CORE VALUES

1. We Value: God, His Word and His Worship
There is no higher value to us than the Triune God. Our existence as people and as a church is for His glory and honor. He is known by His revelation of Himself in creation in general, in the Holy Scriptures, and in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Our calling is to know Him intellectually and experientially, mastering the Scriptures and reflecting our love in worship and devotion. (Psalm 96:9; John 17:3; John 4:24; 2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 11:36)

2. We Value: The Gospel and Kingdom Advancement
The glorious incursion into history by God in Jesus Christ was to fulfill His plan to destroy evil and secure for eternity a people for Himself. The life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus forms the good news of hope for human individuals. It is our high calling to enter the life of faith in Him, and to extend to every heart the compelling truth of hope in Christ, as individuals, as an organization and as part of the church of Jesus Christ in the world. (John 1:1–14; 1 Corinthians 15:3–8; Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8)

3. We Value: Prayer and Spiritual Warfare
History is the theater of God’s defeat of evil, which corrupted this world unbidden. We understand that our life for God is in conflict with the spirit of the age. We are empowered to stand for holiness, personally and as a church, and we are empowered to engage effectively in the conflict. The gift of communion with God in Prayer is powerful to effect change. It is our first front in the mission of overcoming evil with good. (Matthew 6: 9–13; 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18; Ephesians 6:11–13; 2 Corinthians 10:3–5)

4. We Value: Transformative Discipleship
Because the Gospel is the narrative of God calling to Himself a people and making them holy, we commit to the Christian story of people being made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit of God, and taking power and influence to their sphere of life (Matthew 28:18–20; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We express Discipleship in these three aspects of God’s transformative work:

- Transformative Encounter — In the Holy Spirit, we are persuaded of the beauty, truth, and saving power of Jesus Christ. We each have chosen a personal commitment to the Lordship and saving grace of Jesus Christ. Made spiritually vital in Him, we welcome and strive toward the transformation of our hearts, souls, minds, and habits in accord with the character of Christ as revealed in Scripture. (2 Corinthians 5:17–18; Ephesians 4:17–32)

- Transformative Community — In Jesus Christ, we are devoted to working out the Gospel in the fellowship of the church family. We heartily engage in the communal life and witness of the church, embracing the risk and vulnerability of entrusting ourselves to one another in Christ, encouraging one another, and helping each other appropriate all the corrections, aspirations, and actions of the Christian life as expressed in Scripture. As a community, we call others to a transforming encounter with Jesus Christ, coming to repentant saving faith in Him with a will to live for Him and set all hope in Him. (Hebrews 10:24–25; 1 John 4:7–12; Colossians 3:5–10; 1 John 1:7)

- Transformative Service — As we grow in our faith in God through Jesus Christ, in our knowledge of His ways and will in Scripture, and in holy love, we express spiritual fruit in the church and the world. With ever-sharpening realization of spiritual gifts, we express the Gospel in word and deed as intentional change makers, servants, and laborers. (1 Peter 4:10; Galatians 6:10; 2 Corinthians 5:20–21; Matthew 5:16)

Additional aspects of these convictions are in our Statement of Faith and Membership Covenant.