Our Core Values and Beliefs
Our Core Values:
Devoting Daily – Committing ourselves daily to a personal relationship with Jesus. (Matthew 22:37-38, John 15:5)
Pursuing Relationally – Pursuing deep relationships with each other based on love and acceptance. (Romans 12:10)
Counseling Biblically – Offering and receiving biblical counsel in all areas of life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Colossians 3:16)
Living Authentically – Living authentically, sharing our struggles. (James 5:16, Galatians 6:1-3)
Admonishing Faithfully – Being a peacemaker, listening, encouraging, and admonishing one another faithfully towards maturity. (Colossians 1:28, Matthew 18:15-16, Matthew 5:9)
Engaging Missionally – Engaging intentionally with others to make disciples. (Matthew 28: 19-20)
This is What We Believe:
We believe that faith starts with Jesus – understanding who He is, what He’s done, and what that means for us.
About God
There is only one true God. He is the Creator of all life and the Supreme Ruler of the universe. He has always been (He is eternal) and co-exists equally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. We learn about God through His creation, His Word, and His Son. God loves us more than we can imagine. Genesis 1:26-27; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 38:1-41:34; Matthew 3:13-17; John 3:16; Romans 1:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:6
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. Coequal with God the Father and God the Spirit, He came to earth and became man. He was completely God and at the same time being fully man. He revealed to us who God is. His miraculous acts, sinless life, and life-changing teachings all confirm the fact that He is God’s Son. His purpose for coming to Earth was to show God’s love by dying on a cross. His bodily resurrection from the grave and His promise to return someday are testimonies to the fact that He is the Lord. Jesus desires a deep relationship with every person. Matthew 1:22-23; John 1:1, 14, 18; Acts 10:37-43; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is coequal with God the Father and God the Son. At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our physical bodies as His home and He begins the work of sanctification (helping/guiding) in us. He is given as a deposit, a down payment that seals and guarantees our adoption and inheritance as daughters and sons. As we are led by the Spirit, the works of the flesh begin to fade, and the fruit of the Spirit begins to appear. John 14:16-17; John 16:7-13; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 3:16-21; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:19-25; Romans 8:13-14
The Bible
The Bible is God’s written Word. The process that God used to give us His Word is called inspiration, which means God-breathed. The Word of God is without error and is truth. It tells us who God is, why He loves us, and what His plans are for us. The Bible is the authority or standard for living our lives according to God’s will for us. Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:105, 160; John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21
Salvation
We need salvation because we have sinned. Sin separates us from God who desires a relationship with us. It is impossible for any person to restore that broken relationship with God by any amount of personal goodness, religious deeds, or by belonging to a church. It was God’s plan from the beginning to save us from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ. The Bible calls God’s act of love, grace. The way we receive His gift is by entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus by placing our trust and faith in Him. When we decide that we will follow Jesus for the rest of our lives, we demonstrate our trust in Him by obeying His death, burial, and resurrection. Isaiah 59:2; John 3:16; John 14:6, Acts 2:37-39; Romans 3:10-11, 23; Romans 6:3-4; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-8
Faith and Belief
To accept Jesus as the Son of God is difficult in our world today. Jesus told those who were trying to understand and follow Him that what was most needed in their lives was to “believe in the one sent from God.” Faith and belief in Jesus lead us to be claimed by God as His children. John 6:29; John 1:12; Galatians 3:26
Baptism
As followers of Jesus, we decide to follow His example and to do the things He asks of us. Jesus was baptized and told us to be baptized. Through this simple act of baptism, God washes our sins away and gives us the gift of the promised Holy Spirit to live within us. All of this is a work of God and not of man. Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:26-27
The Church
The church is God’s spiritual family. It is made up of all those who have chosen to place their trust and faith in Jesus and who are His followers (disciples). The Church is not a building or one particular group of believers. The head of the Church is Jesus. God’s will is for the Church to gather regularly to worship, to use its various gifts and abilities to serve the world and to love and build up the body of Christ (church). As the members of His Church love one another and maintain the unity of purpose and relationship, the world around us will recognize that we belong to Jesus. Matthew 16:15-18; John 17:20-23; John 13:34-25; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10
Man
We are created in the image of God. God gave us the ability to choose to love, value, and do right in His likeness. God created us because He wants a family who will choose to love. The first man, Adam, chose to sin, and now every person lives in a broken creation with a marred spiritual nature. As a result, every person will eventually choose to sin and subsequently become separated from God. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 8:3-6; John 4:24; Ephesians 1:4-6; Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:10
Eternity
When God created you and me, He created us with a soul which will never cease to exist. Those who choose to follow Jesus as Lord, and have a growing relationship with Him, will spend eternity with God in heaven. Those who reject Jesus by refusing to follow Him will spend eternity in Hell. Heaven, like salvation and grace, is a gift of God. Hell is the due consequence for those who have not accepted God’s offer of forgiveness. Heaven and Hell are real places. Ezekiel 18:20; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:1-6; Romans 6:23; Philippians 3:17-21; Revelation 20:15
