Four Convictions That Are the Foundation of the Vision

Christ

At the center of every worship service, every class and small group, every program and decision, is our desire to honor and follow and be conformed to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In honoring him we honor his Father and live in obedience to him, and in honoring him we follow the Spirit’s leading.  We honor Christ as we hear his voice in the Word of God in Scripture and in the faithful proclamation of the    Gospel based upon it and live in obedience to that Word.

Community

At the heart of our identity is the reality that we are a new people reconciled to God and to each other.  In light of this, we will strive to live in relationships that are truthful and loving, marked by accountability, support, and kindness.  As God is faithful in his covenant to us, so also we are to live lives of covenant faithfulness in singleness or marriage, to parents and children.  We commit ourselves to live and tell the truth and to forgive and be forgiven according to the Rule of Christ (Matthew 18), reflecting our reconciliation to God in our relationships with each other.  Most of all, we are to love one another and to love all those God brings to us regardless of race, gender, class, or social standing.  We value the creativity of our local congregation and also the wisdom of the church throughout the ages, embracing both innovation and tradition.

Calling

The first acknowledgement we confess is that we have not gathered ourselves but belong to this local body through the hidden will of God who calls us into a local fellowship joined to the church universal.  We are called out of darkness into light, and called to live not for ourselves but for Christ, for his body, and for the sake of the world.  We are called to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  We are called in order to be fully conformed to Christ and to grow to become mature Christian persons in him.

Commission

The final end for which we exist is to glorify God in worship in the life of the church and each believer for his ordained purposes.  We fulfill this end by serving Christ as his commissioned witnesses sent to make disciples, empowered by the Spirit to proclaim the Gospel, teach its truth, and baptize those who respond in faith, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).