our name
our name comes out of acts 3:11ff and 5:12ff. the portico was solomon's portico or porch. it was the colonnade running along the outside entrance to the temple area. both these passages reveal that the portico was a public gathering place. But what is special about the portico was the not so much the place but what happened there...
holistic gospel: healings, miracles, preaching, and dialogue happened to all kinds of people especially the common and marginalized. as a result, lives were being made whole emotionally, physically, intellectually, relationally & spiritually never to be the same again.
god's story: when peter had an opportunity to be the voice of god at the portico, he explained the story of god. he began with abraham, isaac and jacob and moved through to the person & work of jesus as our hope of life & restoration with god.
when people experienced this holistic ministry and god's story they responded in very different ways. some people ran in fear while others joined this movement -known today as christianity. it is because of those who joined that the gospel advanced. what happened at the portico didn't stay there. it spread beyond the portico area, beyond the city of jerusalem and ultimately to the whole world. the blessings of being restored with God & made whole through Jesus is brought to everyone, everywhere -nobody is discriminated against or left out. this lays before us our mission as a church -to be people on mission with God in the way of Jesus, so people and cultures are redeemed with their God and transformed...just like at the portico.