Here are some things that matter to us – a lot. If our vision is the colour of the house, our beliefs form the foundation then I suppose our values are the frame. You can do a lot of renovation, repaint and redecorate but the frame is still going to be there providing structure.
We’re a Jesus centered community. We think He’s still alive, 2000 Christmases and Easters later. He’s our source, our leader, our vision, our guide. We want all we do to start with Him, honour Him, and come back to Him. (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:15-20)
Small Groups and Friendships are a priority. No one’s meant to try life alone and the best way to get help on the journey is by being connected. (Ac. 2:42-47)
Worship is important to us, both personal and corporate. We want to express the range from celebration to lament, and anything in between. We’ll experiment with different expressions & styles. We believe worship is a lifestyle, not just a weekly event. (Ro. 12:1; Heb. 12:28)
Family matters to us. Family is the first ‘congregation’ and we must protect and nurture it. Because of that we try not to “over plan” and let the church calendar be one more stress on a family or have multiple events that sends the family off in opposite directions. Our kids are only with us for a short time so we want to make the most of those moments before they’re gone. (2 Tim. 1:5; 1 Thess. 2:7, 11-12)
We love talking about Jesus and the difference He makes. When all actions have failed we’ll use words. (Ac. 1:7,8)
It’s important to us that when we’re “scratching where it itches” when it comes to living our faith out loud. We want to be known for comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. (Matt. 5:13-16)
Relationship matters. We’re not cogs in a wheel in a factory called “church”. We want to love what God loves and our best understanding is that that means you, me, us, and that pretty well covers it, despite what we our world sometimes emphasizes. (Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Pe. 2:9-12)
We count on God’s grace to stop our fall. Living by grace means being aware and honest about my own need and my own imperfection and loving others when they’re just as honest about themselves. When you realize how much you’ve been forgiven, forgiveness comes a whole lot easier. (Ro. 6:14)
We believe that children are active, important and valuable and God is as likely to speak through them, love through them or change the world through them as He is any adult. Maybe even more likely. (Ro. 16:13; 1 Tim. 1:2; 4:12)
One of the bonuses of knowing God through Jesus is that His Holy Spirit still speaks to us today. That makes prayer about listening and talking. (1 Cor. 14:1, 3, 24-25)
The Bible, God’s Word, matters to us. We want to read it, learn from it and remember it. It’s so important that we’ll invest our time and energy in understanding what it says and what it means and how to bridge the gap between the 1st Century Church it was written to and the present day Church. (1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:12)
Life is too short to play church, we want to make a difference. We want to take over the world with love. (Eph. 4:11-13; 1 Pe. 2:9-12)
We believe in love: God’s radical, unconditional, tenacious, unrelenting love. At the end of the day, it’s all we’ve got. (1 Cor. 13)
Our intention is to do all we do with excellence. We want to give our best for His best. We will do all we do as if it were for Him because it is. (Col. 3:17)
It’s important that we have financial integrity, transparency and generosity. Our “books” are open, we spend on people before things and we want to be wise with the resources God brings to us. (2 Cor. 9:6-8)
Our best understanding of how this community works goes like this: belonging, believing and behaving. Following Jesus is a process called “discipleship”. It’s not about being faultless, or organized and brilliant. It’s about finding a group of people who’ll love you “as is” but love you enough not to leave you there. We’re not a gathering place for the perfected, more like “Sinners Anonymous” and we’re helping each other stumble towards the Light. (Phil. 3:12-14)
