Our Mission, Vision, and Values

Q: What does 'a faith family on mission' mean?

It means we are a family of believers who actually know each other, walk through life together, and are sent together into the city of Miami to make Jesus known across every neighborhood and every generation.

Christchurch Miami is a faith family on mission. The mission, the vision, and the values below are not slogans on a website. They are the convictions that shape how we worship, how we serve, how we lead, and how we live as a church family in Kendall, Florida.

Mission

Christchurch Miami exists to glorify God
by helping people know, love, and serve Jesus.

Every part of who we are flows out of that mission. Glorifying God is the end. Helping people know, love, and serve Jesus is the means. We pursue both with everything we have.

Vision

A faith family on mission,
to love God and make Him known.

We believe the local church is meant to function as a family - people who actually know each other, eat together, pray for each other, and walk through real life together - not a weekly event that strangers attend. And we believe that family is sent into the city of Miami to make the love of Jesus known across every neighborhood, every generation, and every kitchen table.

Values

Four convictions shape how we live as a faith family.

Jesus is Our Message - we preach Christ as LORD.

Every sermon, every song, every conversation about faith at Christchurch starts and ends with Jesus. He is not one of many topics. He is the message.

People Are Our Priority - we're a faith family where you can belong before you believe.

You don't have to have your theology figured out to find a seat at our table. Doubt, questions, and the long walk back to faith are all welcome here. Belong first. Believe on the way.

Worship Is Our Lifestyle - we glorify God in ALL we do.

Worship is not just what happens at 11 AM on Sunday. It is what happens at the office on Tuesday, in the carpool line on Thursday, across the dinner table on Friday. All of life, lived for the glory of God.

Mission Is Our Mindset - we equip everyone to impact their world for Christ.

Mission isn't a department of the church reserved for the professionals. It is the calling of every Christian - every neighborhood, every workplace, every conversation. Christchurch exists to send people into that calling, not to keep them inside the building.

Our Strategy: WIN, BUILD, SEND

Three verbs translate the mission and vision into how we operate as a church.

WIN the lost. Sundays gather us. The doors are open. The gospel is preached without apology and without shame.
BUILD the believer. Groups, classes, mentoring, and the everyday relationships of a faith family that grows people in their walk with Jesus.
SEND out everyone to live on mission. No spectators. Every person at Christchurch is sent - into a neighborhood, a workplace, a school, a family - to live as Christ's ambassador wherever they already are.

What We Believe

Christchurch Miami is a Bible-believing, Reformed church that stands in the historic stream of Christian orthodoxy. We confess the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Westminster Confession of Faith. We hold Scripture as the inspired and authoritative Word of God.

→ Read our full Statement of Faith

About Christchurch Miami

Christchurch Miami is a gospel-centered church in Kendall, Florida, passionate about helping people know, love, and serve Jesus. We're part of a Bible-believing fellowship of churches united by a shared mission to proclaim the good news of grace. Whether you're new to faith or have followed Jesus for years, you'll find a welcoming community where you can grow spiritually, build meaningful relationships, and make a difference in our city and beyond.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the mission of Christchurch Miami?

Christchurch Miami exists to glorify God by helping people know, love, and serve Jesus. That mission shapes everything we do - Sunday worship, kids ministry, youth, groups, and how we engage the city of Miami beyond our walls.

What does "a faith family on mission" mean?

It means we are not a weekly event for strangers - we are a family of believers who actually know each other, walk through life together, and are sent together into the city of Miami to make Jesus known across every neighborhood and every generation.

What does Christchurch Miami value?

Four core values: Jesus is our message; people are our priority; worship is our lifestyle; mission is our mindset. These are not slogans - they shape how we preach, how we welcome, how we serve, and how we send people out into their everyday lives.

Is Christchurch Miami part of a denomination?

Yes. Christchurch Miami is part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a Reformed Bible-believing denomination, and belongs to the South Florida Presbytery. We hold to historic Christian theology while remaining contemporary in style and welcoming to people exploring faith for the first time.

Are You the Lost Sheep? The Complete Service

Oct 26, 2025 • Pastor James Drake

The Good Shepherd Who Pursues the Lost

In a world filled with competing voices and endless distractions, we need core values that serve as anchors for our souls. These time-tested truths help us navigate life's complexities and point us toward what really matters. Today we explore a fundamental truth about God's heart: people are His priority, and He pursues the lost with relentless love.

Why Do People Flock to Jesus?

In Luke 15, we encounter two distinct crowds gathering around Jesus. There were the religious leaders - the Pharisees and scribes who were concerned about the company Christ was keeping. Then there were the tax collectors and sinners, people who might not have been regular church attenders, yet they were drawn to Jesus like moths to a flame.

What made Jesus so attractive to those far from God? He never compromised truth or called sin anything other than what it was. Yet He was known as "a friend of sinners" - someone who genuinely cared for people regardless of their past or present circumstances.

Religion Builds Walls, Christ Builds Tables

The religious leaders of Jesus' day were busy constructing barriers. They looked down on shepherds, avoided "unclean" people, and created endless divisions even within their own ranks. They operated from a mindset of superiority, constantly judging others and building walls of separation.

This is what religion does - it creates distance between you and God, between you and others, and even within your own heart. It's all about trying to earn justification through good works, hoping your good outweighs your bad.

But Jesus took a radically different approach. As a carpenter, He was literally in the business of building things - and what He built were tables, not walls. He said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He was constantly dining with people far from God, creating spaces where they could belong before they believed.

The Parable That Challenged Everything

When the Pharisees grumbled about Jesus eating with sinners, He responded with a parable that would have been deeply offensive to their sensibilities. He asked them to imagine themselves as shepherds - a profession they considered beneath their status as religious leaders.

What Would You Do for One Lost Sheep?

Jesus painted a picture of a shepherd with 100 sheep who loses one. The shepherd leaves the 99 in the open country and searches until he finds the lost one. When he finds it, he doesn't scold it or make it walk back on its own. Instead, he joyfully places it on his shoulders and carries it home.

This would have seemed like questionable math to many. Why celebrate more over one found sheep than 99 who never wandered? But Jesus was illustrating a profound spiritual truth about God's heart for the lost.

Why God Calls Us Sheep

Of all the animals God could have chosen to represent us, He picked sheep - and that's not exactly flattering. Sheep are notoriously helpless creatures. They get lost easily, they're prone to wander, they're full of anxiety, and they won't even drink from moving water because they're scared.

If a sheep falls over and hasn't been sheared, it can literally get stuck and be unable to get back up. They need constant care, guidance, and protection. They're harmless but helpless - not a threat to anyone, but completely dependent on their shepherd.

This is how God sees us. We're vulnerable, prone to wander, and desperately in need of a shepherd's care and guidance.

The Burden of Being Carried

Yet the text says he "lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing." Most of us would rejoice that we found the sheep, but would we rejoice about having to carry it? This reveals something beautiful about God's character - He doesn't just find us; He joyfully carries our burdens.

What Does This Mean for Us Today?

This parable carries three powerful challenges for our lives:

If You've Wandered, It's Time to Come Home

If you're even thinking about God right now, it's because He's pursuing you. He's opening your eyes to see, your heart to receive, and your mind to understand. No matter how far you've strayed or what you've done, you haven't lost your value in God's eyes. He's calling you home.

Stop Carrying Burdens You Were Never Meant to Bear

Some of us are weighed down by guilt, shame, regret, or circumstances that are crushing us. We're like sheep trying to carry 70-pound burdens on our backs - we weren't built for it. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It's time to cast those cares on Him because He cares for you.

Do You Have a Heart for the Lost?

If we truly love Christ, we should love what He loves - and He loves people who are far from God. Jesus came on a search and rescue mission to seek and save the lost. Are we joining Him in that mission? Do we have a heart for "the one" who needs to come home?