In Isaiah 7:14 God prophesied that a
"virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name
Immanuel" (God is with us). In John 1:14 the disciple whom Jesus loved
tells us, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen His glory, glory as of the only Father, full of grace and truth."
The gospel is relational in nature and therefore at the portico we see
relationships as central to who we are and what we do. Rather than
pursuing event driven ministry that often calls people to a central
location and that can tend to encourage people to remain anonymous, we
endeavor to decentralize the ministry of the portico so that we can
better relationally engage our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers
and fellow students. To that end we see life together as the primary
vehicle for discipleship and evangelism in our community and in our
world.
Spiritual growth and maturity must be the goal of every
true follower of Jesus. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to be "transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God
is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." We
believe that God-pleasing worship stems from a right understanding of
who God declares Himself to be in scripture. We also believe that as
followers we must devote ourselves to the process of intentional
learning in order to be more fully prepared to effectively live out and
share the good news of Jesus.
Serving others is an integral part of our Christian
faith. In John 13, Jesus tangibly demonstrated His humility and love
for His disciples by washing their feet, and in so doing said, “I
have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done
to you.” In serving others we find the humility and “death
to self” which Jesus has told us is a proof of our discipleship.
We must seek to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others as
concrete expressions of our love for God and for our neighbors as well.
