THE TWELVE CORE VALUES OF LIFE CHURCH
We value the felt presence of God – We have a passion for God’s presence and believe it is important for each individual to experience the presence of God in their personal life and in our corporate church services. It is not religious form that we want, but rather we earnestly desire to be touched by the love of the Lord, and to feel His power at work in our lives. Exodus 33:14-16, Ps 16:11
We value dynamic Spirit-empowered worship – The believer’s response to God’s presence is with whole-hearted worship and praise. This can be evidenced with the lifting of hands, singing the songs of praise and the spontaneous, unrehearsed personal song of praise. We call this the sacrifice of praise. The presence of God is a driving force in all that we do in our church ministry and church service and heart-felt worship is our response to His presence. 2 Chronicles 5:13-14; Psalms 22:3, 16:11, 134:2, 141:2; Acts 3:19; John 4:23; 1 Peter 2:5
We value prayer – We recognize that our strength comes totally from the Lord. Our own abilities and wisdom fall far short of what God is able to do in us if we constantly humble ourselves before Him. He loves to answer the prayers of His people! We believe in personal prayer as a daily devotion, and also gather for powerful times of corporate prayer. Matt 6:33; Acts 4:24-31; Phil 4:6-7, 13; 1 Thess 5:17-18, I Tim 2:1-2; 1 John 5:14-15
We value the Word of God – We believe the written Word of God is God’s revelation of Truth. The Bible is God’s Word written, the very pure Word of God, inspired, infallible. The Word of God is our source for preaching, teaching and doctrine. We believe the preaching of the Word will change lives, save souls from destruction and give life principles for victorious living. The Bible is our infallible standard of faith, doctrine of practice. Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:2-3
We value the power of God to change lives – The doctrine of original sin means that in Adam, we were born into sin, shaped by sin and driven by sin. Sin has a willful, defiant and disloyal quality. When we are truly born again, we are “In Christ”, not “in Adam”. He becomes the source of our thinking, our life, our feelings, our actions. We expect to see major changes, a transformation, as a result of an encounter with God: new hope, new life, deliverance, healing, and total renewal Eph 5: 22-24; 2 Cor 5:17
We value the Local Church – The New Testament Local Church is a community of people who have come together to fulfill the purposes of God, are structured according to a biblical pattern, are living a lifestyle of biblical beliefs, and are united in their pursuit of biblical objectives. God desires the local church to be an awesome church, a respected church, a culture penetrating church. People who understand the local church have a conviction that God places people in local churches of His choosing and for the good of the others. Through committed participation in the local church, we find instruction, encouragement, connection and unconditional love. 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Ephesians 2:8-9, 2:19-22, 5:24-32; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, 12:18; Matthew 16:16-19, 18:15-20
Team leadership – We believe the best leadership for the local church is team leadership. God places a mantle of leadership upon one leader to work with and lead the leadership team and the church. Team leadership is when ministries are joined together by the Holy Spirit to work in joint cooperation, in submission and recognition of the other for the success of our church. The Holy Spirit orchestrates the gifts and talents of all team members. God builds a team to fit the dream. Heb 13:7, 17, 24; 1 Tim 5:17; 1 Thess 5:12-14; Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Peter 5:2; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Psalms 133:1-2
We believe that a person should become a committed church member who partners with the vision. This person must value the standards that are clearly laid out in scripture as well as our local church standards: living a life of purity, respecting the standards in God’s Word, and living in unity with God’s people. Psalm 51:1-4; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:9; 1 Peter 1:16; Isaiah 4:4; 2 Corinthians 7:1; James 4:8
We value the equipping of believers – We believe that ALL members of the church are called by God to be involved in “ministry”, that is in service that is building the Kingdom of God. We as believers must commit firmly to grow in Christ, to be a disciple, to live a life that glorifies God, putting away the old ways, and always putting on Christ. We value Christian growth. We build our ministries around a philosophy that believes every person should grow-up and be fully active. Mark 3:14; Galatians 2:20, 6:14; Ephesians 4:12-16; I Cor 5:19-20, 12:12-31; Hebrews 4:2, 6:1-2
We believe that the Holy Spirit is active in the church today, the same as He was in the New Testament. The gifts of the Spirit seen in the New Testament are for today and should be desired, sought after and evidenced in every church. We desire to see faith for the supernatural restored in the life of every believer, releasing the biblical promise of signs, wonders and miracles both in our personal lives and in the lives we touch. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Romans 12:1-10; Luke 1:37; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Psalm 103:1-5; Acts 3:5, 9:23
We value the fellowship of believers – The church is built upon our relationship to God through Christ. The principle of relationship is foundational to all we do as a local church. Building a relational community is a high priority and is a vital part of our vision. Connecting people relationally in every way possible is our goal, encouraging people to make a commitment to relate to one another with increasing depth, authenticity, honesty and vulnerability. We believe every believer has gifts and talents and should find a place within the church for fruitful service. Acts 2:42; Galatians 2:9; Ephesians 4:16; Romans 16:3; John 13:34; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 1 Samuel 18:3; Ruth 1:14-18; Proverbs 17:17
We value stewardship – Stewards are people who have come to a final conclusion and commitment to God as the owner of all things, and accept the responsibility to manage His resources. Stewardship components involve our time, strength, talents and money. God desires that we receive abundantly and have more than enough so as to become liberal givers. Prov 3:6; 11:24; Luke 6:38; 1 Timothy 6:18-19; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9:6-8; Luke 16:10; 3 John 2; 2 Chron 26:5
We value empowering the generations – Children, youth, marrieds, parents, seniors–everyone is important to the Lord, young and old. It is the responsibility of mature believers to make sure that the young of the flock are taken care of so that they also have a strong personal relationship with the Lord, and understand that they have a destiny in the Kingdom. The older ones are encouraged to keep a strong prophetic edge in guiding and edifying the church. Ps 22:27, 78:6, 125-127; Jer 31:13; Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17-18
We are committed to defending the institution of Biblical marriage. We believe the family is vitally important to the work of God on planet earth. Our commitment is to those preparing for marriage and parenthood and those who are already in a married or family situation. We have heart and ministry for those who have experienced a failed marriage. Whatever the variety of experience might be, we are committed to strengthening, restoring, healing and working with any and all people who will allow the grace of God to touch their domestic life. Genesis 2:18, 24-25; Malachi 2:14; Proverbs 31:10, 2:17, 5:18; Ephesians 5:25-30; 1 Peter 3:7
We value community outreach – Reaching unbelievers is a high priority for our congregation. We are committed to loving the lost, praying for the lost, winning the lost, and discipling the lost. We believe God loves every single person, each human soul is precious to God, yet every one of these precious people outside of Christ’s salvation will be eternally lost. God desires that none be lost and He has freely given us salvation through His Son and has commissioned us to proclaim this message daily as His ambassadors. Matt 5:13-16, 9:35-38; Ro 1:16; Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 4:10)
We value being an international church – We value the Great Commission and we, as a church, are committed to doing everything we can to win the lost locally, in our region, our nation and the nations of the world. God has a heart for people of all tribes and nations, and calls us to have the same spirit. We desire to be a church that welcomes all people regardless of where they come from, and seek ways of meeting their special needs. We will also honour our Lord’s call in sending our people and resources (training pastors and planting churches) throughout this country and beyond. Lev 19:34; Deut 10:18-19; Matt 28:19,20; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8, 2:5,8; Rev 5:9,7:9, 11:15, 14:6, 17:15, Eph 2:1