Seven Hills We Die On
some hills are worth taking
As a church, we believe that if something is worth living for, it's worth dying for.
Cullman County has a lot of hills. In fact, Cullman sits on top of Brindley Mountain plateau, an offshoot of Sand Mountain and the southernmost tip of the Appalachians.
If you're familiar with military tactics (or have seen your share of war movies) you probably know that hilltops are the best vantage point. But in order to take a hill from the enemy you have to storm it. These are the hills we die on.
Authenticity
We believe we can't be what God has called us to be if we play games with each other. We believe in being real with ourselves and with each other. It is spiritually healthy for us to share our faults and weaknesses and not fake it. So whether it happens on stage or in our homes, with us, what you see is what you get. That's authenticity, just being real.
(From Philippians 3:17 in the Bible)
Biblical Truth
Catalyst is a place for people on every part of the spiritual journey, from those just investigating whether there is a God to those who have made following Christ the priority of their life. The Bible presents a dangerous message of life change. We don't assume everyone believes, or even knows the Bible, but we do assume everyone who comes through our doors is open to exploring it. We believe the Bible is God's inerrant truth and it's the foundation to everything we do.
(From 2 Timothy 3:16 in the Bible)
Culturally Current Communication
When Jesus was teaching, he used the current language and the daily life experiences of those around him to communicate truth. The challenge is that the Bible was written a long time ago for people in another culture. But that doesn't mean it's not relevant to us today. It just means we need to do some work to connect the truths of the Bible to our modern day lives. Catalyst is a place that helps connect those who are exploring God's love and truth. That's what we mean by "culturally current communication."
(From Ecclesiastes 12:10 in the Bible)
Doing Life Together
We're about real relationships. We're not interested in being a place where people gather on the weekend but never move beyond casual acquaintances. We grow by doing life together. People who grow in their relationship with God also grow in their friendships with each other. We begin in the weekend experience, move into small group environments, and serve together as a community.
(From Hebrews 10:24-25 in the Bible)
Excellence
We don't believe in striving for unrealistic perfection. Real excellence is about bringing your best to God's work and to life in general. We want to bring our "A-game" to everything that we do, whether it's our communication and music, how we hold babies in the nursery or how we take care of our resources, we want it to reflect excellence for Christ.
(From Malachi 1 in the Bible)
Freedom
We don't like condemnation. Jesus was about freedom. He was about freeing people from their religious baggage and their destructive lifestyles by offering grace. We want to be a church that does the same thing. We know that many people believe Christianity is a bunch of "do this, don't do that" rules. That's not the message of Jesus. We aim to be a community that breaks the stereotype by the way we live our lives, like Jesus did. We want to be people who understand life has its ups and downs and that it's OK to make mistakes. We all make them. The difference is in where we land. Around here, we land on grace.
(From Luke 4:18 in the Bible)
Growth
Catalyst is a safe place for everyone. We make no assumptions about where a person is on their spiritual journey. We don't expect anyone who walks into Catalyst to be a committed Christ-follower, but we do expect everyone who is around our community for any length of time to be growing. Safe doesn't mean comfortable. The answers aren't always comfortable. Sometimes we can only grow when we are pushed out of our comfort zone.
(From Colossians 1:10 in the Bible)
The 7 Hills We Die On help us accomplish our mission as a church. We pursue God, love people and serve others.
