At Antioch Asheville…

• We love from fellowship with the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Our example of love through fellowship with the Triune God is displayed by Jesus, who continually withdrew to be with the Father, was secure in the Father’s love, and submitted to His will. From that place, He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to display perfect love to others in His daily life, death, and resurrection. In light of Jesus’ example of fellowship with the trinity, we are commissioned to love one another. This love comes through continually abiding in the love of the triune God, pursuing the will of the Father and imitating the person of Jesus through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 13:14, John 5:19, John 15, Galatians 5, Romans 8:15, 1 John 3:23-24, John 17, Deuteronomy 6:5, Genesis 2:4, Genesis 1:1-3, John 14:8-14, John 14:25-26, John 20:21-23

• We love with Empowering Humility and Radical Honor

Jesus loved us by leaving heaven, entering into the lives of sinners, serving the marginalized, experiencing temptation and submitting to death for the sake of raising us up in righteousness. Jesus’ Empowering Humility is characterized by a heart full of meekness, patience, and mercy. His Radical Honor is grounded in sacrificial love and demonstrated through generosity, and hospitality. By following the Empowering Humility and Radical Honor of Jesus Christ we humbly embrace compassion, forgiveness, and a heart free from condemnation as essential to living life with Jesus. We honor the God given worth of every individual and value their interests above our own by serving one another and the wider community, extending patience and hospitality to all.

Philippians 2:1-4, Ephesians 4: 1-6, Colossians 3:8-17, James 3:13-18, Romans 12:10

• We love by Restoring Identity

We believe every person is made in the image of God with purpose and intention but is not experiencing the fullness of their God given identity because of the brokenness of humanity.  Jesus revealed, reconciled, and restored our identity through his life, death, and resurrection. We continue the work of Christ by partnering with the Spirit to encourage one another towards our true identities. We do this through the ministry of reconciliation by walking together in radical forgiveness, Spirit led repentance, and speaking truth in love, so that we may experience the fullness and freedom of God’s love and purpose. 

Ephesians 2:1–22, Ephesians 4:22-32, Psalm 139:13-16, Genesis 1:27-31, Luke 22:31–32, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, Romans 8:19-21, Colossians 1:19-22, Romans 5:9-11, Jeremiah 29:11-14, 1 Thessalonians 5:11

• We love through Vulnerable Commitment

God’s example of vulnerable commitment is shown through His continual pursuit of humanity throughout the Biblical story. Jesus gave of himself radically when he entered humanity and walked intimately with followers who accepted his invitation to become a kingdom family. Likewise, we commit to vulnerably devoting ourselves to one another, pursuing each other in our shortcomings, and generously giving the resources that God has given us so that in all these things we may fully embody the person and family Jesus is forming us into.

Exodus 34:10; Jeremiah 31:34; Philippians 2:6-8; 1 John 1:6; James 5:11; Galatians 6:2; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 4:32-37