We desire for every area of the church to honor and glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We have tried to put down on paper our core values that drive what and why we do what we do at CBC. We strive to carry these out with joy, excellence, and creativity.
Click the links below for a detailed explanations that you may find useful as a guide to help you begin to explore what the Bible says about these important topics:
Regenerate Church Membership - We believe that the Church of God consists only of those persons who have personally been brought by God to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone who has been saved by Jesus Christ has been rescued from themselves and the world and has been born again into a new life. This is a life of joyful submission and consecration to King Jesus (Mark 8:34-35; John 3:3; Colossians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21). Therefore, for the sake of Christ's honor, the health of the Church, and our testimony to the world, we strive to include only Christ's disciples in membership of the Church.
Authentic Worship - We want to constantly exalt Jesus Christ. We do this by living lives of love and obedience and through corporate times of celebration (Psalm 95:6; John 4:24; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Hebrews 12:28-29).
Christ-Centered Preaching and Teaching - We live in a sinful world that is full of real suffering and pain. Trite answers won't do it. We believe that God has provided real answers to real life in the BIble. The truths found in scripture are centered on Jesus Christ as King and Savior. Because of this, we value relevant, transformational, and dynamic preaching and teaching that encourages people to joyfully submit to His good and ultimate authority. In order to best understand the Bible we believe that it should be studied in a systematic way, not a verse here or there. Words are understood in sentences, and sentences are understood in paragraphs, and paragraphs in chapters, and chapters in a book. Therefore we value working through books of the Bible from the start to end. This helps us to get the big picture. This also helps us to make sure all of God's word is being taught. (Romans 10:13-17; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; 9:16; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5; 1 John 2:23).
Expectant Evangelism - We are excited about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in our local community and to the ends of the world. Our goal is that, by God's grace, people may become fruit-bearing disciples in their local church (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 15; Romans 10:13-17; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; 2 Timothy 2:10; Revelation 5:9-10).
Genuine Community - We want to be a church where you don't feel like you need to hide the fact that you are a sinner. We all struggle with sin and have problems. Our desire is to have real relationships where we can genuinely love, encourage, and correct one another. Community Groups are one way that we are working to cultivate an atmosphere like this. (Acts 2:42; Galatians 6:1-2; Ephesians 4:1-6, 11-16; Hebrews 10:23-25).
All-Encompassing Prayer - We exalt God as supreme over all. Therefore, we depend on Him alone through prayer for all things at all times as a local body and as individual followers of Christ (Matthew 6:6-13; John 15:5; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16-18; Jude 20-21).
Enduring Families - Families are foundational to a healthy church as well as a healthy society. Therefore, we want to help families to be Christ-centered and biblically rooted in every way (Deuteronomy 6:5-7; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 78:1-8; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; 2 Timothy 1:5-7; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:7).
Gospel-Driven Mercy Ministry - Jesus Christ was sent to proclaim the good news of His reign "to the poor" (Luke 4:18). The kingdom of God is good news because it means an end to the kingdom of Satan. The end to a kingdom plagued by chaos, injustice, racism, hopelessness, suffering, and death. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ is bringing a new kingdom where He will rule eternally with perfect justice, righteousness, and peace (Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-9; Mark 1:14-16). We want to follow Jesus in His incarnation, by speaking truth, giving protection, and serving our fellow man sacrificially. We want to proclaim the reality of His present and future reign by laboring to rescue people from Satan's kingdom and all its effects (John 1:14; Galatians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 8:9).
If you would like to study the topic of mercy ministry more, please read an outline of a recent sermon that gives an overview of the Bible’s teaching on mercy ministry. |
