Our Core Values
We believe that an essential character of a biblical church is the careful and prayerful exposition of God’s Word from the pulpit, because through it, God’s voice is heard. God is most properly worshipped when his people love his word and listen submissively to his word; therefore the reading and expounding of Scripture take central place at our Sunday gathering. In our preaching, we constantly point listeners to Jesus and his gospel, for by it people are saved and their hearts changed in deep and meaningful ways.
We value the weekly gathering of God’s people on the Lord’s Day. It is an expression of our fellowship in Christ and our love for one another. It is about renewing our covenant with God by meeting with him and relating with Him in ways that he has prescribed: hearing and heeding His Word, confessing our sins, calling on him in dependent prayer, lifting our voice in praise and thanksgiving. We also encourage one another as we minister to and are ministered by one another, not just during the service but also by the fellowship before and following the gathering.
We urge everyone to be in a small group that meets regularly (Connect Groups). We believe that discipleship and evangelism are activities best carried out in community. This is where people get to know one another at a deeper level and relationships fostered. We envisage it to be a place where we exhort and admonish one another as we speak God’s Word into each other’s life. The Connect Group, therefore, is where general pastoral care takes place.
We aspire to be a church where every member knows and uses their gifts for the building up of the body of Christ. Our aim should never be just individual growth but also corporate growth and maturity. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to grow to their full potential. Scripture is also clear that the distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men, is grounded in the doctrines of creation, fall, and redemption.
We are committed to the progress of the gospel, in our immediate context as well as the rest of the world. We are therefore constantly on a mission footing as a church. There is no greater task than the reaching of unbelievers for Christ and discipling them to obey everything that Christ has taught us, so that they along with all other believers might bring praise and glory to the One who saved us and died for us.
How Our Beliefs Shape the Way We Do Things
Because Scripture is God’s Word, our teaching is bible based. While we seek to engage the world on the many issues that confront believers today, the bible itself must set the agenda on what’s primary to bring to our attention; the world does not set that agenda for us. Because the bible is not an anthology of topics but primarily the story of God’s redeeming the world through Christ and the implications for us, all matters we examine is read out of this context and impacts every issue we deal with.
The gospel is not just the door through which God brings people into salvation; it is also the means by which the Holy Spirit changes our heart so that our growth in godliness is the out working of a transformed inner life. We therefore reject moralism and behaviour modification driven solely by external compulsion. In our teaching, we strive to bring people constantly back to the gospel for heart transformation.
Because the God of the bible pursues sinners in love all the way to the Cross, we are moved by the same love to seek the lost and share His love with them.
God is our Father and he loves to hear the prayers of his children. He gives us his Holy Spirit to help us in prayer. He makes it known to us in Scripture that he sustains and sovereignly rules over all things. Therefore our vision of church is also that of God’s people on their knees. As a church, we cannot accomplish anything of eternal value without the special, supernatural grace of God.
We want to grow into a discipled church. We strive to disciple our members because that’s what it entails to be mission minded. We help one another to live out the implications of the gospel in different ways and grow in maturity; we cultivate discipling relationships; we regard small groups as a place where discipleship takes place in community; we make ourselves spiritually accountable to each other and speak God’s grace into each other.
We value church because God does. Because his plan is not just our personal sanctification but the maturity of his church, we exhort all believers to take church membership seriously. We do not see church as merely an institution but God’s precious family where His Spirit takes up residence. We therefore value authentic relationship and strive to share our life with each other. We see each other not as people to be exploited but as God’s children to be loved.
Because Scripture teaches that Christ will return to redeem and rule this earth, we neither withdraw from the world nor become like it. Instead, we engage the world thoughtfully with the gospel and seek to be part of God’s work to transform culture and places. We seek the good of the city such that our workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods are better places because of our presence and involvement there.