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Pastor Pete & Martha Pera and Family

Pastor Pete is the founding Pastor of Rise Community Church. He and his wife Martha are motivated and inspired by the overwhelming impact of the Gospel in their own lives and consider it one of the greatest privileges in life to share the love of Christ with others. They are called to be a part of building a community of discipled believers to be the hands and feet of Jesus. They believe very strongly in the power of serving the community. We love and serve God as we love and serve people. Pastor Pete serves at the Lead Pastor at Rise, overseeing the Teaching Team, Rise University Classes and overall vision of the church.

Pastor Pete and his wife Martha have been happily married since 1992 and have served the Lord in ministry together for over 30 years. They have four beautiful children Marco, Peter, Sophie, and Victoria. Pastor Pete graduated from Nyack Christian College and received a master’s in Education from Nova Southeastern University. His lovely wife is a therapist with a degree in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. They have lived in the Cooper City area and have faithfully served this community and neighboring communities such as Davie, Weston, Hollywood, Sunrise, and Pembroke Pines since 1995.

Contact Pastor Pete: pastorpete@risecommunity.org
Contact Martha: marthapera@risecommunity.org

Pastor Mike & Teresa Boyd and Family

Pastor Mike “Chopper” Boyd and his wife Teresa are one of the founding families of Rise Community Church. Pastor Mike serves as the Executive Pastor at Rise, overseeing all Administration and Finances. Prior to getting married in 1992, they were high school sweet hearts who became teenage parents. Two beautiful children and nine years later they were on the verge of divorce when a friend invited them to church in 2001. It was here they experienced miraculous healing and restoration in their marriage and family. Teresa has been in banking since 1993 and is the Director of Business Banking at a financial institution. Mike has been a professional Scuba Dive instructor since 2009 and continues to conduct private lessons in his own business today. Mike and Teresa have passionately served in various capacities including youth & college ministry since 2003. Mike strives to authentically share the love of Jesus in a relevant and applicable way. This lead to the start of a College ministry that is still thriving today. Mike and Teresa have two college aged children Brian and Kayla, both attend Palm Beach Atlantic University. Brian is an Audio Engineer and musician and is graduating in 2015 and has been serving in ministry since 2005 in worship, sound, student and children's ministries. Kayla is a pre-med college student and has been serving in student and children's ministry since 2008.

Contact Pastor Mike: pastormikeb@risecommunity.org
Contact Teresa: teresaboyd@risecommunity.org

Brenden & Janell Hojara

Brenden & Janell have served in ministry for over 20 years. Married in 2005 and parents of 3 amazing sons, Ezra, Kingston and Hero. Brenden serves as the Community Pastor at Rise, overseeing all Community Groups with his wife. Brenden also leads the Media/Online Ministry and assists the Admin and Worship Ministry as needed. Recently Brenden has joined the Teaching Team and has discovered a new passion for Theology and teaching. He is pursuing his Masters Degree in Theology and hopes to help the younger generations learn more about God through intentional discipleship and community. Brenden has worked in the field of Digital Marketing for over 10 years and is a partner at a local marketing agency. Janell is the Regional Manager of a local stretch studio, managing all South Florida locations.

Email: brendenh@risecommunity.org

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God

We believe there is only one sovereign God, creator of all things. He eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Psalm 90:2, Matthew 28:19, I Peter 1:2, II Corinthians 13:14

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. The Holy Spirit conceived Him, God with us, and a virgin girl named Mary gave him birth. Jesus lived a sinless life, was crucified, arose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven. We wait for his personal return. John 1:14; Luke 2; Hebrews 7:25 We believe that God’s motive toward us is love. Love prompted God to send Jesus as the only sacrifice for our sins. Through Jesus, we receive forgiveness by his grace, and we are to extend that same grace and forgiveness to others. (John 3:16,17; Romans 8:35-38; 1 John 4:8 Col. 3:13)

Salvation

We believe that salvation comes through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is mthe only way to the Father. (John 14:6, Romans 3:28, Acts 16:31)

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make humanity aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every believer from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. The Christian seeks to live under his control daily. 2 Corinthians 3:17, John 16:7-13; 14:16-17, Acts 1:8, I Corinthians 2:12; 3:16, Ephesians 1:13, Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 5:18

Humanity

We believe that God created human beings in His image. Through our own choice, we fell into sin. (Romans 3:23; Genesis 1:27) We believe that our true identity is found in Christ. (Gal. 2:20; 1 Cor. 5:17)

The Bible

We believe the Bible is God’s true, written word. It is inspired and trustworthy. (2 Timothy 3:16- 17). (2 Peter 1:19-21)

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is manifested through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the church, demonstrate the validity of the resurrection, and confirm the power of the Gospel. The Bible lists of these gifts are not necessarily exhaustive, and the gifts may occur in various combinations. All believers are commanded to earnestly desire the manifestation of the gifts in their lives. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Scriptures and should never be used in violation of Biblical parameters. Hebrews 2:4; Romans 1:11, 12 :4-8; Ephesians 4:16; 2 Timothy 1:5-16, 4:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 14:1-40; 1 Peter 4:10

The Church

The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Jesus’ great commission. Every person who is born of the Spirit is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers. There is a spiritual

unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23; John 17:11, 20-23). We believe in the Kingdom of Heaven as already here—but not yet fully here. We experience a taste of heaven and hell in everyday life, and we live according to the Spirit as a precursor to our eternal life. (Matthew 5; James 3:6)