Our Seven Community Value Statements W.O.R.S.H.I.P.

A WORSHIPPING CHURCH: We value Contemporary Worship

We envision a church that values God-centred worship. We will be a church that exalts God by stressing personal and corporate acts of worship. Believing that music is a significant means of worshipping God, we will select music that expresses the concepts of the Bible in contemporary language and style. Each piece of music we select will meet one or more of the following value statements without contradicting any:

• We value music that contains references to God’s attributes.
• We value music that expresses God’s work or activity.
• We value music that expresses Christian truth (doctrine).
• We value music that is an honest expression of man to God, as modeled in the Psalms.
• We value music that reflects intellectual and artistic creativity.
• We value music that is understandable in language and style to both new and mature believers alike.

AN OUTREACHING CHURCH: We value Active Outreach

We envision a church that actively and continually engages in outreach. Believing that Jesus’ message is the solution to sin, we will earnestly seek methods and mechanisms that will enable us to share the Good News with our community. We will allot significant mental energy, practical activity and financial resources to the pursuit of our dream to share the Good News with everyone within our target area. In addition, we will support and encourage outreach to our city, country and world to the best of our abilities.

A RELATING CHURCH: We value Meaningful Relationships

We envision a church characterized by strong ties of meaningful Christian fellowship. In a world marked by alienation, we will seek to strengthen our bonds of Christian love by being a community that regularly spends time with one another for the purpose of Christian growth and testimony. We will associate together publicly and in the context of our homes for this purpose. Our in-home “LIFE-groups” will be a significant part of our identity as a church. As such, we will encourage involvement in LIFE groups as a mark of commitment to growth and Christian maturity.

A SPIRITUALLY GROWING CHURCH: We value Deliberate Discipleship

We envision a church where every believer is on a path of upward spiritual growth. We will not be content with a form of Christianity that allows people to remain where they are in their spiritual journey. We will encourage, teach and model a lifestyle marked by spiritual formation into Christ-likeness. We will hold one another accountable; we will be as concerned with the spiritual growth of other believers as we are with our own. We will endeavour to love our Lord with heart, soul, mind and strength. New believers will be mentored, trained and equipped for Christian ministry.

A HELPING CHURCH: We value Community Involvement

We envision a church that significantly impacts their community through community involvement. As such, we will be a church with a positive, visible presence in our community. We will seek to be welcoming to guests, we will strive to give more to our community than we take, and we will endeavour to provide activities and programmes that tangibly meet the needs of the people in our neighbourhood.

AN INSTRUCTING CHURCH: We value Relevant Communication

We envision a church marked by relevant communication. We will work hard to model the teaching and communication philosophy of Jesus. Believing that the Bible is as relevant today as it ever has been we will communicate the truth of God as clearly and as understandably as possible to believer and non-believer alike. In both our written and oral communication, we will exercise audience awareness and cultural awareness. As a Christian community living in a post-modern world, we will not assume that people adhere to a Christian world-view or are familiar with biblical language. As such, we will strive to translate the eternal truth into the language of the people, without compromise.

A PRAYING CHURCH: We value Passionate Prayer

We envision a church that engages in prayer both individually and corporately. Believing that God works through the prayers of his people and that our lives are changed as we seek the will of the Lord through prayer, we will seek to teach, model and practice intercession with God. Through prayer, we will adore our God, confess our sins, thank our God for his goodness and present our requests to him with the belief that he hears his people.