| VALUES
We value God as our Creator and the Supreme Lord over all.
We
believe that He is worthy of worship and exaltation in every way in
the life of the church.
Therefore, we desire to direct our attention and efforts,
corporately and individually toward exalting Him and giving Him the
honor and praise of which He is worthy.
Because of His love and grace toward us, we respond to Him in
reverent and thoughtful worship, in humble and confident prayer, in
active and generous giving, in proclaiming and hearing His Word, in
reaching out to those in need and in serving one another as a
response of love toward Him, who first loved us.
We recognize the work of God in the very existence of the
church.
It was the Father’s love for us that moved Him to send
His Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins and it is the Holy
Spirit who applies the work of Christ to our lives, giving us new
life and making out of us a body of believers, the church.
Corporately, our services are to be a celebration of Him and
His work.
Individually, our lives are to give witness in word and deed
to what He has done for us and to our love for Him.
We value God’s Word.
We believe that God’s Word is the
absolute authority on all it addresses, and the divine expression of
His truth about life in His Kingdom.
We express that by putting
a priority on the faithful and clear exposition and teaching of
God’s Word, explaining it to produce appropriate wonder and
worship as well as applying it to life situations in practical ways
appropriate for adults of all cultures and children of all ages.
We value authenticity.
In
every aspect of our individual and corporate lives we seek to
demonstrate integrity to God, His Word and His character.
We are not of this world.
We are sons and daughters of God.
We rely and depend on Him.
The grace He bestows on us is our pattern.
His Kingdom priorities define our choices. Our leadership
model is service.
Our motivation and method is love.
We value people.
Individually
and corporately we value people as the bride of Christ, as image
bearers of God and an expression of His multiplicity, and as members
of His body. We demonstrate that value by creating an
environment conducive of genuine fellowship and of actively
cherishing each individual, where hurting individuals find a safe
haven and all find a place to invest themselves in ministering to
others. We desire that every life we touch will move closer to
the Lord and to each other.
We value the gospel’s impact on our world.
God’s
Word (His truth) in general and the gospel in particular are central
to how His Kingdom advances dispelling darkness and establishing His
rule and reign. We see ourselves in a battle and we understand
that war-time choices are appropriate. We recognize that God
is building His Kingdom and He invites us to participate in His
work. We look to Him to know how. We
actively support the proclamation of the gospel in word and deed for
the establishing of culturally relevant local churches among every
people group and community.
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