Our Church’s Values - How they relate to our passions for growth in Jesus, community and service in Christ
LIVE UP
"UP" represents those things that help us connect with God – we would normally define those activities and practices that deepen devotional living, love of God, and “fuel” (that being, that which feeds the heart and spirit of those who follow Jesus to live with and for Him on a day to day basis) discipleship…for example, prayer, worship, the sacraments, scripture reading, biblical teaching and encouragement, all in a miraculous, Holy Spirit enabled environment.
This is the realm of the “attractional”, in other words, people in our community and throughout our lives are interested in how we as a faith community “do” this aspect of our lives together…it is the most public of what we “do” as a congregation of disciples of Jesus. This value holds dearly what our lives would that look like if we were to love our God with all our mind, heart, strength (relationship, is it deepening), transformation (how are you changing), responsiveness (are you listening to the Lord?). This is the realm of worship services and experiences, sermons, Holy Communion, Baptism, bible studies, etc. - those things that make up our communal connection to God and help us reinforce our identity in Christ and train and equip us for faithful and reproductive, redemptive living.
LIVE OUT
The "OUT" realm is the realm of blessing others in the name and love of Jesus. It is the “pure religion” that is defined in the words of James (James 1:27). We attempt to love others and serve others (and watching people’s lives transform), blessing people (the tangible touch of God – peace of God – the "shalom" of God on every part of our lives).
Most local churches/congregations do this INSTITUTIONALLY (overseas programs, for example, Haiti Missions, Foreign missionaries, Preschools, etc.) which has a tendency to excuse us as individual disciples from the personal where every disciple is on a mission (some mission is OK to be institutional – but the real question is, “how do we make mission personal for everyone?). That's why "OUT" is our value! Love others – what would that look like if we did that…really? (Authenticity, respect, involvement, service) – living as Kingdom people in relationship with people locally and globally. This is a distinct OTHERNESS – and includes those aspects of our life together that focus on people outside of our faith community. This is the realm of service projects, community partnerships and connections, causes, serving others, and living generously.
LIVE IN
The "IN" value is patterned after our Lord Jesus who was radically INCLUSIVE and it was Jesus who empowered a movement that was known for its love and the power of community. In fact, the words, “see how they love each other” was uttered by outsiders (the New Testament says that in Antioch people saw a community that really acted like a real community, in loving, transformed relationships).
This is a “John 13:31-34 reality” where Jesus says, “love one another as I have loved you.” This is a value that includes the purposes of building God-honoring community and relationships where Christ followers have the opportunity to encourage each other and challenge each other to grow to be all that Jesus calls each of us to be. This is a deliberate “disciple-making” process. When Jesus said to “go, and make disciples”, we ask through this value, “what would that look like?” How do we continue to discern in whom do you see God working; how do we engage them, invite them into relationship, establish them in discipleship and spiritual formation, and invite them to reproduce (to partner with the Holy Spirit in disciple-making). This is the distinct TOGETHERNESS value – and it includes those things that we do together that shape our lives together – where we love other people, “do life” with other people, team with others to get involved in Body Life (see Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4). This is the realm of group retreats, fellowship activities, and fun times together which build a sense of “togetherness” and oneness in the congregation. These are things that shape the heart.