Global Missions at Cedar Springs

Our Core Values

• Relevant communication: We are called by God to use the cultural norms and forms of society, be it here in Knoxville or on the other side of the world, to say what is timeless.  God rescuing his lost creation through the sacrifice of his Son is timeless. The way that is communicated depends on the culture. The message does not change, the form of communicating the message must change.
• Creation of self-replicating churches: When Jesus wanted to change the world, he assembled a group of disciples as quickly as possible and then spent the rest of his time on earth teaching them how to copy him. He then left them to get on with it. When Paul continued the mandate he used exactly the same strategy. He assembled a small group of followers, trained them sufficiently and then moved on. The strategy is a virtuous cycle of cell (church) replication. A small group forms and then divides (by sending workers out) to create more groups that divide again.
• Working with indigenous Christians: In foreign missions we believe that the church needs to be indigenous from the start. It is not the role of the missionary to lead the church. It is the role of the missionary to create disciples who become mature enough to lead the church. Paul never stayed long in one location. He created churches and then moved on, entrusting the new church to the believers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For instance, he commissioned Titus to establish elders in Crete. Those elders led the church
  Where a church already exists in a mission field, we seek to work alongside the church and not by-pass it.
• Least reached focus: We believe that Christ will not return until every tribe and tongue, that is people group, has had a chance to hear the gospel. We are concerned that the vast majority of the money spent on mission by the United States church is spent on the already evangelized peoples. While we believe that it is legitimate to continue to spend money in these areas, it is imperative that American churches step up to the challenge of applying resources in areas where people currently have no access to hearing the gospel.
• Knoxville community: While we believe God is calling us to take the gospel to people across the world who have never heard it, we also believe we have a special responsibility to lead people in Knoxville into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. The people of Knoxville are our “neighbors”. God has established the basis of a relationship between us and the residents of Knoxville because of our proximity with each other. Therefore, we must find culturally relevant ways of telling God’s story to these people.