Core Values

God is portrayed throughout the Scriptures as holy,¹ righteous,² and just,³ and God’s people delight in his holiness!⁴ It is what sets God apart from all other gods, and makes him praiseworthy, trustworthy, and beautiful.⁵  Proclaiming the holiness, righteousness, and justice of God, promotes not only the fear of the Lord (reverence, awe), but also joyful gratitude for his astonishing grace toward sinners in Christ Jesus.⁶

We aim both to celebrate the holy, righteous, and just attributes of God, and also to encourage one another to reflect these qualities with our individual lives and our life together as his church.⁷

Without a high view of God, we become tolerant of sin, failing to see how offensive it is to him, seeking to please ourselves rather than God.  We become careless and casual in our worship when we should tremble.⁸ Our ministry becomes self-exalting (or leader-exalting, or church-exalting) rather than Christ-exalting, not appreciating the cost of his sacrifice for sinners to satisfy the demands of God’s holiness.⁹

A church that celebrates God’s holiness with reverence and fear will love him all the more because of the hope and comfort found in the gospel of Jesus Christ!¹⁰  It will not shrink from telling the unpopular truth about the heinousness of sin, even in the face of persecution, because it knows that Jesus alone can satisfy God’s justice.¹¹  And because they love God’s holiness, God’s people will speak the truth to one another in love and humility, desiring for one another to know the joy of obedience to him, and for the church to reflect the beauty of God’s holiness to a watching world.¹²

God's Word is supreme and established forever.¹  God's Word is also authoritative for every person, to be obeyed in every circumstance.²  As such, Scripture is the foundation of the church’s teaching and the sole final arbiter of truth.³ After all, it is only because of the perfect, living, and enduring word that we have received the precious hope of the gospel, handed down through every generation.⁴

We aim to make God’s word the standard of our teaching, the source of our wisdom, and the authority of our lives and our life together.

Without a high view of the Word of God, we will elevate man's thoughts and opinions as "supreme,” "established," "authoritative," and “to be obeyed.”  Instead of trusting our wise and loving God to provide us with everything we need for life and godliness through his sufficient word,⁵ we will begin to look to other sources of wisdom to guide our thinking and solve life’s problems.  Instead of believing his promises, we will begin to question the continuing relevance and inerrant truth of his eternal and established word.

A church that joyfully submits to the authority of the Word of God will teach it in such a way that people can apply its truth to their lives, trusting (and proving) Scripture’s sufficiency to transform its hearers over time, with the aid of the Holy Spirit. And because it trusts God’s word supremely, the church will evaluate all human teaching according to its conformity with Scripture.

All people are made in the image of God, made to reflect certain attributes of God uniquely among all his creatures.¹ As such, every human being has inherent dignity and value.²  However, because of sin all men are totally depraved, alienated from their Creator, unable to do any good to save themselves.³ Man was created to glorify God, but because of sin, he seeks to glorify himself,⁴ and to seek fulfillment from the world's evil system instead of from the gracious hand of God.⁵

We aim to speak truthfully about sin and its devastating effects on our relationship with our Creator and, consequently, our relationships with one another.  We also aim to show compassion to fellow image bearers, recognizing our own sinfulness and its impacts on others, and holding out the grace that has been shown to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Without a biblical view of man, we can fall into the belief that sin is not every person’s greatest problem and blame things like a corrupt society or poverty as the causes of sin rather than its result.  If Christ is not proclaimed as the only solution to man's most essential needs, then the church’s work of practical compassion will fail to restore people to their true purpose (image bearers for God’s glory) and to true, lasting joy.

A church that recognizes the glorious created purpose of mankind and the devastating impacts of sin will live in humble dependence on the grace of God, teaching us to confront our own sins before confronting others.⁶  It will also emphasize the gospel of Jesus Christ in all that it does, not neglecting practical needs,⁷ but holding out the truth about sin and redemption to all without partiality.⁸

God the Father elects some persons to be saved¹, and His choice is unconditional.² While some find this idea offensive, contradicting dearly held beliefs about the freedom of human will, we find sovereign election clearly taught in Scripture, and God’s word—not our own wisdom, logic, or sense of justice—is our authority.  Like so many truths about our eternal and infinite God, reconciling his absolute sovereignty over all things with our own responsibility to receive his grace baffles our intellects.  This much is clear: God's choice is not on the basis of our works,³ but is instead according to the counsel of His own will, to the praise of HIS glory.⁴

We aim to embrace Scripture’s teaching on God’s sovereign election as an expression of his perfect goodness, wisdom, and power, so that all glory for our salvation goes to Him alone.  We rejoice all the more when anyone repents of sin to follow Christ, knowing that God alone has done it!

A church that submits to the sovereignty of God will practice evangelism as a joyful expression of hope and confidence in the God who saves, not in methods, skill in presenting facts or arguments, or powers of persuasion.  It will seek to faithfully share the good news with others, recognizing that its most powerful tools for evangelism are prayer and unity,⁵ acknowledging that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him,⁶ and that our love and obedience are effective instruments in his hands.⁷

The primary mission of the church is to take the gospel to the ends of the earth for the salvation and sanctification of people of all nations.¹ Whether we are serving the needs of the church or reaching out in compassionate response to needs in our community, we want everything we do to reflect our faith in the gospel as the power of God to transform lives.²

We aim to keep the good news about Jesus’ death for our sins, burial, and bodily resurrection at the center of everything we do.³ While we recognize many practical and felt needs around us, we believe that those needs can only be properly understood and addressed in light of the truths contained in the gospel message.

A church that keeps the gospel “as of first importance” will not separate “gospel ministry” from “other forms of ministry,” since the gospel tells us both why our world is broken, and the only means of true restoration.⁴ It teaches God’s holiness, the authority of his word, the impact of sin, and the restoration power of the cross.  Any ministry that does not take these truths into account will be misguided at best, and runs the risk of elevating human wisdom above the wisdom of God’s word.

The local church is God's chief institution through which He displays his glorious wisdom in the world.¹ The bringing together of people of diverse backgrounds and societal categories, even those who were former enemies, demonstrates the transformative power of the cross.² The church is also God’s ordained primary means of sanctification and growth for every Christian and for the proclamation of the gospel through local evangelism and the sending of missionaries.³

We aim to make participation in all of our ministry priorities (corporate worship, the study and application of God’s word together, sharing of our lives and resources, and our corporate witness in the community) integral in the life of every member.⁴

A church that affirms the goodness of God’s plan for displaying his glory and sanctifying believers will not shy away from calling every believer to commit to making the local church central in their own lives. God has ordained for all Christians to be nourished and to serve others through active participation in a local gathering of believers who worship together, learn together, and share in the Lord’s Supper on a consistent basis.  Not only that, God also calls every believer to cultivate a strong affection for the church, considering the other members of their local church to be their family.⁵

The primary qualification for leadership in the church is a demonstrated submission to Christ as its Head, being an example to the church in integrity, humility, sound doctrine, and love for the church.¹ Leaders are responsible to equip the church to do the work of the ministry² and to reproduce themselves, discipling and entrusting ministry work to others in the church to the glory of God.³

We aim to ground our leadership model on the teaching of Scripture rather than on human standards of skill, credentials, or charisma. While Spirit-empowered giftedness is also necessary for the various responsibilities of church leaders,⁴ ability is secondary to godly character.⁵

A church with biblical standards for leadership will uphold the qualities of godly character, not slipping into toleration of disqualifying sins. It will also maintain the priorities of discipleship and unity over numeric growth, budgets, and programs. These may be good things, and gifted communicators and administrators may be used by God to accomplish them, but without biblical leadership, an inadequate equipping of the church will lead to instability in the lives of the people in handling life's difficulties.⁶