Things don’t feel right. And they haven’t for a while.
Constant stress and perpetual crises derail our big plans for life. Social systems designed to bless the masses crumble from ineffectiveness or corruption. Communities are split down the middle, seizing every opportunity to shout at one another rather than taking the time to find common ground.
What do we do with a world brewing with such division, confusion, and harm? And how could we ever help it heal when we have our own storms raging inside?
If life has you feeling like you’re drowning right now, you are not alone. We have felt lost, sunken, and hopeless too.
But all of that changed when we met Jesus, the burden-lifter who pulled us out of the water and shielded us from the rain. He calmed our storms and placed our feet on solid ground.
And we want the same for you.
At Grace Long Beach, you can belong to a family that will love you for you. You can catch your breath with us and get the refreshment you need for healthy living. You can discover God’s whole story for all of life and become a beacon of hope, vitality, and unity for all of Long Beach.
We don’t have to live in a world of division, confusion, and harm forever. We can find peace and flourishing for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
It’s time to hope again.
Bring your burdens to Grace Long Beach and find unshakable hope in a better future—for you, your family, and all of Long Beach.
OUR BELIEFS
GOD
GOD
We believe there is one true God, externally existent in three equally divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. Our God is both transcendent (for he rules over his creation) and immanent (for he is intimately involved in his creation). Our God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—created all things for his pleasure. In love and sovereign power, he brings about his good purpose to redeem a people for himself and to restore his fallen creation. He alone is worthy to receive all worship, praise, honor, and glory.
(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 18:30-31; Matthew 28:19; Mark 12:29; Luke 3:22; II Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 1:1-14; Romans 8:19-23; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 21-22)
GOD'S WORD
GOD'S WORD
We believe God has spoken in the Scriptures, in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible tells the true and authoritative story of God, humanity, and the world, and announces the good news of God’s great plan of redemption. It is without error in its original manuscripts in all it affirms and is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. In addition to revealing God’s plan to rescue the world, the Bible is also an active agent in his plan. Through the living and powerful Word of God, the Holy Spirit is active to bring men and women to Christ, to nourish and sustain the church, and to form his people for mission.
(Isaiah 55:11; Luke 24:2; John 10:35; Romans 1:1-2, 16-17; I Corinthians 1:18, 2:12, 15:1-3; II Timothy 3:16-4:2; I Peter 1:24-25; Hebrews 4:12; James 1:18)
GOD'S WORLD
GOD'S WORLD
We believe the world belongs to God. By his powerful Word, God brought all things into being out of nothing. The world expresses the creative genius, abundant goodness, and majestic power of God, for he is the source and sustainer of all things. We believe that we were created in God’s image to love and worship God, to live in loving community with our neighbor, and to fill the earth, exercising wise and loving stewardship over creation. However, Adam rebelled against God, plunging humanity into a world of sin, guilt, and death. As a result, humanity became alienated from God, enslaved to sin, and condemned under divine judgment. Every part of our humanity is distorted and creation itself suffers under bondage and decay. No human effort, religious system, or good work has any power to rescue us from the destructive consequences of sin.
(Genesis 1-3; Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalm 19, 24:1, 91:1, 93; Matthew 5:45; Romans 1:19-20; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3)
GOD'S REDEMPTION
GOD'S REDEMPTION
We believe—though our world is lost and broken—God has not left us; our Creator is also our Redeemer. He called Israel into being and promised that through this nation he would bring about his rescue plan for the world. His plan of redemption was brought to a climax through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, who alone is the only begotten and incarnate Son of God, born of a virgin, truly God and truly man. Through Christ, God has dealt with our sin and conquered Satan and every evil influence that spoils human life. On the cross, Jesus died in our place, bearing our sin and condemnation, so that we might be brought into favor with God and adopted as his children. On the third day, God raised Jesus bodily from the dead and enthroned him in the place of highest authority as the world’s true King and only Savior. There is salvation through no other person, creed, process, or power. Each sinner is justified before God and reconciled to God only by divine grace appropriated by faith alone.
(Genesis 12:1-3; John 1:1-3, 11-14, 3:16, 5:24, 10:28-30, 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:23-26, 5:8, 6:23, 8:19-21, 10:9-10; Galatians 1:3-4; Ephesians 2:8-10; II Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 7:24-25; I Peter 1:18-19; I John 5:11-13; Revelation 21-22)
GOD'S RESTORATION
GOD'S RESTORATION
We believe Jesus Christ will return—visibly and bodily—to judge the world and to establish his kingdom on earth. We believe all people will be resurrected to stand before the judgment of God. The redeemed will spend eternity with God in a new heaven and a new earth, while the lost will be condemned to spend eternity separated from God. On that day, God’s great victory—achieved through the cross and resurrection of Jesus—will be fully implemented in all creation. Sin and death will be destroyed, all things will be made new, and God will dwell with his people forever.
(Matthew 25:46; John 3:16, 5:24, 10:27-30; Romans 5:1, 6:23; I Corinthians 15; Philippians 2:10; I Thessalonians 1:9-10, 4:13-18; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; I John 5:13; Revelation 20:11-15, 22:3-4)
GOD'S PEOPLE
GOD'S PEOPLE
As we wait for that great day, we believe God has formed a new community to embody and to spread this good news. God’s new community—the church—is composed of people from every culture and social class who have received the grace of God by faith alone and who have entered into a new life under the rule of Jesus Christ. We believe the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church to transform us into Christ’s image, bring assurance of God’s love, provide access to God, and empower us to bear witness to the gospel through our bold and humble proclamation, our sacrificial love for one another, and our acts of justice and compassion in the world.
(John 3:5, 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26-27,John 16:7-11; Acts 1:8, 5:3-4; Romans 8:9, 14; I Corinthians 2:10-11, 6:11, 6:19, 12:4-13; II Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:16-18, 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14, 2:18, 4:1-6, 5:18-21; Colossians 3:1-11)
our CORE VALUES
“WE ARE A COMMUNITY OF THE NEW CREATION, LIVING OUT OF THE GOSPEL, FOR THE FLOURISHING OF ALL.”
LIFE TOGETHER
LIFE TOGETHER
We want to be together. We believe following Jesus is a communal activity which brings us into loving, honest relationships. In joy and grief, we come alongside each other and practice care for one another. We are committed to being a family, which means we embrace our generational and theological differences. We also acknowledge our need for each other — our diverse gifts and different voices — to become more like Christ and to embody his life.
CHRIST IN ALL LIFE
CHRIST IN ALL OF LIFE
We make sense of all of life in light of the story of God revealed in Scripture and embodied in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christ is at the center of all that we are, all that we do, and all that we aspire to. We’re committed to following Jesus in our vocations, creative endeavors, and cultural engagement. Our faith and love for Jesus involve the daily stuff of life — how we live in relationship to others, how we steward time, finances, gifts, and whatever else God entrusts to us. We do all this with hope that in Christ, God is making all things new.
THOUGHTFUL
THOUGHTFUL
We believe that following Jesus entails deep thoughtfulness in our engagement with Scripture and God’s world. This means that we value beauty and creativity and are open to God’s activity in all of creation. We ask difficult questions and are willing to engage the tensions of living out Christian faith in a complex world. In our teaching, learning, and worship we expect intellectual honesty, carefulness, and curiosity.
GENUINE
GENUINE
We want to be real people, honest about who we are and the ways we mess up. We believe that God invites and engages our whole human experience. In response, we work to bring our entire selves — strengths and weaknesses, joys and sorrows, beauty and brokenness — before God and one another. Anchored in God’s grace, we risk openness, honesty, and vulnerability.
NEXT GENERATION
NEXT GENERATION
We take seriously our call to pass on the faith to the children and youth that God has entrusted to us. This takes a village, which means people of all life stages are involved and invested in discipling the next generation. We give time, money, and care towards this effort and include children and youth in the life of our community, so that they might encounter the generous love of God and know that they have a part to play.
Meet Our Staff
OUR STAFF
Meet our Elders
Elders at Grace serve alongside staff to lead and pastor our community, exercising general oversight and spiritual authority to faithfully nurture and steward the spiritual health and vitality of this local body of believers.
An asterisk* indicates a member of the Executive Board of Elders.
** Currently on sabbatical
An asterisk* indicates a member of the Executive Board of Elders.
** Currently on sabbatical
Elder FAQ’s
Our monthly elder meetings are open to anyone who would like to observe.
Email office@gracelb.org for details if you would like to attend.
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An elder is someone recognized and affirmed by the membership of Grace to serve our community in several particular ways: To come alongside us pastorally, to listen to us and lead us toward Christ, to equip us to live out God’s calling for us (both individually and collectively), and to attend to the organizational needs of the church community.
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Grace recognizes men and women of demonstrated good character, who meet the Biblical qualifications (I Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9), and who serve in a leadership position in the church. Potential elders must be members of Grace for at least 2 years and desire the position of elder.
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Due to the weighty responsibility of being an elder, the process to become an elder at Grace is extensive. You can look at the detailed process here, but the first step is for a person to express a desire to become an elder and to request that a current elder mentor them through the process.
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The elders’ role is to help lead the church to fulfill its mission to be a community of the new creation, living out the gospel, for the flourishing of all. They do so by exercising their giftedness (teaching, pastoring, discipling) and governing the business of the church.
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The Executive Board of Elders (EBOE) holds direct authority over the Lead Pastoral Team (LPT) and holds them accountable to lead the ministry of the church with effectiveness and integrity. The LPT is delegated the authority to maintain and manage the church staff. In addition, LPT members can serve as elders but not on the EBOE, thus preventing them from voting on business issues of the church that would create a conflict of interest.
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The EBOE functions as a board of directors for the business of church. EBOE members vote on items of church business as defined by the church's bylaws. EBOE terms are limited and elders rotate on and off of the board.
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Yes, elder meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend. Occasionally, business of a private matter may come to the EBOE. These matters are held during executive session and are not open to the public.