Values

Bible-Centered

The Bible is the Word of God to us; we believe that, as God authored it, He did so in such a way that there were no errors whatever in the original manuscripts.

If this is the case, then we can say without hesitation that the Bible is our source of authority; it gives us God’s basic instructions for living, instructions that we ignore to our own peril. Accordingly, we will take the Bible seriously.

We will honor it in our worship by submitting the songs we choose to the scrutiny of Bible truth.

We will honor it in our preaching and teaching by seeking to explain its precepts in an understandable way, by placing the emphasis where the Bible itself does so, by using it as the basis of our counseling practices (as opposed to the unreliable theories of men), by not being swayed by the theories and ideas of men such that we work counter to the teaching of God’s Word.

We will begin with a high view of the Bible, then, and seek to seriously implement that high view in every aspect of our ministry.

Intentional Disciplemaking

Christ gave us the mandate to “make disciples”, and yet all too often, churches approach this task haphazardly.

We intend to be intentional and systematic about the making of disciples, to employ the best of Scripture-honoring materials, to encourage the development of accountability relationships, to develop small groups that go beyond “a short devotional and cookies”.

Our business is the making of fully-committed Christ-followers, and we intend to be serious about that business!

Prayer-Powered

We believe that while we have a role to play, it is God Who will build the church.

Prayer is our lifeline of communication with God, and we intend to employ it significantly, believing that unless the Lord “builds the house”, we will be wasting our efforts.

We will pray regularly in our public services of worship. We will pray regularly in our smaller groups.

We will make prayer a featured priority from Day One.

We cannot go any further as a church than the Holy Spirit of God takes us.

Missional Mindset

We will recognize that Christ has sent us here on a mission: to share His love with others so as to win them to Himself!

We recognize that every person plays a part in this mission, that we cannot be content to simply “learn more about the Bible” or “have a great time of fellowship” or “really enjoy the ‘worship’ time”, but that we each have a role to play in touching the world with Christ’s love.

From our neighborhoods and workplaces, to mission fields around the world, every faithful and obedient Christ-follower has a stake and a role in the mission.

We will instill this mindset in each of our members.

Relationship-Based

We need each other.

Without each other, we cannot be what God calls us to be.

Therefore, we will make the development of real, sincere relationships a high priority in this ministry.

We will learn to practice the “one anothers” of Scripture.

We will not become a little clique, because we will always value the importance of “broadening the circle”, but we will strive to create meaningful friendships with others within the body.

Meaningful Membership

Membership doesn’t seem to mean a whole lot at many churches.

Here, it will!

In order to be a member, folks will have to be committed to some basic minimums of the process of discipleship…why else would anyone want to be a member of a church, if he/she isn’t interested in the basic purpose for which the church exists?

Folks will yearly recommit themselves to the core values of this church, to involvement in discipleship, prayer, and mission.

We will strive to be a church that is completely serious about our relationship with Christ, and that will be reflected in our understanding of church membership.

Grace-Oriented

While we will have expectations of our members, we will recognize that our very relationship with Christ is predicated upon the grace of God.

Thus, we will not judge one another, holding non-biblical expectations of people or reverting to some legalistic understanding of the Christian life.

We will recognize that only God is infallible, that all of us have “feet of clay”, and we will thus strive to treat one another, as best we are able, in a manner reflective of the amazing grace of our God shown to us in Christ.