GUIDING PRINCIPLES

By God’s grace we will strive to live according to these principles for his glory. 

A.) Jesus Christ’s love for us is the foundation and motivation for everything we do.

1. Our primary identity is that of a child of God through Jesus Christ and is manifested in all aspects of our earthly walk. 
2. We are citizens and ambassadors of his eternal Kingdom, as evidenced by his Holy Spirit dwelling within us and guiding our lives. 
3. We are ready to suffer on behalf of Christ. We recognize many believers are persecuted, and we are called to know the fellowship of his sufferings. 

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B.) We seek to be like Jesus in thought, action, and character, and to live the entire counsel of his Word.

1. We daily become more like Jesus by nurturing our relationship with him through prayer, learning and obeying his Word, listening to the Holy Spirit's guidance, and spending time with fellow believers. 
2. We follow Jesus’ path of self-sacrificial love and humble service. We interact with all people in kindness, mercy, truth, and forbearance. 
3. We forgive others as Christ forgave us. 

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C.) We follow the Great Commission, sharing the love and truth of Jesus Christ in our homes, churches, communities, and throughout the world as God calls us to serve.

1. As witnesses of Jesus Christ, we embrace his desire that all people be saved and inherit eternal life. 
2. We equip ourselves and willingly share the gospel with love, gentleness, and respect while trusting in the Holy Spirit to convert souls. 
3. When souls respond to God’s call, we nurture and disciple them as they experience repentance, conversion, and baptism into their new life in Jesus Christ. 
4. We teach and maintain biblical truth while being sensitive to the unique aspects of every individual, culture, and country. 
5. We strengthen and establish churches when and where directed by God through his Holy Spirit. 

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D.) We disciple and care for one another as a committed church body.

1. We are committed to strong cross-generational relationships as we worship, fellowship, and disciple across congregations. 
2. We cultivate a supportive Christ-like environment of compassion, transparency, spiritual growth, and accountability. We care for one another in all of life’s circumstances, having a special care for the hurting, struggling, and broken-hearted. 
3. We support and strengthen singles, marriages, and families. We endeavor to bring up our youth in the teachings of Jesus and his Word. 
4. We nurture the spiritual mind toward the fruit of the Holy Spirit and abhor sin as we by God’s grace overcome it. We repent, confess, and turn away from sin through the ongoing process of sanctification. 
5. We accept the responsibility of humbly correcting and being corrected by our brothers and sisters in Christ. We practice loving, biblically-based church discipline of members overtaken by sin to assist in their restoration of peace and relationship with God. 
6. We value the diversity of spiritual gifts and talents in one another as vital to a healthy church body and show loving esteem for all. 
7. We rejoice together as a church family as we experience the important spiritual milestones in each other’s lives. 

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E.) We apply spiritual discernment to our daily decisions based on the Bible, prayer, the Holy Spirit’s direction, and godly counsel from fellow believers.

1. We steward God's gifts and our resources with integrity, redeeming the time by striving to live all aspects of our lives in thankfulness, simplicity, and modesty. 
2. We exercise discretion when presented with advances in technological innovation. 
3. As God’s image bearers, we value his creation of human life from conception as sacred and seek to make decisions on human life based upon the truths of God’s principles. 
4. We maintain and teach consistent biblical principles on matters of male and female sexuality and identity, showing compassion without compromise. 

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F.) We see God’s value in each individual and joyfully reflect Jesus’ peaceful spirit.

1. We are willing to take the lesser part and do not seek vengeance, trusting in God’s provision and providence. 
2. We speak the truth in love. We do not swear. We affirm the truth as an expression of honesty and integrity. 
3. We live peaceable, non-violent lives. We respect and pray for others while using discretion if engaging in societal issues or political situations. 
4. We are willing to lay aside our own desires for the spiritual welfare of others. 

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G.) We believe the Bible is true, timeless, and inspired of God.

1. We nurture a love to study the Bible, cherishing its redeeming and transforming power. We prioritize personal devotions and corporate worship. 
2. We trust the Holy Spirit to give understanding in how to apply the Bible. We accept personal responsibility to search the whole counsel of God and strive to live accordingly, acknowledging application deserves and requires ongoing learning and discernment from each church generation and its leadership. 

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H.) We, as a church, contend for the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Word.

1. Our ministers and teachers are committed to diligently study and rightly preach and teach the full counsel of God’s Word. 
2. We respect God-ordained church leaders and uphold them in prayer. We interact with church leaders in mutual humility and transparency and embrace biblically-based, Spirit-led decisions. 
3. We embrace Holy Spirit-inspired worship services expressed in common patterns of preaching and teaching from the Bible, praying, singing, and fellowshipping together as a close-knit church body. 
4. We encourage understanding of customs and practices that help focus our love for God and his Word, support sanctified living, and provide order to our worship services. We do not elevate church practices or personal preferences to be equal with Scripture or to be our source of identity, unity, or holiness as we teach their underlying biblical principles. 

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I.) We freely give as we have freely received, recognizing our lives and resources belong to God.

1. We foster a healthy personal relationship with God as we serve others, seeking to do all for his glory and not our own, without comparing ourselves among ourselves. 
2. We joyfully and obediently respond to the Holy Spirit as we humbly give and receive, bearing each other’s burdens when there is physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual need. 
3. We are called to do good to all people, including those who would disagree with or want to harm us, and express this through prayer, hospitality, and deeds of service. 

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