Old Town Bible Church | Scottsdale, AZ

• Heath Taylor
• Jul 28, 2009
• Series: Church Profiles

Old Town Bible Church

Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Launch Date: October 2006 

Mission, Vision, Values of Church

Passion: Our passion is to see the glory of God displayed through the transformed lives of people who’ve been rescued from His wrath and are redeemed by the blood of Christ.

Purpose: Our two-fold purpose is as follows: 1) To be people who take the gospel of Christ into our neighborhoods, our community, our country and around the world. 2) To build a community of called out Christians who worship God, love one another deeply and share a passion for the Great Commission.

Principles:

The Gospel

We value the message of the gospel. It is God’s way of dispensing irresistible grace to broken sinners and bringing them to a faith in Christ. This gospel of grace through faith in Christ satisfies His wrath against our sin. The gospel is this: Christ died for sinners to rescue them from God’s wrath. We strive to proclaim this message to all whom God in His sovereignty places in our path.

The Glory of God

We are passionate about God’s glory because He is passionate about His glory. He tells us so in numerous texts. (Ps. 115:1, Isa. 48:9-11, Isa. 43:7, Ps. 79:9, John 12:27) We patiently wait in anticipation for God to fulfill His promise in Habakkuk 2:14, “For the Earth will be filled with of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters cover the sea.” His glory is indescribable and we strive to passionately reflect and display it, until it permanently covers all things.

Extravagant Generosity

As followers of Christ we know that everything we have is His. All of it. Everything. We understand that our gifts, time, talent, money, possessions, and relationships come from Him and should be centered in Him. This frees us to be extravagantly generous with ourselves and our stuff. We can give because Christ first gave Himself for us. Our goal is to use all that God has given us to bring glory to Him as the gracious giver of all things.

Biblical Grace

We want to be a people who extend Biblical grace to sinners and saints alike. The Bible says that all who are saved are saved by grace. Grace that God initiates and gives us as His irrevocable gift. Christians are called to live in this God-given grace and extend it to one another in love. We want to be a church that practices Biblical grace in our fellowship together in hopes that the effect will transform the community in which God has sovereignty placed us and called us to serve.

Planter Profile

Heath & Lisa Taylor [blog]

Tell us about your calling to plant a church.

God called me to plant a church in Scottsdale, Arizona. After praying through it, discussing it with my family and others in my life, we obeyed God and moved to Arizona in October 2006.

How did you build up your core?

We took an existing but struggling church of about forty and began with them.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)?

As an official, 're-plant', our biggest struggle was deconstructing the existing but failed vision and getting people to embrace a new vision and missional mindset.

How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network?

We partnered with Acts 29 after conversations with an existing A29 church planter that met as a monthly church planting forum in our area.

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant?

Be very sure that you are being called by God and not yourself, your ego or your frustration with the existing church where you are serving. Church planting is like opening an independent coffee bar ... it's romantic and idealistic, but incredibly difficult to pull off.

What is your philosophy of community in your church and what does that look like practically?

Our philosophy it to believe the gospel, live the gospel, proclaim the gospel and freely share the gospel. That looks like seeking out and developing relationships with nonbelievers in our community where we live, work and play and intentionally bringing the gospel to bear in their lives by being continually involved with them.

What is your philosophy of evangelism in your church and what does that look like practically?

We proclaim the unchanging gospel message of the cross in differing ways to those nonbelievers we intentionally interact with. We bring the truth of the gospel to bear on the situations our non- believeing friends are struggling with. (marriage, health, finances, relationships, ect.)

How do you personally disciple your family?

My wife and I read through the Bible together and simply talk quite a bit about the things we read or struggle with in relationship to the Bible and theology. We read through the Bible and memorize verses with our children as well as pray with them and we are intentional about talking to them about Jesus.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church?

God has been gracious to us in providing finances and people to sustain and grow our church. The most impressive thing to me as a pastor has been to identify needs and weaknesses, pray that God would provide strength and solutions and then to watch Him provide the people in the body with the right gifts to serve and grow us. Two years in, I can honestly say that it is God that grows His church according to His will and not the gifts of a visionary pastor / leader. It's His church and He is in control

How can we pray for you?

That God would continue to grow our church according to His good will and that we would continue to rely upon the Holy Spirit as our source of guidance, vision, strategy and power.