Essence · Feb 11, 2008 - 08:38 PM
We are a community that believes that God has manifested himself in Jesus Christ, and that Christ is present in the world through the church in the Spirit. As such, we follow the ancient call to love mercy, do justly and walk humbly with our God and Jesus’s call to love God with all of our being and also to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Hope
We are filled with hope because we believe the testimony and promises of God. This world, though marred by sin, is good and beautiful in the eyes of its Creator, and He has not abandoned it. We are hopeful for a brighter future as God’s kingdom spreads: His will being done on earth as in heaven. We know that death is powerless to break our connection to Christ, who is our life, and so we are hopeful for resurrection.
Love
We recognize that at our very core, we have a need to love and be loved. As the church, we are an extension of God’s love to this world, so we seek to love others.
We do this by…
- Comforting and assisting those who are hurting from failed relationships
- Giving of our time, energy, and money in various service projects
- Brainstorming about how we each might love the specific people in our lives better
Relationship
We pursue mature relationships with each other and strive to live in harmony. We consider each person’s unique contribution to the community to be important, and we respect those contributions and avoid actions that disparage others.
For example…
- We value listening before speaking
- We have patience with each other, particularly when we differ.
- When one of us is offended or irritated with another, we talk to that person privately about it and avoid gossiping.
- We do the normal things that make for good relationships: eating meals, playing games, and generally spending time together.
Responsibility
While our faith is forward-looking, it is based on a partnership with God in his work today. As partners with God in the world we strive to be responsible in all areas of our lives, including good stewardship of our time, money, relationships, and the environment.
We depend on each other for…
- Encouragement to live faithfully
- Feedback regarding our actions
- Teaming up to do good works (e.g. Habitat for Humanity labor, adopt-a-family)
- Working to share the gospel together
- Facilitating good stewardship of all of our blessings and resources
- Sharing in responsibilities such as providing food and cleaning up after meals
Growth
We recognize that growth and change are a natural part of a healthy life.
The ways in which we promote growth in our group are by…
- Recognizing that we all make mistakes and struggle with sin, we challenge each other on the obvious ones, and we all try to be humble enough to listen when we are the ones being challenged.
- Providing a safe place to express thoughts and feelings
- Not being afraid to try something new
Ritual
We practice ceremonies as a means of identifying with Christ and his way of life. These ceremonies include baptism of believers and weekly sharing in Communion, and are symbolic acts infused with meaning that connect us to Jesus and his sacrifice. They also remind us of our belonging and responsibility within the body of Christ.
We try to faithfully follow Jesus’s instruction regarding…
- Prayer: We pray together regularly
- Baptism: We view baptism as the initial entrance into the Way of Jesus. It is a confession of faith and a commitment to Christ. We also see it as a communal activity where the church commits to love and support the individual.
- Communion: We view weekly Communion in connection with a larger fellowship meal as a continuation of this process (baptism), where individuals renew their commitment to the Way of Jesus.
Tradition
We enjoy various meaningful traditions which support the central values of our church.
These traditions include…
- Milestone “blessing ceremonies”
- Celebrating holidays and birthdays together
- Holding hands when we pray
- Christmas caroling
Scripture
The scriptures are a centerpiece within our community; they provide insight into God’s intentions for our world.
We allow scripture to guide us by…
- Reading together as a community regularly
- Encouraging private study
Worship
We want to praise God in every facet of our lives. Sometimes we do this by singing and praying when we are together, but we believe worship should be more than this.
Our worship is characterized by…
- Being authentic people of faith
- Encouraging creativity: writing or sharing songs, art, etc…
- Respect that each person connects through different avenues of worship
