CORE VALUES
We unashamedly and uncompromisingly strive to be a church where:
GOD IS FIRST
From our leadership, to what’s true of every partner in this church, God is first. First in our day to day lives, first in our relationships, and even first in our finances. He has showed us His love and His pursuit for us, and that makes us worship Him with everything we are and have.
BIBLICALLY BASED
The foundation of everything we do is grounded in scripture. We strive to live like the scriptures call us to live, and we operate from what God has given us as the church in the scriptures.
WE DON'T GO TO CHURCH, WE ARE THE CHURCH.
This is our culture, and we believe this is the life Christ died for. If you just want to go to church somewhere to check a box, go home to live however you want, and go to heaven when you die, then we hope to show you that there’s so much more to this Christian life than that, and you’re missing out on the joy, fulfillment, peace, security and the life that God created you for. We live out being the church in 3 major areas: We attend Sunday services, we serve our church (the body of believers, not the building) by using the gifts God has given us, and we engage in Lifegroup, living out authentic biblical community.
RESULTS DRIVEN CHURCH
We know that we can’t change anyone. Only God, who draws them, Jesus, who died for them, and the Holy Spirit, that convicts them, changes people. But we will do everything we can to create environments, hire staff and create programs that use the best efforts and gifts of everyone to point to Jesus, so life change is happening. If we don’t see conversions, baptisms, repentance, people overcoming sin struggles, marriages saved, relationships restored, etc, then something is wrong, and we’re not living out the great commission to the best of our ability.
RELEVANT TO THE CULTURE AROUND US
We will never do something just because we have always done it, because of one simple truth: “If you always do what you’ve always done, than you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” We don’t want what we have always gotten; we want to do everything we can to reach people. Lives are at stake, not our traditions, and we take you, your kids, and your family’s salvation seriously.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME
We don’t care if you’re going through a divorce, struggling with addiction, you just got out of jail, you’re gay...you’re welcome here. Our mission is to help you find and follow Christ. From reading that, you might think “oh wow they’ll let everyone walk in here.” The answer is yes, we will, because we all fall short of the grace of God and through faith are saved. Faith is available to anyone who believes. We don’t “pray” for you in the walls, but push you out of them. We invite you in and show you Jesus, and the biblical life He’s calling you to.
OUR BELIEFS
THE BIBLE
We believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, as well as the supreme and final authority in doctrine and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21; John 17:17).
THE TRINITY
We believe that there is one God, that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are each God, and that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are each a distinct person. All are equal in unity, essence, nature, and attributes (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; see also 1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 2:9 & Acts 5:3-4, John 1:1-14).
JESUS CHRIST
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God, fulfill prophecy, and redeem sinful man. We believe He accomplished our redemption through His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, burial, and bodily resurrection. We believe our redemption and salvation are guaranteed by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead and that He is the only means of salvation (John 1:1, 14, 18; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Timothy 2:5).
We believe that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the Creator, and Sustainer of heaven and earth, and the Head of the church. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted to the right hand of God where, as High Priest to His people, He serves as our Advocate and intercedes for us (Colossians 1:15-19; Hebrews 1:3; 3:1; 7:23-25; 1 John 2:1-2).
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe God the Holy Spirit is a person who restrains evil in the world and convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He dwells in all who believe in Jesus. From the moment of belief in the Son, the Spirit baptizes believers into the body, seals them for salvation, regenerates them to new life, bestows spiritual gifts on each one, and is fully present to continually fill (control and guide) His own (John 16:7-11; John 3:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 13; John 14:16-17; Ephesians 4:30, 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
MAN
We believe man was created innocent and in the image and likeness of God, but that man sinned, bringing both physical and spiritual death to himself and his posterity (Genesis 1:27, 2:17, 3:19), can do nothing to merit God’s favor and as such is in need of salvation. (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23).
We believe that mankind’s sinful nature is rebellious toward God, and His good design for life and worship (Romans 1:20-24; Ephesians 2:1-3). Mankind’s rebellion causes confusion about good and evil, and harm to people ultimately ending in judgment, despair and death. (Genesis 1:31; Galatians 5:16-21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; James 1:13-15).
We believe God created mankind in His image, forming each person in the womb from conception (Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 44:2, 49:5; Jeremiah 1:4-5) until the point of death when they breathe their last (Genesis 25:8; Luke 23:46); and assigning gender to His people, male (man) and female (woman), as He created them sexually and biologically different, but with equal personal dignity and value (Genesis 1:26-28).
We believe that God loves and pursues mankind despite our rebellion (Romans 5:8). He offers forgiveness, healing and abundant life to anyone who turns to Him in humility. (John 3:17, 10:10; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Peter 5:6-7)
SALVATION
We believe salvation is a sovereign gift of God and is received by man through personal faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for sin. We believe man is justified by grace through faith apart from works (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 1:4-5 & 2:8-10). We believe that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation and that no one is saved apart from a conscious and personal decision to trust in Christ as his or her one and only Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-10). We believe all true believers elect of God, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever (Romans 8:1, 29-30, 38-39; John 10:27-30).
THE SECOND COMING
We believe in the future, visible, and bodily return of Jesus Christ to the earth, commonly called the Second Coming, to rule the nations and establish His kingdom on earth (Philippians 3:20; Matthew 24:15-31; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-21).
OUR HISTORY
The major events leading up to the founding of Lifeway Church are as follows:
Craig and Debbie Walker, and Jeremy and Diana Walker moved to Celina in 2006. They felt called to start a church, a church different from regular churches, a church that wanted to reach the lost as much as they wanted to grow the believer.
On February 10th, 2008, Lifeway had its very first service committed to helping people find and follow Christ. In 3 years, Lifeway grew to 350 people with two services on Sundays. Unfortunately, somewhere along the 3-year road, the church became divided, people lost confidence in leadership, and a mass exodus happened. By year 5, the church was totaling only 80 people.
At this time, God gave Craig a new vision, a new motivation and a new calling. With renewed energy, Craig went forward to rebuild the church God was calling him to create. By year 6, Craig knew God was calling him to hire someone that would help push Lifeway in the direction God was calling it to go.
He hired Josh Price as the new Youth Pastor. The youth ministry grew from 10-12 students to 120 within a year. Shortly after, Neal McNutt was hired to lead Worship, bringing a whole new musical feel and level to the church.
In 2016, we hired Mike Rutig as the Connections Pastor, with a passion for assimilation and LifeGroups.
In 2017, Craig and Debbie felt they had restored God’s church to where He wanted them to, and they were called away to Colorado.
Craig placed Josh Price as the new Lead Pastor at Lifeway, fully believing that Josh was the one God was calling to that role.
In 2018, we brought Anthony Gonzales on as our full time youth pastor. In 2021, Jordan Verhoek joined the team as the new full-time Children’s Pastor, bringing energy and excitement to a fun, safe and engaging children’s environment. In 2022, we hired on Sam Retherford as
God is doing big things here. Come and see where you fit in to this community of believers we call Lifeway Church.