At Second Avenue, What is our PURPOSE?
We are striving for the transformation of lives in Jesus Christ – our own lives and others.
What do we mean by transformed lives?
There is the You that you are today. There is the You God created you to be. Transformation is the work of moving from where we are today to become the all that God has designed you to be. It takes your own disciplined thinking, choosing and practicing. However, Jesus has defeated sin and God’s Holy Spirit has come to us to comfort, strengthen and guide us into the abundant life Jesus promised.
How do we strive for this transformation in our own lives and each other?
We are involved in the following three activities : (one or more from each of the three)
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- Nurture in Community – (Learning God’s ways together)
- Small Groups including our youth groups
- Sunday schools
- Bible studies
- Outreach to Community (Loving others in word and deed)
- The R.O.C.K.
- Mission –
(Community Restoration/Indiana/Sierra Leone/El Salvador) - Block Party
- Summer VBS
- Hope Chest
- Worship as Community – (Lifting Jesus and being drawn to him)
- Traditional
- Contemporary
- Children’s Church
- Nurture in Community – (Learning God’s ways together)
Through the Nurture, Outreach and Worship (NOW) activities, we — N) Learn God’s ways,
– O) Love Others in word and deed, and
– W) Lift up Jesus and are being drawn to him.
It should be noted that we as a church do more than the above list. The above list is simply where we most intentionally strive for transformation of ourselves and others. Beyond the above list are many support ministries where we may serve to help others take advantage of Nurture, Outreach, Worship (NOW) activities. We offer fellowship opportunities and other types of outreach. Many of these additional activities are fruit born of the time we spend intentionally seeking Jesus Christ for transformation in our NOW activities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is Second Ave all about? Why do you we? What is our purpose?
A. We are striving for the transformation of lives in Jesus Christ – our own lives and others.
Q. What do you mean transformed lives? What kinds of transformation are you striving for?
A. We believe that God wants all of us – all humans – to flourish in life, and to be all God created us to be. Furthermore, we believe God has done everything necessary for us to both live a whole and flourishing life and to invite others into that life.
Jesus Christ tells us, “I am the Way, The Truth, and the Life.” Jesus has proven that truth to us over and over again. Furthermore, Jesus says, “I have come that you might have life, and have it to the fullest.” Through pursuing a connected and faithful relationship with Jesus, The Holy Spirit transforms us to be what God has designed us to be – flourishing human beings.
This also leads us to invite others into that transforming relationship. This transformation does not happen instantaneously but it is a journey we take intentionally, through disciplined thinking and choosing and practicing together – in community.
At Second Avenue we live 3 nurture activities, 5 outreach activities and 3 worship activities that are intentionally designed to facilitate life transformation in community.
Q. How do you do that? What specifically do people of Second Avenue do to see God transform lives?
A. As a Church, our emphases is in three areas that are designed to offer transformation in Jesus Christ: Nurture, Outreach and Worship. We sometimes short-hand that “NOW”. NOW is a great word because this is what we are about right now and at any point in time – this is the most urgent thing to us – strive for our lives and others transformed by Jesus Christ.
Q. What do you mean by Nurture? How does Nurture work? How are lives changed in your Nurture activities?
A. Nurture is a process of caring for and striving for each other’s growth in faith. Through participation in nurture activities we are growing to be more like our Lord Jesus Christ and bringing each other along. There are THREE ways we purposefully seek to be nurtured and to nurture others in Jesus Christ.
1) We offer Small Groups that meet for fellowship, Bible Study and to challenge each other to greater faith and faithfulness in tangible ways. This includes our youth groups for grades 7-12.
2) We conduct Sunday schools for all ages during the 9:30 hour. These also offer fellowship but are focused on learning about God and being faithful to God’s instruction– we have nursery during that time so all can participate.
3) We offer various Bible studies within our faith community. These offer Bible knowledge but also explore and encourage faithful Christian living.
We ask members and regulars at Second Avenue to be actively involved in nurturing and being nurtured by participation in one or more of these three opportunities.
Q. What do you mean by Outreach? How does Outreach work? How are lives changed in your Outreach activities?
A. Outreach is the way we reach beyond our faith community to share the love of God and the message of Jesus in both word and deed. It is actively inviting others into lives transformed by Jesus Christ. When we reach out, we too are changed because we experience God’s Spirit working through us. There are five Outreach initiatives on which we focus. In descending order of annual hours needed to conduct these outreach ministries, they are:
1) The R.O.C.K. which stands for Reaching Out To Community Kids. This is an after-school ministry for children in Pre-K through 12th grade. The R.O.C.K provides a home-cooked meal, a relevant and exciting lesson, crafts, gym-time, games and various other activities for the children.
2) Our Missions: Our Community Restoration Mission (local) Indiana Mission (national) Sierra Leone/El Salvador Mission (international)
3) Block Party: On a Saturday in mid-August we close the street beside the church and offer games, food, music, a rummage sale, climbing wall, bounce house and many other attractions to make for a fun day in our neighborhood
4) Summer VBS: For a week of evenings in early June, we open our doors to children for Activities, Bible lessons, crafts, and food
5) The Hope Chest: We maintain a large store of children’s clothing . Shoppers may come as frequently as once every three months and the clothing is free.
We ask that members and attenders serve in one or more of these outreach initiatives AND invite friends, relatives, associates and neighbors to avail themselves of these as well.
Q. What do you mean by Worship? How does Worship work?
A. Worship is the act of honoring and celebrating who God is to us and for us. We regularly gather as a faith community to worship God. In the experience to worship we find ourselves transformed by God’s Spirit and we enter God’s presence in honor and praise, prayer and humility.
1) Traditional Worship- 8:15am: We offer a traditional worship service where an organ and piano play, where we sing hymns and join in responsive worship readings. We hear a message, from the Bible usually presented by our pastor.
2) Contemporary Worship 10:45am: We offer a contemporary worship service with a praise band and with drama and worship dance. We hear a message, from the Bible usually presented by our pastor. Both traditional and contemporary services also incorporate video as video is such a significant part of our lives.
3) Children’s Church: We offer a time for our children to both learn and to experience worship of God. It occurs during our contemporary worship service. We dismiss our children after an opening time of praise and worship songs. They are taught what it is to worship God.
We ask members and regulars at Second Ave to be actively involved in worshiping and supporting the worship of our faith community.
2nd Ave Church 