

    “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

    “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.” John 15:4

Humble Peacemaking

We believe that the kingdom of heaven does not conform to the world's ideologies, philosophies, or politics and that the kingdom of God is not right or left but above. At Red Hills Church, there are people who vote and think differently from one another, but we all have one thing in common: the transformational love of Jesus. Jesus told us to love everyone, including our enemies. (Mat 5:44).

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

  • At Red Hills, we desire to come together in a community united by Christ, not a political ideology or philosophy. This does not mean that we ignore or disengage with politics. Public policy, governance, and societal structures deeply matter; we should approach these matters with sobriety and intentionality. However, we are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of Heaven (Phil 3:20). Our loyalty and faithfulness go to Jesus.

    So, instead of approaching complex and important issues with fear-based cultures of division, debate, and defensiveness, we endeavor to foster a community that accepts the invitation into Christ’s love with curiosity, humility, and civil dialogue.

    For more on what it means to embrace Humble Peacemaking, you can listen to this sermon from our Vision Series.

  • “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

Generous Belonging

We believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is, in part, made perfect in its beautiful diversity. If we want to see the prayer of “heaven come to earth” (Matt 6:10, Luke 11:2) fulfilled, we understand that this vision is incomplete until everyone finds belonging at the table of the Lord. This is why we are endeavoring to foster a community that embraces people of every ethnicity, culture, ability, and experience with curiosity and humility. Everyone loves people who are like themselves (Matt 5:46-48), but if belonging is to be Christian, it needs to be generous.

  • We also understand that this work is far easier said than done. We approach it with humility, knowing that although we are doing good work, much work needs to be done.

    As of now, we are offering Spanish translation for our gathering signage and slides, cool-down stations for students who are neurodivergent, ADA access for people who use wheelchairs and walkers [see here for details], and live closed captioning services during our gatherings as we endeavor to extend Generous Belonging to those hard of hearing or members of the deaf community.

    We would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions or insight into creating a more Generous Belonging for people of all backgrounds, abilities, and experiences. Please feel free to reach out to us here.

    We also want you to know that no matter where you are in your journey of faith, you are a friend of our church. Jesus invited the disciples to come and learn from him long before they had it all together. If you are not sure how you feel about Jesus, church, or Christianity, we are so grateful for your interest, and you are most welcome.

    You can listen to this sermon from our Vision Series for more on what it means to embrace Generous Belonging.

  • “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.” Revelation 7:9

Loving Purpose

We believe that life with Jesus transforms our lives in a way that invites us into the selfless, sacrificial love of Christ, who did not come to be served but to serve (Mark 20:28). When we love people by serving them, we honor Jesus (Matt 25:35-40). Following Jesus is about so much more than personal salvation. Though important, our personal experience with Jesus is not the end of the journey. Christians are invited to discover their purpose by loving and serving everyone in their lives.

  • We believe that our surrounding community should come to know our church as a place they can go to when there is a need. We should have a reputation for being people who show up for our community! This is why we are always looking for ways to engage with the needs of our cities. If you’d like to learn more about how to engage in Loving Purpose to our community, you can visit our Serve and For The City pages.

    We also believe that our Loving Purpose is not just about how we serve but about how we carry ourselves in our daily lives. We invite the love of Jesus to infuse everything we do from changing diapers to waiting tables, running businesses, or studying. Our greatest purpose is in the embrace of Christ’s love for us, to love God, to love our neighbor, and to love our enemy, so everything we do, we do in love.

  • “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
    If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,’ but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.” James 2:14-17

    “Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” Jeremiah 29:7

    “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

Our Rule of Life

What is a Rule of Life?

Put simply, a Rule of Life is a rhythm and set of practices that enable our formation into Christ-likeness. If the "What We Believe" tab on our website is our Statement of Faith, our Rule of Life is our Statement of Practice. It is how we live out our faith and values.

The idea of a Rule of Life can be traced back 1,500 years, originating with the Desert Fathers and Mothers. When practiced in community, the practices within a Rule of Life become the way we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit for radical life-transformation.

Our eight practices have been prayerfully designed to align with our 4 values, with each value being assigned two practices that help us embody the value.

Intentional Spiritual Formation: Prayer and scripture.

Generous Belonging: Community and generosity.

Humble Peacemaking: Sabbath and witness

Loving Purpose: Service and examination.

This is how we follow Jesus together. We encourage you to join a Red Hills Group if you want to learn and practice our Rule of Life in community.