Values

In an age where many do not believe in absolute Truth, we hold to the Bible in all that it teaches as the very Word of God. So we study and teach the Bible carefully, striving to live out the Truth in our daily lives. We speak this Truth in love and gentleness to those who do not believe it, and seek to avoid being argumentative about our beliefs.

Being a Christian is not just about attending a church. Our intent is to be people who believe Jesus' words, hold to his teaching, and live in obedience to Him. Because he loved us and gave his life to save us from our sins, we want nothing more than to live our entire lives following him and telling others of his love.

God is the only one worthy of worship and we were made to worship Him. Because of all that Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross, we love Him and want to sing of his excellence, beauty, and grace. We sing our songs to God in awe of Him and experience the wonder of his presence in the midst of the church.

To grow as disciples in a church, Christians need a smaller context beyond the larger gathering of a Sunday service. The Bible lays out this model in the book of Acts. We gather in small groups during the week to apply the Bible to our lives, pray together, and enjoy new friendships.

Prayer is a primary way that we cooperate with Jesus in his work and stay in close relationship with him. We spend time with him in prayer and know that he hears us. We pray to him alone and we pray when the church is gathered. We pray for each other and we present our needs in prayer, thanking him for everything he has done.

We are a church committed to love and unity among people of many cultures, races, and nations together in Christ. Our command from Jesus is to reach 'all nations' with the gospel so we seek to heal the wounds caused by the sin of racism and division. The church best represents Jesus' intention when made up of every race and ethnicity in one unified family.

People of all ages are needed to build a healthy church. We have a specific passion to reach university students, but a biblical church also reaches grandparents, families, young professionals, youth, and children. This is the Bible's model and all generations are essential for effective, disciple-making churches.

A biblical church is made up of people who grow in real, loving friendship that is lived out in unity of purpose. We need each other and help one another as we grow to maturity in Jesus. In healthy churches, people enjoy following Jesus together and constantly make new friendships as Jesus adds people to His church.

Jesus gives leaders to equip, instruct, encourage, and protect His church. Without leadership the church is ineffective. We are careful that our pastors and leaders are trustworthy and meet the Bible's qualifications. Because of this, we are able to follow them with trust and confidence as we serve Jesus together.

Churches can get too large to most effectively do the work of relational disciple making. We do not attempt to grow mega-churches or do multiple campuses. We believe the ideal size for a relational local church may be under 1,000 people.

Local churches are the primary means of making disciples for Jesus. Thus, we constantly train church planting pastors, worship leaders, and planting teams to start new churches in other cities. Biblical missions are best lived out through sending new churches where the gospel is preached and people become authentic Jesus followers.

God extended mercy to us when Jesus died for our sin to rescue us. Because of this, we extend mercy to others who want to know Jesus and experience his forgiveness. Jesus has taught us to forgive others as we have been forgiven by him. The church is to be a place of healing, restoration, freedom, and new life.