Welcome!  We’re grateful you took the time to explore The Vail Church. We know that stepping into a church for the first time can be unnerving. At TVC, Jesus Christ is the center of all that we do and all that we pursue.  He alone changes our lives from the inside-out. One of the primary ways we grow in our love for Him is through our weekend worship services and ministries. The adult services are designed to celebrate and engage our Lord through contemporary worship and re-arranged hymns; to learn and hear from Him through His word and to place our lives before Him in prayer.  We want to fall deeper in love with Christ and foster a climate where He can sharpen our minds, transform our hearts, and empower our hands to know Him and make Him known. Additionally, our Children and Youth Ministries break down in classrooms to learn and grow in Christ through worship, community and age-appropriate curriculum.

We are a non-denominational, Bible-centered, elder-governed, staff-led and people-empowered church that has the privilege of serving people from all over the world who come to experience this beautiful place called the Vail Valley. As such, you will find a very diverse group of people in age, stage-of-life, spiritual background and maturity.  We love the fact that on any given Sunday there are people who range from the skeptical to the exploring to the committed. Though our preaching is unapologetically Bible-centered, we strive to do so in a way that is both fully accurate and yet personally relevant and practical.  You might find us working through a book of the Bible verse-by-verse or a topical series in Scripture that addresses the many practical issues we face in our spiritual lives.

The dress is casual, the culture is friendly and gracious, the coffee and doughnuts are fresh, but above all the gospel of Jesus Christ is consistently elevated for it is the Good News of salvation in Christ (Romans 1:16)!  In light of that, we think you will fit right in…regardless of where you find yourself spiritually on your first Sunday with us. As for getting connected to others through Small Groups, Bible Studies, and service opportunities, take a look around our website and get a feel for the many ways you can grow and serve during the week.  Hope to see you soon…

With love in Christ,

Pastor Craig

God

We believe that there is only one living and true God, who exists in three distinct persons—God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three, the Trinity, are equal in essence and distinct in function (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19).

The Father

The first person of the Trinity orders and directs all things according to his purpose and pleasure. He has created humanity to bring him glory and honor, through His grace. While he is transcendent, he is also actively involved in his creation—offering an eternal relationship with us through his Son Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:9; John 5:19-24; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2:1-10).

The Son

Jesus Christ is both the eternal Son of God and virgin-born Son of man. Fully God, fully man, he surrendered nothing of his deity during his earthly life. His sinless, sacrificial offering on the cross satisfied the Father’s justice, offering atonement for all of humanity’s sins, for all time. We believe in his bodily resurrection, his physical ascension, and his visible return back to earth to establish his earthly kingdom (John 1:14-18; I Corinthians 15; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 2:9; Revelation 20:11-15).

The Holy Spirit

The third person of the Trinity executes the will of God in this world through humanity, by leading, guiding, filling, teaching, and convicting. The Holy Spirit is not merely an impersonal force, but is a person, displaying the qualities of personhood (intellect, emotions and will). He equips believers upon conversion by giving them gifts to be used for the building up of the church, and by bearing fruit through their yielded lives (John 16:5-16; I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 2:10; John 3:1-8; Ephesians 1:1; Galatians 5:16-25).

Humanity

We were created in the image of God, destined to enjoy an intimate relationship with God, fulfilling his will here on earth. But because of Adam and Eve’s willful sin in the garden sin entered into the world, and has infected all of humanity. Therefore, because of our inherent sinful nature received from our father Adam, we are all separated from God, spiritually dead, and destined for physical death and an eternity removed from God (Genesis 1-3; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3; Romans 5; Ephesians 2:1-3).

Salvation

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins as the only sufficient sacrifice, offering the atonement of sins for all mankind through his death, burial and resurrection. While salvation is available to all, it is only experienced by those who respond to his gracious gift by faith apart from works. For those who do respond we are regenerated and baptized by the Holy Spirit, becoming children of God, given a new nature and placed into the universal body of Christ, making us eternally secure in him. As a result of our new relationship with God through his Son Jesus, we are now called to a life of submission to the Holy Spirit, manifesting spiritual fruit, and walking in good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to do (John 14:6; Titus 3:4-7; Acts 4:12; John 1:12; Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-9; Hebrews 10:10-12; I John 5:11-13; Galatians 3:26; John 3:16).

The Scriptures

We believe that every word in the original writings is inspired by God and is without error. The Word of God reveals God’s nature and will for all of humanity, and because of this it is to be the foundation of faith and practice. We affirm that while the Scriptures are accurate in all matters it was never given to be an end in and of itself, but rather a means to a relationship with God. Because of this the authority and teaching of Scriptures will have a preeminent place in our church (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21; Hebrews 4:12; John 17:17).

The Church

For all who have placed their faith in God through His Son Jesus Christ, they are a part of the universal body of believers known as the church. This placement of the believer into the universal church requires an association of the believer with other followers of Christ in a local assembly. The purpose of the local church is to lead people to Christ and to bring them to maturity in Christ. The members of the local church are to live their lives in humble submission to other Spirit led believers, and to the God appointed leaders of the church. The Vail Church is an autonomous local assembly that is led by Jesus Christ, who gives direction as the head of this body through a body of appointed elders (Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:41-47; I Corinthians 12-14; Matthew 28-18-20; Ephesians 2:19-22; I Thessalonians 4:15-17).

The Future

We believe that the next great event in human history will be the return of Jesus Christ for His children. This is the blessed hope for all followers of Jesus Christ. While this event is a prophetic truth of Scripture, we acknowledge that the point of Christ’s return is not for the believer to passively await this event, but to labor with all of our might in the power of the Spirit to fulfill his will in our lives through righteous living, evangelism and discipleship. After the return of Christ those who accepted God’s gracious gift of salvation will worship God forever in heaven. Those who did not will spend an eternity separated from Him in hell. (Matthew 24:36; I Thessalonians 4:15-17; John 14:1-3; Matthew 24-25).

Non-essentials

We affirm that the doctrines of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and salvation by grace through faith make up the essential, distinctive nature of Christianity. In regards to these essential doctrines there can be no conflicting opinions of those who call themselves true followers of Christ. However, we do acknowledge that there are peripheral or non-essential doctrines that are important, but not critical to the follower of Christ as it relates to our salvation. Some of these doctrines include the specific functions of women in ministry, the exact timing and nature of the rapture, extent and use of certain spiritual gifts, the relationship between election and free-will in salvation, etc. While our church will be diligent to establish positions as it relates to these non-essentials we will not allow these peripheral doctrines to cause division within the church. We will accept into our body those who have differing views on the non-essential doctrines, but will not allow those of a different opinion to fracture the church. While we celebrate diversity along all lines (racial and theological), we will ultimately pursue the unity of the church.  The heart of our church embraces the call of the early reforms when they scribed: “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity”.

We strive to value that which God values and seek to promote His values through the various ministries and programs that make up The Vail Church.

We value ::

The Gospel: that which Jesus saves us from and that which Jesus saves us for.

God’s Word: we want to learn it and live it.

Christ’s church: it remains the hope of the world.

God’s grace: we have received much and we want to extend it the same.

God’s gift of community: loving and being loved, serving and being served, knowing and being known.

God’s gift of unity: we seek to maintain it and promote it beyond our walls.

God’s mission: seeking, serving and extending the love of Christ to those outside the family of faith.

Spiritual growth and maturity: becoming like Christ.

Good spiritual leadership: those who are healthy, holy and humble.

Leadership development: equipping men and women to serve well in accordance with their gifts and talents.

Good stewardship: utilizing God’s resources with integrity and intentionality.

Those questioning, seeking, exploring because Jesus chases after them.  We value families, marriages and children: they remain a powerful ministry team and comprise the most important relationships we have on earth.

Those hurting, broken and marginalized: Jesus served them in love.

Equipping/Resource

Looking to our past, God has consistently used The Vail Church to equip and develop leaders and resources.  Our vision continues to be a church that is a kingdom blessing as we train emerging leaders, launch them into effective ministry service, develop ministry tools and content so as to benefit other ministries and churches, thus multiplying the gospel beyond our walls.  Currently, we pursue this through Artios, a two-year biblical, theological and ministry training program (see website) as well as summer internships and the free distribution of sermon series materials when requested.

Family/Children

Looking to our present, we’ve seen the Lord increase the number of young married couples as well as families with young children who are a part of The Vail Church.  Because we believe these family relationships are of such importance to God, the church, and our society, we desire to serve them with excellence.  That is why we launched The Vail Child Development Center: a Monday through Friday ministry that currently provides over one hundred children (Infants-Kindergarten) with a Christ-centered developmental learning environment as well as character building opportunities through Christian principles.  Coupled with our Children’s Ministry, we press on in vision to be an effective church that reaches, resources, and encourages families and children for Jesus Christ.

Community Impact

Looking to the future, we recognize that we live in a place of incredible beauty. People come from all over the world for weeks and months at a time. In a resort community such as Vail, it’s easy to overlook the local community – the people and families who live, work, and play year-round.

What we’ve found is that although we call this place “Happy Valley,” there is a more challenging reality underneath. Our valley is filled with a lot of brokenness and spiritual darkness. So Jesus calls us into the midst of it all not simply to do social good but to do gospel good.We want to love our neighbor and meet their needs with the goal of bringing our valley the good news of Jesus Christ. While the local ministry initiatives are already emerging (food bank, elderly support, youth outreach and Bible study) the potential to impact our community remains significant.