We worship God – We invite the Holy Spirit to control us and lead us in our worship of Him. God is the object of our worship and the recipient of our praise. We live to honor Him, both with holy lives and adoring lips. Where tradition helps to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and further the mission of our church, we embrace it. Where tradition becomes a wall between God and His people, we seek to tear it down (Matt. 23:13-36; John 9:1-41).
We recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ – Jesus is our Lord, and because of this, everything else is secondary. Jesus Christ alone is the only real and lasting hope (John 14:6). We love Him, and for this reason, we place our relationship with Him first above all others. We strive to respond faithfully to the call of Jesus – to follow Him above all the distractions of this world, which so often compete for our time, energy, and attention (Luke 14:15-24). If God is pleased with us, nothing else matters.
We yield to the authority of Scripture – We believe the Bible is God’s holy, inspired Word. The Scriptures are our final authority in all matters. The Holy Spirit – who is our Teacher – uses the Scriptures to daily guide us (Psalm 119:105; Acts 2:42-47).
We communicate with God through prayer – We believe that the example of prayer given by our Lord Jesus Christ is given to impress upon us the fact that only the blessing of the Father makes any effort effective in His kingdom. Therefore, we commit to making prayer the energizing ingredient of all we do (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35).
We are one body – We are a church of individuals, different in many ways, yet called together by God to be one in ministry and mission. As members of the same body and family, we become more effective when we work in harmony as a unified whole (John 17:20-23). Among us, love for one another is the norm (John 13:3; Rom. 13:8), conflicts are resolved according to the teaching of Jesus Christ (Matt. 18:15-17), and we seek to build each other up (I Thess. 5:11). We rejoice together and we suffer together (I Cor. 12:25-27). We pray for each other (James 5:16), accept each other (Rom. 15:7), and serve one another in love (Gal. 5:13).
We are committed to unity – There are some disputable matters on which two Christians may agree to disagree, even though they are in the same local church and part of the same leadership team. We may state the case for our position, but will also acknowledge that sincere and intelligent Christians hold different views. We are committed to nurturing the unity we share as the family of God and to obeying His command to “love one another” (Rom. 14:1-15; II Tim. 2:23-24; Titus 3:9; John 13:35’ Phil. 2:2; Eph. 4:1-3).
We are called to serve – We believe each member is called to be a minister (Eph. 2:8-10; Eph. 4:11-12). Our God is a great God who deserves to be served by faithful stewards. It is a privilege to give our time, money, and resources to Him. In fact, anything less than our very best is an insult to His holy, awesome name. In response to His grace, how can we be less than fully devoted followers of the cross?
We are committed to the next generation – We believe children are a gift from the Lord and that it is our responsibility as a church to partner with parents in raising the next generation to be fully committed to the Lord. Regardless of what we accomplish during our lifetime, it is the faithfulness of our children and grandchildren that will be our significant heritage. As individuals and as a church, we must take seriously the training and equipping of the next generation (Deut. 6).
We believe that every person matters – Since people matter to God, they matter to us. All people are made in God’s image and have worth. Therefore, we strive to obey both the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) by reaching out to the world around us and sharing the everlasting love of Jesus Christ (John 20:21).
We are committed to financial integrity – We believe that positive influence can be hindered not only by individuals who live unholy or immoral lives but also by corporately mishandling the tithes and offerings of God’s children (Mal. 3:10). Therefore, we commit to raising only the income necessary to perform the ministries and outreach as directed by the Holy Spirit. We will do so in a transparent manner subjecting our financial records to yearly audit. Misappropriation will not be permitted (Prov. 10:9; Prov. 11:1, 3).
