Core Values

 

 

We believe that worship is an essential ingredient of church life. God calls us to worship as a personal and collective expression of our gratitude for what He has done and a longing to know more of Him and His purposes for our lives. To worship is to acknowledge God’s worth and glorify Him in acts of praise as well as in daily life. We respond to God’s love with praises, prayers, and the offering of our whole selves. We listen as God speaks to us in scripture, as the word is preached, and as His presence draws us close to Him.

 

 

We value the development of relationships meant for the purpose of learning to follow Christ on a personal level and becoming more like Him, otherwise known as discipleship. Discipleship is best seen in the way Jesus' first disciples followed Him and learned from being constantly with Him. He told these men to make disciples and to teach them to obey all that He had commanded. This kind of learning and change happens in intentional relationships with one or more mature, discerning believers.

 

 

We value community dedicated, but not limited to, three characteristics: love, discipleship and bearing fruit. Jesus taught that his people would be known by their love for God and for one another. This love is what compels us to the next two characteristics. Christ’s community must be characterized by those who have placed themselves under the authority of Christ, the church and mature believers for the purpose of change (see discipleship). Bearing is another characteristic. A community of believers bears fruit when, motivated by love, they disciple, encourage, exhort, teach and speak the truth in love in order to compel one another to Christ likeness. Fruit is born in changed lives that are eager to serve.

 

 

We believe that the church is called to proclaim and live out the gospel of Jesus Christ in our homes, our local communities and the world. Therefore, we aim to communicate the gospel with intentionality and seek to make Christ-exalting disciples.

 

 

We value service that is born out of a heart of gratitude and humility by those who are recipients of God’s grace. Service should be pursued using the unique gifts that God has given to each believer to build up the body and reach out to a broken world. Our service is a means of extending God’s grace and mercy to others for his glory, not our own.