Imago Dei Church

About Imago Dei Church

A new gospel church for the East Bay.

Our Core Values.

(1) Gospel teaching. The gospel gives life: it makes dead things come alive. This is why Paul in Romans 1:16 spoke of the gospel as "a power," not just abstract truth. The wellspring of spiritual life is the teaching of the gospel that speaks to both head and heart.

(2) Gospel community. Gospel belief is not sustained individually, but in community. This is the logic of Hebrews 10:24, "let us stir up one another to love and good works. " We believe the church is a unique place to discover and experience enduring Christian friendships that span across decades.

(3) Gospel transformation. For many people, gospel belief doesn't translate into anything. It's just an inert belief. But genuine belief is like a seed that steadily grows into a great fruit-bearing tree (Mark 4:23). The Christian life cannot be static. Our vision is to produce new and transformed lives for Christ.

We are rooted in a historic faith.

Our church stands in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition. We are a confessional church, holding to the historic creeds formulated centuries ago. Thus, we join in the ancient heritage of Christians articulating a common faith.

We hold to what all Christians have believed throughout history since the days of the apostles, expressed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.

We are committed to the doctrinal foundations of the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther and John Calvin. They are articulated in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

And alongside the greater body of Christ, we affirm the authority and inerrancy of the entire Bible in its original languages. We believe in justification by faith alone. We believe in the necessity of the new birth and the work of the Holy Spirit. And we believe in the final judgment, the hope of the Resurrection, and the Second Coming of Christ.

The Story of our Name.

Imago Dei is a Latin phrase that means "image of God." It's a theme that's woven all throughout the Bible and first appears in Genesis 1:27, "so God created man in his own image." By tracing this theme, we can see the entire narrative arch of the redemptive story.

Man.

Human beings are created in the image of God. This is an astounding truth and confers on each person inalienable worth and dignity. It is the basis for human rights. But more than that, in the Garden, the imago Dei was a mandate to humanity, to reflect the righteousness and goodness of God. When Adam took the forbidden fruit, he failed that mandate.

Christ.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is the true and ultimate imago Dei – "He is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Where Adam fell short, Christ perfectly reflects the character of God. Thus he stands in our place as our substitute and savior.

Church.

Through our union with Christ, the church becomes the image of God on earth. We do this together, as a church community, as we grow into the likeness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Thus, the imago Dei is restored, as we join in the life of the church.

So what is the message of our name?
First, the name points to Christ, the true imago Dei. Second, it describes our mission as a church--together, we are the image of Christ to the world. And third, it shows us how to read the Bible. There is a narrative arc that you can trace from Genesis, through the Gospels, and concluding in Revelation. We hope this gives you a sense of what our church is about.

Join us on Sundays at 11:00am. Catered lunch after service.