Our values are expressed and understood best as two layers of ideas. First are our core values of relationship and time. These two concepts define and focus our identity and efforts on a foundational level. Second are our expanded values, which are concept built on the values of relationship and time but are, nevertheless, necessary for our identity and effort for God’s glory

Relationship
We value relationship because relationship is the keynote of God’s Word and Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love God and others (Matthew 22:37-40). When life and intimacy was was lost with God through sin and rebellion, He made a way to be restored to Him through the His Son, Jesus. Even today, God continues to work through His Spirit to reconcile people to Himself so they can experience the life and blessing for which they were created. Relationship with others was also destroyed through sin and God is working to restore our relationships with others, in the context of our families, the community of believers, and in the world at large.

These four spheres of relationship—God, others, the Christian community, and the world—are God’s purpose for human life. In a sense, then, our relationships with Him and others are a spiritual thermometer, showing us the extent to which we have responded to His offer of forgiveness and reconciliation to Him and others. It is our deliberate intention to help people grow so they increasingly walk in faith toward God, love toward others, commitment to His community, and influence in the world.

Time
From a Biblical perspective, time is a sanctuary, a haven of worship in which humanity can experience the life and blessing of God. We value time because it is the context in which we worship, walk in obedience to God, express our love for others, and experience spiritual transformation.

We experience time as a continuum and as a cycle. As a continuum, time marches on and we grow older. Through Biblical examples, we see that just as a person grows from infancy to childhood to adolescence to adulthood and finally to maturity, in similar fashion, we grow in our relationship with Jesus (I John 2:12-14). As a result, we are intentional about helping people understand and enter into the natural seasons of maturity God intends for us in each stage of life.

As a cycle, time is experienced in specific periods: the day, week, month, and year (Leviticus 23). Each of these cycles communicates natural and spiritual realities through which God reveals Himself and invites us into intimacy. There is rich, biblical imagery and instruction associated with each period of time providing structure and significance to our relationship with God and others.

God’s Presence
God’s eternal purpose from the beginning of creation to the end of time is to dwell with His people. As a result, we are deliberate about equipping people to experience and respond obediently to His presence through His Word and Spirit.

Kingdom Expansion
God is a King, and His Kingdom extends across the expanse of the universe and, at the same time, resides within the heart of people. It is His intention to mercifully and righteously reign over every man and woman, every family and church, every nation and kingdom. We are intentional about laboring with God to expand His Kingdom in our hearts, families, church, and the world.

Love
Love is the truest evidence we are being changed into the character of Jesus Christ, and that His presence is working among us. When people see us, they should see the love of God manifested on earth. While love includes our feelings, it is primarily an expression of attitude and action consistent with the revealed nature of God. When we love, people can see the beauty and glory of God and are overwhelmed by His grace. Because love is defined by God’s nature, there are objective standards that define love toward God and others, and these standards are written on the pages of the Bible.

Truth
Jesus said He is the Truth, and that truth sets us free. When we encounter the living God, we are encounter Reality, the way things actually are. When this happens, the lies, deceit, destruction, and darkness of sin and the devil gives way for life and light to invade our lives and bring the abundant life Christ promised.

Community
God calls and saves us within the context of community. From the beginning of God’s community in the days of Moses, God has moved in the world through a unique and separate group of people, people called to have a special relationship with Him and one another, and who live differently than the world. God’s promises are made not to a large group of individuals, but rather, a community of people who have faith in Him, share His vision, and live in obedience to His ways. Christ’s body is the special, separate community of people who trust in Him, and are committed to walking in His ways. We are deliberate about building a community in which the character and power of God is manifested among us so the world sees Christ and wants to enter into a relationship with Him and us.

Grace & Faith
God’s grace is the means by which we experience His forgiveness, life, and salvation. Faith, which is a gift of God’s grace, is our response of trust and obedience. All we experience from God and all His promises toward us flow from His grace. We have not and cannot earn anything He gives. As His grace works in us, we respond with faith, which is an inward attitude of delight in and trust towards Him, and in the end, its presence is verified by obedience to His Word. The two complimentary and interdependent principles of grace and faith are emphasized in all our discipleship and relationships.

Life
Experiencing life is the fruit of encountering God. We were made for life, not just eternal life in the sense that is it unending, but also in the sense that it is the fullness of God’s presence animating and empowering us to be and do what we were created to be and do. It is our intention to help people experience God in ways that produce increasing measure of His life.

Radical Balance
Radical balance simply means we live an absolutely passionate, zealous, faith-filled life of sacrifice and surrender but do so in ways that are consistent with all the principles of God’s Word. By living in radical balance—spiritually, relationally, emotionally, and theologically—we are able to remain focused on what is truly important rather than getting stuck on peripheral issues.

Holiness
God’s people are called to be separate and different in ways consistent with His character. Christians are called to be different than the world, conformed to the character of Christ, and are empowered by the Word and Spirit to become so. God’s Word gives a clear definition of what believers’ lives are to look like, and we are committed to helping people understand, embrace, and enjoy holiness.

Biblical Culture
No aspect of life is to remain untouched by the Gospel. What we do with our time, our relationships, our work, our voting, our choices in food, the way we relate to our children, how we respond to political issues, our hobbies are all to be brought under the authority and power of Jesus Christ. God wants our entire heart, and our heart is revealed in the visible and invisible, in the small and big, in the significant and insignificant.

Joy
Unhappy Christians are not good advertising for God’s Kingdom. Happy Christians, on the other hard, are the best expression of God’s life in and through us. So, we are deliberate about being and helping others experience the joy of Jesus.