Foundational Values

1. First and foremost, we will seek, as agents of the Holy Spirit and God's Word, to be people who engage the heart.

   The rest of our values flow from the first one.
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   To connect people with the love of God we believe that they will need to encounter Him as a reality they can taste (Jeremiah 2:13; John 6:33; John 4:10) and see (Psalm 34:8; Ephesians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 4:18).

   When we speak of the heart, we are referring to the living, internal part of us that can know and experience God personally (Ephesians 1:18). The heart is where true change takes place (Matthew 12:34).

   Some shy away from this journey because...

   1. It is harder to define than a schedule or a principle.
   2. It is mystery. We are pursuing what we can neither see nor fully understand. (Colossians 3:1-3)
   3. Some feel this is just an emotional approach. That is not the case; it is a spiritual approach.

   Some of the necessary pieces of a heart-oriented church:

   1. Biblical teaching that addresses Christianity at that level.
   2. Worship that engages the heart. It should be creative, eclectic, authentic, and reflective.
   3. Grace. It should be a place where we don't feel high pressure to perform but where we can be vulnerable in our walk with God. Brokenness is a vital characteristic in learning to live with God from the heart.
   4. Authentic community groups where we can feel safe and shed our masks so that we can help one another on our journey of discipleship.
   5. The practice of spiritual disciplines, which are essential for heart Christianity.

2. We will seek to embrace authentic Christian Community.
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   Christian community is foundational to our capacity to serve and grow. We were made to need one another (Hebrews 10:25). We must create an environment in which each individual Christian finds safety, personal relationships, and the chance to share spiritual experiences with others. In this culture, there must be a healthy balance between deepening relationships and challenging spiritual growth. Moreover, the larger a church becomes, the more decisive is the role played by intentional, community-oriented ministry in the life of the whole church.

3. We will seek to emulate Jesus in providing a creative ministry.  More
   God is the Creator, and He produces in each of us a unique and personal design (Psalm 139). As the people of God embrace the arts and produce various expressions of worship from their unique gifts and creativity, God is glorified and mightily present in their midst.

   We live in an age when the generations we are called to reach need more than just proposition in our presentation of the Gospel. Jesus understood this. He used pictures and stories in a powerful manner. "A sower went out to sow some seed..." "A man fell into the hands of robbers..." "Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one..." "There were ten virgins with ten lamps." He used examples (children sitting on his lap) to send penetrating messages. He used objects (a dead tree) to drive home his point. These were not children's stories or object lessons but metaphors presenting transcendent and eternal truths. So the question becomes, "How can we tell the Story?" What media, what artistic expressions are at our disposal to engage the hearts and minds of believers and non-believers alike? There are many options, including video, art, drama, dance, and music.

4. We will seek to be missional in our orientation.
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   Lost people matter to God (Luke 15:4-9) and, therefore, ought to matter to His church.

   When the church lives to care only for itself, it grows weak and stagnant. When the people of God gather around its mission, great excitement, synergy, and health are often the result.

   The church needs to move outside its walls to engage the community around it through service and witness.

5. We will seek to be culturely relevent while remaining doctrinally pure.
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   It is the gospel that entices, not the evangelical subculture of any given era. We can become so complacent in our safe Christian world that we lose track of what is going on in the hearts and minds of the secular culture and how that culture views us.

   There is no power in the wineskin, only in the wine. Sometimes we need to provide new skins so that lost people can drink.

   The irony is that old and discarded wineskins often make a comeback as new and fresh. In Gen-X churches today, for example, elements such as candles, incense, and silence are growing in popularity.

   Therefore, our worship expression and ministries need to be creative, relevant, and enticing to the world in real time. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

6. We will seek to reach excellence in all we do in our ministry, focusing not on high performance but on doing the best we can with what we have.
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   We believe that excellence honors God and inspires people. (Colossians 3:17; Malachi 1:6-14; Proverbs 27:17) Excellence here refers not to performance or entertainment but, rather, to a giving of our first fruits, our very best, to God.

   When we serve the church, we should do so at the highest level. Our ministries, too, should be done at a high level. Our leaders should serve at a high level of excellence. Excellence demands that we evaluate and provide critical review of the work we are doing.

7. We will seek as a church to operate as a unified community of servants all stewarding their spiritual gifts.
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   (1 Corinthians 12 & 14; Romans 12; Ephesians 4)

   The church is designed to be a beautiful, functioning bodily system that will support the members of the body and show the beauty of Christ outside the body through service.

   This system was brilliantly designed by God when He gave each of us a role and placed in us the capacity (gifting) to do it. It is vital that we help Christians discover their spiritual gifts and encourage them to use them.

8. We believe that loving relationships should permeate every aspect of church life.
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   (1 Corinthians 13; Luke 10:1; John 13:34-35)

   Relationships can be difficult, but we must be deeply committed to authenticity, restoration, forgiveness, and mutual respect.

   Tearing down one another, gossiping, carrying bitterness and hatred, treating one another with a lack of kindness and respect are never acceptable.

9. We will seek to commit to functional structures.
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   Structures (organization, programs, and ministries) are the means that a church employs to fulfill its mandated mission. There is no theological or spiritual value in church structures apart from the contributions they make to the living work of God's Spirit.

   It is important, therefore, that we not "sacredize" structures; they should serve us, not control us. For this to take place, there must be a fluid attitude toward structures. In other words, there must always be willingness to change and adapt.

10. We believe that the church is led by gifted men and women.
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    (Romans 12:8)

    The pastor should have the gift of leadership. He should have a vision and the capacity to call people to that vision while motivating them to use their spiritual gifts to carry out God's purpose. Likewise, every major ministry of the church should be led by a servant who has leadership gifts. When ministry is led by those who lack those gifts, critical momentum can be lost. (Acts 6:2-5)