Love

Love is the glue that holds everything together. Without love everything we do is of zero benefit (1 Cor 13:1-3). God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (John 3:16). We recognize that love is about giving our lives away for the benefit of others. The central commandment of Jesus is to love God with all our lives and to love others. Love is what distinguishes us from being an organization to a living breathing organism that reflects the life transforming character of God (John 13:35).

Prayer

Prayer is the most significant ministry in the church. It is where we receive power for ministry, seek God for direction, win the battle over spiritual forces, and see breakthroughs in situations and lives. Prayer shows that we believe that Jesus is head of the church and is responding in obedience to his call to ask the Lord of the harvest (Matt 9:38). Prayer is our intimate relational connection with God, recognizing that without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5).

Scripture

The scriptures are God’s words and there are no more important words in the world (2 Tim 3:16). These are our guide for all matters of life and faith. The leading of God personally and corporately needs to be solidly grounded in the Word. The usual way God speaks is through His Word – when the Holy Spirit chooses to speak in other ways it will never contradict Scripture. We must be deeply committed to reading, studying and meditating on God’s word all our lives. Jesus alone has the words of life (John 6:68)

Wisdom

Wisdom is a wonderful gift from God and given to those who ask for it. (James 1:5) Thinking carefully about people, how they will respond to our words and decisions is of great importance. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17 ) Wisdom plays a significant role in holding people together in unity for long periods of time which lays the foundation for great fruitfulness.

Grace

Salvation in Christ is a free gift from God, we cannot do anything to earn God’s approval, only receive what he has already done for us through his sacrifice on the cross (Eph 2:8-9). Just as sinners like us received such grace, we freely offer that grace to others. Unlike legalism that views and judges people as either good or evil, grace recognizes that below the surface, we all have brokenness that Jesus longs to heal and restore over time. As a grace church we accept people as they are, and seek to walk with them believing God will complete the work he has begun in their lives (Phil 1:6).

Holiness

We have been called to live the holy lives Christ has given us (2 Tim 1:9). There is an important relationship between our commitment to holy living and our capacity to be used by God for his Kingdom purposes (Titus 1:8).The greater the spiritual influence you exercise the greater potential there is for injury and damage if there are inconsistencies or failures in one’s lifestyle. Neither are we to cause others who are weaker to stumble (1 Cor 8:9).

Humility

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Because Jesus, through his life and death, showed that God values humility (Phil 2:5-11), then we follow his example and seek to be humble channels of God’s grace. This heart attitude helps to guard against the corrosive effects of competition and a critical spirit (3 John :9). Humility is nurtured in our lives by serving one another and putting the needs of others ahead of our own. As we remain humble we bring glory to God for every success, we have soft hearts for the Holy Spirit to transform and direct us, we are teachable and submit to authority, we recognize our need for God’s power over our own (Zech 4:6) and we serve others as Jesus did (John 13:1-17).

Evangelism

God’s heart beats for those who are lost. He sees them while they are still a long way off, he has great compassion for them, and our Heavenly Father loves to welcome lost people home (Luke 15:20; Matt 9:36). We see our primary mission is to share the good news so we can see people of all ages – neighbours, friends, family, people though-out the world won for Christ (Matt 28:19-20). Every believer is called to be a witness (Acts 1:8), to build relationships with those who are not yet in God’s family, and to look for God’s opportunities to share his love (Col 4:5). As a church our contemporary approaches and style are to be relevant and welcoming to our society and the gospel is to be preached regularly.

Thankfulness

We believe that God abounds in generosity and that every good thing comes from him (Psalm 24:1). This results in many expressions of thanks – in vibrant praise and humble gratitude, sharing stories of God’s goodness, much encouragement and thanks to others, and a spirit of generosity. When thankfulness permeates a community the Lord of the heavens and the earth is honoured, and much joy wells up in all our lives (Psalm 100; 1 Thess 5:18; 2 Cor 9:12).

Encouragement

We want everyone and especially leaders to operate in an environment that is full of encouragement. Satan delights in bringing discouragement through obstacles, barriers, put downs and criticisms and we want to resist this by being a community where we stand alongside one another and, spur one another on in running the race well. (1Thess 5:11)

Hope

Hope is a vision of the future. Our confident hope of eternal life makes us look forward to Jesus’ return. We also believe that hope is found in the specific visions that God has for every person and church. Hope breathes life and meaning into service, sacrifice and suffering. Vision grips our hearts and hope compels us to keep moving forward in faith. In the midst of challenges we can experience hope and offer hope to others that God has not finished his work, but can do “immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine” (Eph 3:20).

Perseverance

We are a church that values long term commitment where people keep turning up regularly and reliably even when it’s tough or hard going. Jesus didn’t quit when the crowds deserted him (John 6:66) or when it came time to face the cross (Hebrews12:2). It’s exciting to do the Christian life when things are going well but persevering reveals mature faith and produces character and hope (Rms5:4).