Our Name

A harbor is a sheltered body of water where ships can find safety from the turbulent waters of the open seas. It’s also a place where sailors can rest from their travels and renew their strength before being sent back out with goods to export all over the world.

Our name reflects our desire to be a place of safety, satisfaction, and sending, where people from Sarpy County’s surrounding communities find refuge from the storms of life as they are renewed by the gospel, being truly satisfied in Christ and sent back into their neighborhoods and networks to show and share the good news of Jesus. This captures our heart to become a hub of church planting for the entire county.

Our Vision

We exist to multiply disciples and churches throughout Sarpy County and the world.

We multiply disciples.

Disciples are people who have taken up the discipline of following Jesus. They embrace his teachings, trust in his finished work, and wholeheartedly submit to his lordship in every area of their lives. Jesus unapologetically calls men and women to become his disciples, and out of love for him we eagerly join him in that mission.

We multiply churches.

As disciples are made in a particular geographic area, they come together to form new churches. These churches further God’s mission by making disciples in the surrounding regions as well. This is the primary mission strategy of the New Testament, and we wholeheartedly embrace this pattern by investing in new churches locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.

Throughout Sarpy County and the world.

Our goal is to establish autonomous local churches in each Sarpy County community. But we don’t want to stop there. By God’s grace, we hope to extend our reach far beyond the borders of our own communities into the region, nation, and world - doing our part to fulfill Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations.

Our Identity

Every church has an identity, a set of defining characters that shape the culture of the church community in powerful yet intangible ways. At Harbor, we want to intentionally cultivate a culture that is defined and shaped by three things: theological clarity, relational beauty, and historic Christianity.

Theological Clarity.

In a world filled with nominal Christianity, many people are confused about what Christians should believe, even among those who profess to follow Christ. Therefore, in an effort to help believers strengthen their Christian convictions - and to encourage skeptics to give Christianity a fair hearing - we aim to preach the truth of God’s Word clearly, sympathetically, and unapologetically.

Relational Beauty.

Too many people have rejected Christianity not because they’ve never heard the gospel preached, but because they’ve never seen it practiced. At Harbor, we work hard to cultivate a shared experience of grace that defines and sweetens every human interaction so that the gospel is both proclaimed and embodied among the members our church community.

Historic Christianity.

Every generation has its own unique perspective. It is, as C.S. Lewis argues, especially good at seeing certain truths, and especially susceptible to missing others. We need, therefore, the time-tested wisdom of the historic Christian church to help us more effectively preach Christ in our own time and place. For this reason, we embrace the rich heritage of the Reformed Protestant tradition, using the timeless creeds, confessions, and professions of the historic church to renew the contemporary church in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We multiply disciples and churches in three distinct ways:

  • Gather. We gather on Sundays to worship Jesus through singing, preaching, and the sacraments of baptism and communion.

  • Equip. We equip the church for life and ministry through events, cohorts, and leadership development initiates.

  • Scatter. We scatter into small groups throughout the week for discipleship, community, and mission.

Our Rhythms

Our Values

We strive to keep the main things the main things:

  • Gospel. The good news that God saves sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

  • Formation. Being shaped and formed into Christlikeness over time.

  • Community. Pursuing gospel friendships that help us become more like Christ and live out his purposes in our lives.

  • Mission. Making disciples by living out the gospel in our neighborhoods and networks, and inviting people into Christian community.

Beliefs and Partnerships

Harbor proudly and gratefully holds to the historic Christian faith, affirming the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. In addition to our own commitment to gospel-centered ministry, we gladly affirm the foundational documents and Statement of Faith of The Gospel Coalition. Harbor is also grateful to belong to the Citylight Family of Churches—a network of churches united around gospel-centered ministry and intentional disciple-making. For our kids (birth through third grade), we use the Gospel Story Curriculum, which helps little hearts and minds see how all of Scripture points to Jesus.