Everything we do is centered on Jesus Christ. He is not just something we add to our life — He is our life. He is the supreme author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2). He is God’s Son (John 3:16). He is our redeemer and the head of the church (Colossians 1:18). Christ is both Lord and Savior to us (Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:15-21). Jesus died for our sins on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus is the object of saving faith (Romans 10:9-10, 13; Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

We value the Bible as an inspired book given to us by God. It is our source of truth and spiritual guidance. We willingly submit our thoughts to the truth of the Bible, and we willingly obey its commands. We focus on the Word of God not just to change people’s minds, but to change their hearts (Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). We encourage everyone to have a regular time of personal Bible study where we let God speak to us through His Word.

Prayer is not part of the ministry, it is the ministry. We value prayer. All that we do as a church should be for the purpose of leading us to call on Jesus and to help others to call on Him. Every daily Bible study, small group meeting, worship service, training, service project, or church meeting should lead us to pray and help others to pray. Romans 10:13–“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Jeremiah 33:1–“Call unto Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Mark 11:17–“Then He taught, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.’”

Your Content Goes HereWe value people and relationships. If that relationship is broken, we desire to see a biblical solution to that problem. We wish to see people speaking to people, rather than talking about people in order to resolve our issues (Matthew 18:15-18).

We value generosity. We believe in being biblically responsible with the time, money, and talents that God has entrusted to us. We believe in cheerfully giving a minimum 10% offering of our income in obedience with the Word of God. We are to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with, and we also encourage people to bless others who are in need (Luke 6:38, Malachi 3:10).

We value service, plain and simple. Every believer has one or more spiritual gifts for the benefit of the body (Romans 12:3-6, Ephesians 4:11-13). Our desire is for every believer to be able to use both their spiritual gifts and natural talents in order to serve others both within the church and out in the community (Galatians 5:13). We work to provide opportunities for believers to be able to serve others (1 Peter 4:10).

We value those God has chosen to lead our church. We show value by following the leadership of our pastors and shepherds (Ephesians 4:11-12, Hebrews 13:7); refusing to participate in conversations that could undermine the leaders and vision of our church family; and valuing other members in the church who have been given authority to lead (Acts 6:1-7).

We value an atmosphere where people are able to worship God in a manner most comfortable to them. We also recognize that worship is a way of life. It is more than songs that we sing on Sunday morning. Everything that we do should be an act of worship of the One who is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise (1 Chronicles 16:23-31, Romans 12:1-2).

People are wired to be relational. We desire human interaction. This is one of the great successes of the early church in the book of Acts. We desire to do life together — eat together, worship together, fellowship together, laugh together, cry together, and love together. We also recognize that most of the actual work of the church is done outside the walls of the church, in our community (Acts 2:42-47).

We value reaching people in our everyday circles. Our church celebrates efforts to build relationships with the unsaved and unchurched and joins us in reaching those already in our reach. We value forming small groups, neighborhood events, community service projects, and we value people. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus told His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

We value families. The family unit is where our Christian lives should and must begin. The family unit is one that God ordained from the very beginning (Genesis 2:18-25, Deuteronomy 6:6-9). The foundation of the family is the marriage covenant of one man and one woman together for life (Mark 10:9). Satan is working hard in our day and age to attack and destroy families. We seek to strengthen families and to equip them to live and serve Christ as He intended.

We value that every day should be a day of worship as we meditate on God’s Word, experience His presence, pray, and live out His purpose for our lives. For us, following Jesus is more than a “Sunday thing.”

We measure our church based on its sending capacity not its seating capacity. Our goal is not to horde all of our people, but to send off those whom God has called and equipped to mission work, to serve in other places, and to plant other churches. We believe fully in a gaining by losing mentality. By sending off some (losing), we will, through God’s blessing, acquire others (gaining) who are drawn to a church that sends (Matthew 28:18-20).