The Essentials:

Where Did we get our Name?

On March 23, 2008 our church family met together at sunrise on Easter morning beside the pond at Memorial Park in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, (our “Sea of Galilee!”). It was a beautiful sunny morning! We had all been thinking about a name for our church and had already considered several possibilities, but on that morning, within our gathered group of believers, the name “Sonrise” was mentioned and a sense grew among us that we had found our church name that Easter morning by the water.

What are the essential elements that make up our church ministry?

If you attend our Sunday Worship Service and any of our church activities, you will consistently find the following four elements of ministry at Sonrise Christian Fellowship.

The Centrality of God’s Word

We are earnest in teaching and preaching the Word of God in our Sunday School, in our small group meetings and in our Sunday Worship Service. We preach and teach God’s truth as it is revealed in the context of Scripture, knowing that Scripture is Its own best interpreter. For this reason we work together through passages of Scripture in our teaching and preaching as well as consider the whole counsel of God’s word.
We also work to show how God’s truth strengthens and guides us, and meets the intellectual and moral challenges of our day, so that we can grow in our faith and in love, and live for the Lord with godly wisdom in our generation—both young people and adults.
We bring our Bibles to church because we know we will be reading and reflecting on the truths of Scripture on that morning. Our Worship Service harmonizes with the message from Scripture that is being preached on that day. The O.T. and N.T. Scripture readings and the spiritual songs and hymns work together to direct our thoughts and reflections in praise to the Lord and to the Word of the Lord.
 

A Respect for the Christian Home

As a local church, we are part of the family of God and members of the Household of Faith. It is very evident in Scripture as God progressively revealed His gracious covenant of salvation, that He looks lovingly upon the individual households of those who put their trust in Him, and He directs the believing parents to nurture and train up their children in the truths of
His word.
At Sonrise Christian Fellowship you will find that we recognize and uphold the individual Christian home, the family unit, and respect the spiritual responsibility that God has given to the parents toward their own children, so that as a church family, we desire that each family among us be a family, and follow your Christian convictions as you seek to nurture and raise your children according to God’s Word.
As God’s Household of Faith, we respect your decisions in the Lord, and how you choose to participate in our church ministry.

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2 Chronicles 20:13
All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

The Importance of Relationships

At Sonrise Christian Fellowship we believe that true discipleship and maturing in the Christian life is first dependent upon our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
It also is dependant upon our relationships with God’s people.

This requires a willingness on our part to spend time together, to get to know one another, to look out for one another, and to encourage and support each other in our Christian lives.

We seek to work together in the cause of the gospel. We realize that one cannot force relationships and friendships to take place, but we can seek to foster these relationships by seeking to be a relational people. By providing opportunities for fellowship, friendships and wholesome Christian relationships are fostered from young to old.

With this in mind we encourage families to become involved in our small group ministry where adults, young people and children are together in fellowship, in singing, in Bible study and in prayer. Our small group ministry serves as a foundational place where loving relationships are fostered in our congregation.

As a place of fellowship and mature Christian oversight, it becomes a safe haven where our young people can develop good friendships. It is a ground source for our ministry to the youth of our congregation and to our outreach into the community among adults, children and young people.
 

A People In Mission

We are committed to be a people in ministry, doing good works, reaching out to others in love and truth. The greatest need of people is spiritual, but opportunities to minister the gospel often come because of physical and emotional needs. So as we seek to show them Life’s True Bread, we also seek to encourage and assist them as we are able with these concerns.
Our hope as a church is that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be made known and shine in the hearts of others who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ—That they may come to put their trust in Him for salvation.
As we serve the Lord, we are not looking for the next program, so much as we are looking for creative and effective ways to serve and minister the gospel , to be salt and light through our individual gifts,  interests and abilities with the help of the Holy Spirit.

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Copyright © 2008 Sonrise Christian Fellowship
Last modified: 09/04/09