Core Values

Biblical Authority: We live in a society which thinks that all truth is relative. The Scriptures are the authoritative Word of God. As such they constitute the only valid and true revelation of who God is and of what he requires from men and women in terms of ministry, spirituality and ethics. As such the Scriptures provide the final authority for the manner in which the church is to do ministry.

Relevant, Celebrative Worship: Worship is the purpose for which we were created. Worship is a comprehensive term which speaks of the complete surrender of the whole self to God for his use and service. All of life is to be lived as and act of sacrifice to God for the salvation that he has made possible for us through Christ. All of life is to be lived as an act of celebrating who God is and what he has done. The church gathers as the corporate body of Christ to especially focus its attention upon God in the act of praise and honor. Our worship of God is focused as we gather for this purpose. The church worships as it is scattered to live in the world which God has made. The church worships in a focused way when it gathers to honor God in the name of Christ. The gathered worship of the church should be based upon God’s truth. It should be filled with joy. Worship should be conducted in ways that are faithful to the Scriptures and yet relevant to the people whom we are trying to reach. Worship should always strive to be both faithful and relevant.

Inner Transformation: The life of discipleship begins with the inner transformation of the person by the power of the Holy Spirit as he works in response to faith. Jesus and the apostles clearly called would-be disciple to a life of righteousness. This life of righteousness could be described and expressed in many ways, but it can be summed up in the words of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. In short disciples are to love God with their whole being and they are to love their neighbor as themselves. This love of God and love of neighbor will find its expression in a commitment to disciple the nations. A true and lasting and passionate commitment to righteousness comes only when a person has experienced the new birth of which Jesus spoke. He said that unless a person would be "born" again or "from above," that person could not see the kingdom of heaven. So while the church must call people to the high standard of Biblical righteousness, she must do so by calling people to a lifelong process of inner transformation through the power the Holy Spirit. The Christian life of becoming righteous, which means becoming more like Christ, begins with the inner transformation of the Holy Spirit. When the heart is changed by the Spirit it desires to become like Christ. The quest for righteousness begins with this inner transformation by the Spirit and it is sustained by this inner transformation of the Spirit. The church must teach disciples of Jesus to cultivate habits or spiritual disciplines whereby they submit themselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Quality Fellowship: The book of acts provides us with a noteworthy snapshot of essential elements of the life of the early Jerusalem church. Specifically, Acts 2:46 says "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes…" This text highlights a twofold emphasis in the fellowship of that first church in Jerusalem. They joined together in a large public assembly for the purpose of worship in the temple. This is paralleled by the public gathering for worship in the church today. But they also met in homes to break bread together. This element of early church life emphasizes the importance of quality fellowship which can only be experienced in the smaller setting of twelve or less. It is in this smaller setting that disciples of Jesus share life with one another. These house church type settings are the place where true inner transformation and leadership development can occur. The church must be intentional about fostering small-group or house church fellowship as a primary location for spiritual growth to occur.

Leadership Development: A church which seeks to maintain healthy spiritual growth needs healthy spiritual leaders. Jesus had a vision for reaching the world with the message of the kingdom. One of the most valuable steps that he took toward accomplishing that goal was to invest himself in the lives of twelve men. By investing quality, personal time in the Twelve he took steps to pass on his ministry to gifted and called individuals. Jesus modeled servant-leadership to them and then released them to do the very ministry that he himself was doing. Leadership development must be an intentional, ongoing process. The church must have specific structures that facilitate the development of leaders its ongoing life. Leaders must be trained to live out the core values of the church, modeling them for others and so calling God’s people to the life of righteousness as they to are transformed by the Holy spirit. Like the process of inner transformation, the process of developing leaders is a lifelong process.

Every member is a minister: The Scriptures teach that every believer has at least one ministry ability which has been given to them by the Holy Spirit. In other words every believer has been given at least one capacity for ministering to the body of Christ. The NIV says "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Scripture is clear that every member of the body is to be making a contribution to its growth. This means that every member is a minister. This means that the church much be intentional about helping God’s people to discover and use their spiritual gift so that they may be actively involved in contributing to the growth of the body.

Multiplying Disciples: According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ last words to his disciples were these: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." This is to be the passion and motivation for the church to carry out its mission. This will mean that the church has a commitment to reaching people wherever they may be in their spiritual lives and leading them on to becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. This is the central purpose of the church. This process begins with the proclamation of the message that Jesus is the Christ, God the Son who died as a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the world and who rose again from the dead. The life of discipleship begins when a person has received Christ and experienced the new birth. It continues as the newly born individual is taught to obey Christ’s teaching. The process of discipling a person includes helping the believer to grow until he or she is able to lead others through the process of discipleship.

Discipling the Nations: When Jesus gave the Great Commission he commanded his disciples to "disciple the nations." The word "nations" is the Greek word from which we get our English word "ethnic." The greater Los Angeles area is an area in which people from many ethnic groups have made their home. This means that the church in our area has an excellent opportunity and potential to carry out the Great Commission in a unique way. The church must seek to reach the people that live in her community so that the texture of the church on Sunday morning reflects the texture of the people who live in its community. It is true that the people who make up the various ethnic groups who live in our community have sociological characteristics that may hinder the process of discipling them. Nevertheless we believe there is enough sociological similarity among substantial members of the various groups to make a multi-ethnic church a possibility.

A Healing Environment: When Jesus spoke about the purpose of his mission in the gospel of Luke he declared "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." A central feature of Jesus’ ministry was that he reached out to people who had need of forgiveness and grace. He met people where they were and spoke to them about the good news of the kingdom which could bring them healing and wholeness. The church must be prepared to meet people where they are with the healing grace of Jesus Christ. The church should provide a safe environment of grace where the broken people of the world can find the grace they need to walk their way to healing.

Relevant Communication: When God chose to speak to the human race, he did so in ways that people could understand. He "stooped" so to speak, in order to communicate with us at our own level. The Scriptures for example bear the cultural and sociological stamp of those who wrote them as well as of those to whom they were written. The climax of God’s revelation of himself to the human race came when the eternal Son of God became a human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God’s revelation of himself to us must inform our efforts to disciple the nations. As we seek to communicate the message of the gospel we must strive to do so in ways that our intended audience will be able to understand and comprehend. Paul showed this orientation toward reaching the world when he wrote, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Specifically, Paul meant by this that when trying to reach the Jews he became like a Jew. He expressed the truth of the gospel in a form which they understood. When he was trying to reach those who were not under the Law, he became as one who was not under the Law. We see Paul’s philosophy in action in the book of acts. When he tried to reach Jews he used the Scriptures to show that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah. When he was attempting to address the philosophers on Mars Hill, he began with their pagan gods and philosophy. This must be the pattern for the ministry of church. Nor must we, since we are not God, thinking of this approach to ministry as though we are "stopping." When we take this approach to ministry it is a matter of treating those whom we seek to reach with dignity and respect.

Striving for Excellence: Paul urged Christians to set their sights on excellence when he wrote the following words, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Paul exhorted Christians to set their thoughts on beauty and excellence. His ultimate intent was that this kind of focused and elevated thinking would result in beautiful and excellent behavior. A striving for excellence in everything must mark the various ministries of the church. A focus upon excellence does not mean a crippling and frustrating perfectionism. It simply means that with the help of God’s grace we will strive to minister with excellence to the best of our ability with God’s help.