Grateful Body
We are eternally grateful for the Person, Sacrifice, Love, and Grace of God through Christ Jesus and the outpouring of His Spirit. The more we experience Him, the more we aspire to be people who passionately worship Him. This inspires everything we do and shapes our view that all moments are spiritual moments. When we serve others, take communion together, study the word, pray, or sing….We want every moment to be rooted in a grateful heart that worships God in that activity.
Dependent Body
We are incapable of saving ourselves or accomplishing His will without the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Nothing we do can accomplish what God does through His Holy Spirit. God speaks to each of us personally and we rely on God’s Spirit to give us new life, guide us, connect us, empower us, correct us, and grow us. The Holy Spirit’s work in our life is meant to impart God’s heart as a father to us and the primary evidence of this is seen in how we love.
Simple Body
We view the Church as a group of people rather than an organization or a building. Therefore, the focus of our finances reflects that. We intentionally keep costs low so that our budget can be directed to ministering directly to people. We also financially support other Christian organizations outside of our fellowship. We focus on making the Gospel of Grace clear and the person of Jesus center.
We don’t want anything we do to distract from pursuing God’s presence and purpose. Rather than focusing on large buildings, impressive services, or countless programs we focus on our relationship with God and relationships with each other.
Participatory Body
The Bible tells us that there are many types of roles and spiritual gifts and all are valuable. Every spiritual gift is vital to the growth and unity of the Church. Every believer is meant to participate whenever we gather together. Rather than hearing from a few, we benefit in hearing from a multitude. All believers have the same access to God and His power as do church leaders. We are constantly looking for ways to involve and bless others through the gifts of the entire body.
Diverse Body
Our diversity in gifts, backgrounds, preferences and experiences is a catalyst for us to fully see and experience God. Though we have strongly held doctrinal positions, we differentiate between essential and non-essential beliefs. We defend the essential and practice liberty in the non-essential. We aim to be Spirit led and doctrinally sound in both our position and approach. Differences in preference and style can be opportunities for mutual submission and growth for all involved rather than barriers to being in community together.
Unified Body
Biblical unity is essential. The depth of our relationships must match the breadth of our goal. Hours before the cross, Jesus prayed for all believers to be united with each other and in him. He knew his followers would encounter many social, religious, and cultural conflicts. Prioritizing relationships also effects the way we resolve conflict and motivates us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We expect all who join our Body to prioritize and pursue the biblical model for forgiveness and reconciliation. We believe this is unusual in our world and is a key to reaching the world around us. Biblical unity doesn’t mean we avoid engaging culture or the world to stand for Biblical truth. It means we pursue relational peace as far as it depends on us while we also steadfastly speak the truth and obey God.
Connected Body
We regularly study his word, spend time united in worship, pray as a group, celebrate communion, love our families, connect with our community, and seek to serve others. We don’t do these things out of obligation but rather because we see that Jesus loves people and we see him in the way that we love each other. We believe that “community” is more than being in the same place. We see Community more like a family; a family that is committed to staying together, going through life together, forgiving each other, and loving sacrificially.
Gospel Sharing Body
Every believer is called to share their faith in Christ with others in word and deed. We actively seek to share the good news of Jesus with those who aren’t yet following Him and invite them to follow and obey Him. Gospel sharing mission will always flow out of Christ-centered prayer and transformation-focused relationships. Jesus the King will call us to informed action together through the leadership and direction of the Holy Spirit.
Disciple Making Body
Every believer is a minister fully empowered by God to hear from God, obey Him and make disciples. Disciple making isn’t just the responsibility of church leaders. His Spirit equips us all with gifts and surrounds us with opportunities in our daily lives. We want every believer to be an equipped disciple maker, using their gifts and influence to make disciples. We aim to model and provide mentorship in this. Our goal is that every believer contributes to the expansion of God’s kingdom and the growth of His people. Every activity of our body is connected to the idea of bringing others closer to Jesus.
Organized Body
While we aim to involve all believers in the activity of the body, we do have a clear leadership structure and philosophy. Rather than being led by one Pastor, our leadership group is comprised of a group of Elders and Deacons that have been confirmed by the Body. These are not honorary positions for friends, donors, or those with ministry experience. This plurality of leaders is equal in authority but often different in personality and gifting. This requires the Leadership to model mutual submission and Christian character in their collaboration. Our leadership group creates structure and order for the purpose of empowering others. These positions are open to all who meet the Biblical requirements and have a heart to serve others.