<b>Values & Mission</b>

Values & Mission

What a church considers to be of priority (values) and what it sees its purpose (mission) to be determines the character of that Church.

The Marks of a Disciple (Our Values)

We believe that the marks of a disciple are summed up in the two greatest commandments of Jesus:

1. Love God (Matthew 22:37-38, Deuteronomy 6:5)
2. Love People (Matthew 22:39, Leviticus 19:18, John 13:34-35)

We seek to align our lives with these commandments in everything we do.

The Walk of a Disciple (Our Mission)

What does it look like to live out these values in the "real world"? We believe that the mission of the Church is to develop mature disciples of Jesus and to equip and empower them to live as missionaries of His kingdom in whatever context God has placed them in.

Accordingly, our mission is to be "Transformed People In Transformational Communities."

TRANSFORMED PEOPLE

When a person enters into a relationship with God and seeks to love Him with all of his heart, mind, and strength, he WILL be transformed. This transformation is not automatic, but requires that a person enters into the life of a disciple:

1. Be in the Master’s presence (John 15:1-5).
Benchmark Question: How am I seeking the Master’s presence?

2. Learn the Master’s heart (John 15:12-17).
Benchmark Question: What am I learning of/from the Master’s heart?

3. Reflect the Master’s life (John 13:1-17).
Benchmark Question: How can I live out what the Master taught and did?

TRANSFORMATIONAL COMMUNITIES

We believe that cities and cultures can be changed when God's redeemed people share their lives in transformational communities and obediently love and serve the people around them:

1. Represent Christ in your community (2 Cor. 5:17-20).
Benchmark Question: How am I faithfully bearing the Gospel to those in my "oikos" (network of relationships)?

2. Seek the blessing of your city (Jeremiah 29:7).
Benchmark Question: How am I seeking the blessing of my city?

3. Take the Good News to the nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
Benchmark Question: How am I participating in taking the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the nations?

We believe that the Church can only fully be what the Church is intended to be when every believer adopts the lifestyle of a disciple/missionary. When that happens, communities are transformed by the power of the Gospel, existing church bodies grow, and new church bodies are started - all for the expansion of God's kingdom and the spreading of His glory to the ends of the earth!