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At ThriveAustin Church there are three primary ways people experience God: 

Worship – We value corporate and individual worship anywhere at anytime.
Prayer – We value prayer as the foundation of our lives and ministry.
Spirit Empowerment – We value the infilling and empowerment of God’s Spirit to enable us to do far more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Experiencing God’s presence is central to our faith and Christian life.

God is eager to be known and experienced by all. We believe that God is searching for lost humanity in order to draw us into an intimate relationship with Himself. In response to God’s initiative, we value the life-changing power of the experience of His presence.

The primary place where that relationship is nurtured and developed is in the act of worship–both private and corporate. So, experience-based worship is the central activity of all that we do in the Vineyard. It is worship that causes all else that we do to become an act of worship. We experience God’s presence as a palpable reality when we worship. As we worship we become increasingly sensitive and responsive to the Spirit’s presence so that we can do as Jesus did: “See what the Father is doing,” (John 5:19) and support His work with our lives.

The experience of God flowing out of a life of worship affects all aspects of our life so that all division between the secular and the sacred vanish. We believe that the Spirit distributes His gifts to us resulting in prophecy, prayer languages, healing, miracles and many other gifts as we joyfully experience His presence.

We value an approach to God’s presence that is respectful both of God and of those we are with. We eschew hype and other efforts to manipulate either God’s presence or the response of others to His presence.

We distinguish between the Holy Spirit and the human response which shares in all the beauty and brokenness of our humanity. We also believe that as we experience His presence through Christ by the Spirit we will be made more fully human and better reflections of the God-image that we were created to be.

At ThriveAustin Church the primary way to Discover Community is:

• Small Groups

When we talk about Community in the Vineyard we are talking about reconciliation.

Jesus is reconciling humans to God, to each other, and to the entire creation, breaking down divisions between Jew & Gentile, slave & free, male and female. Therefore, we are committed to becoming healing communities engaged in the work of reconciliation wherever sin and evil hold sway.

We seek to be diverse communities of hope that realize the power of the cross to reconcile what has been separated by sin. This requires us to move beyond our personal preferences to engage those who are perceived to be unlike us and to actively break down barriers of race, culture, gender, social class and ethnicity. We are convinced that the church, locally, nationally and globally, is meant to be a diverse community precisely because Jesus is Lord over every nation, tribe and tongue.

We are not satisfied with the status quo when it doesn’t reflect this kingdom reality, but are eager to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom here and now and to realize this mark of the kingdom in our midst.

The Community at Thrive Church is marked by the following characteristics:

• Real, honest relationships- We value intentional structures to facilitate honest relationships.
• Spiritual growth and maturity- We value an approach to spiritual growth that is always progressing and done in community.
• Passionate service- We value serving in the context of the local Christian community.
• Radical generosity- We value giving whatever we are able (time, money, energy, talent) for the cause of the advancement of God’s kingdom.
• Health-conscious – We value health for the whole person (mental, physical, financial, spiritual, relational).

With prayer, we are joining in the work of the Kingdom of God. We seek to provide a Biblical theology of prayer and to call the church to pray. Every Christian is urged to develop his/her own prayer life. We offer equipping in the area of personal prayer and we also provide opportunities in the life of our Vineyard for you to participate in community prayer.

Here are some opportunities to be strengthened in your prayer life, to receive prayer for yourself or others, and to join with the church in the work of prayer:

PRAY: The Intercessory Prayer Team meets regularly to pray for our church services, to hear from the Lord, and to intercede for needs presented to them during the week.

RECEIVE: After each service, there is an opportunity for you to receive prayer from our Prayer Ministry Teams who have been trained to pray for you.

PRAY: If you are interested in being on one of the prayer ministry teams, please simply email [email protected]. We have a variety of ways for you to get trained and on the prayer ministry teams!

RECEIVE: Gathering weekly or bi-weekly in one of our Small Groups or one of our additional church gatherings that provide many opportunities for you to be prayed for by others.

RECEIVE: We provide Extended Prayer Sessions for special needs which go beyond the time parameters of our small groups or services. Send an email to [email protected] to make an appointment for this ministry.

PRAY: Join in prayer with others in the church who receive our prayer updates by participating in our Church Prayer Email List. Just send an email to [email protected] to be added to the prayer group list.

RECEIVE: Call or email your prayer needs to the church so that we can pray for you. We are praying for you each week!

The church exists for the sake of those who are exiled from God.

We are called to bring the gospel of the kingdom to every nook and cranny of creation, faithfully translating the message of Jesus into language and forms that are relevant to diverse peoples and cultures. We to be a church that is culturally relevant in our particular setting.

We are here for those in our community not already involved in existing churches. To this end, we promote a creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative approach to ministry that is faithful to Jesus and expressive of His heart to reach those who are far away from God.

We lean toward the lost, the poor, the outcast, and the outsider with the compassion of Jesus as sinners whose only standing before God is utterly dependent on the mercy of God. This mercy can only be truly received inasmuch as we are willing to give it away. We believe that ministry in Jesus’ name should be expressed in concrete ways through the local church.

The poor are to be served as though serving Jesus Himself. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of a church expressing the love of Christ in a local community. In all forms of ministry, compassion is a hallmark of the one who was moved with compassion Himself in the face of human need. This being the age of grace and “the year of the Lord’s favor,” compassion should constitute the leading edge of our service to God, each other and a broken world. As such, we seek to avoid unauthorized judgments of others, realizing that we are all fellow sufferers and strugglers with the rest of humanity

In summary, when we talk about loving the world we are talking about being a church that is:

• Radically inclusive- We believe the invitation of Christ is wide and radically inclusive.
• Outwardly obsessed- We value people from every cultural/social background.
• Mercy-driven- We protect the poor, afflicted, and oppressed.
• Gospel-centered- We value the lost, sinful, and separated.