OUR VALUES
community | acts 2:42-47
- Where people care for one another in love
- Where people matter to God and to us
- Where people are accepted as they are
- Where people are encouraged to become who God created them to be
- Where people are more important than things
- Where people are safe and trustworthy
- Where everyone plays, there are no spectators
relationship | matthew 22:36-40
- Putting Christ in the center of our day to day lives
- Doing life together in Christ
- The lens we look through in everything we do
outreach | 1 corinthians 9:19-23
- Looking for ways to connect with people in their world
- Stepping out of our comfort zone into someone else’s
- Being a living example of Jesus to the world around us
- Going to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth with the Love of Christ
prayer | philippians 4:6-9
- Prayer is a lifestyle not just a practice
- Depending on God’s direction, strength and power for every situation
- Choosing to submit to the Lord and His plan at all times
- Keeping things in a spiritual reality not a physical one
discipleship | ephesians 4:12-15
- Training and equipping the church to do the work of ministry
- Allowing people into our world to do life together
- Helping the church grow into maturity
- Reproducing ourselves in ministry and bringing people with us
- Using jobs to get the people done, not people to get the jobs done
worship | romans 12:1-2
- Giving God everything that we are
- Living in obedience to God and His Word
- Walking by faith and not by sight
spiritual gifts | 1 corinthians 12:7-11
- Desiring the spiritual gifts God has for us
- Walking in the spiritual ‘graces’ God has for us
- Allowing God’s Spirit to rest on us and be manifest through us
evangelism | 1 corinthians 2:1-5
- Having a burden for the lost
- Seeking to walk in the power of God’s Spirit in reaching people
- Allowing God to speak prophetically to us, to demonstrate God’s love for people
One of our overriding goals and desires is to teach people how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, listen to Him, and to walk in obedience to whatever He tells them. One of the ways this will happen is by choosing to live your life according to Biblical Principles…
OUR PRINCIPLES FOR LIFE IN CHRIST
The NOW Principle
Our desire, is that everyone of us walks in the things God has for us “now.” Not tomorrow, not yesterday but “now.” Jesus challenged His disciples to live in the “now,” in Matthew 6:33-34, Matthew 11:12, Matthew 4:17, 2 Corinthians 6:2.
The word “now” is used over 2,100 times in the Bible. While I realize that not all of those are about positive things happening “now,” it does remind us that God is a God of the “now.” God does not live in time and space, He sees everything as “now.”
So often as believers we can get caught living in the past or longing for the future, so that we miss out on what God has right now. What does God want to do in our lives right now? How does the Holy Spirit want to work through our lives right now? The Kingdom of God is right now. The power of God is at work right now. God desires for us to be changed and used by Him right now.
It is time that we begin to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, allowing His work to happen “now.”
Romans 8:1, Romans 15:13, Ephesians 2:19-20, Ephesians 3:20.
Grounded in His Word and Empowered by His Spirit
Our lives must be built on the solid rock of God’s Word. Reading His Word, Meditating on His Word, Memorizing His Word, Studying His Word so that we will live according to His Word. What we put in, is what will come out. However it is not enough to just know His Word, we must be Empowered by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Revealer of Truth, He is the One who empowers us to be His Witnesses, to walk according to God’s Word and live lives that will affect the world around us.
All Word, You Dry Up! All Spirit, You Blow Up! Word and Spirit, You Grow Up!
Hear. Listen. Obey.
Our overriding goal and desire is to teach people how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, listen to Him and to walk in obedience to whatever He tells them.
obey in the Hebrew is the word shama which means to hear, to listen, to obey. God is not impressed with our ability to hear him, or even our choice to listen to him.
God is only impressed with our willingness to hear, listen, and obey.
John 5:19 , Galatians 5:25, Exodus 19:5, John 14:15, James 1:22