Our Core Values 

Our core values are part of the DNA of Grace Union. They are descriptive of who we are as a church, how we function as a body of believers, and how we live to impact and influence the people in our community.

 

Union with God
1. Spiritual Formation

We value spiritual formation in individuals, which is both growing in relationship with God through a commitment and deepening relationship with Jesus Christ; and growing in love for other people.

Galatians 5:22-23 (MSG) But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.

2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2. Worship

We value responding to who God is and to what He has done for us by living a lifestyle of daily worship: obeying, loving, celebrating, enjoying and honoring him in all that we do.

2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV) With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let's make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without.  Let's make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.

Colossians 3:17 (NIV) And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
 
Romans 12:1 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

 

Union with Others
3. Next Generation

We value investing in and influencing the next generation of children and teens to become fully devoted followers of Christ.  Strong families are integral to the faith development of the next generation.  We value supporting parents in their efforts to raise their children to be followers of Christ. 

Deuteronomy 4:9 (NIV) Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Psalm 78:4 (NIV) We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Psalm 145:4 (NIV) One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.

Matthew 19:14 (NIV) Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

 

4.  Biblical Community

We value joining our hearts and hands and sharing our lives with one another.  Only then can we begin to understand God's love for us and to display it to a watching world.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV) And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT) And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

John 13:34-35 (NLT) So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

 

5. Authenticity

We value being an accepting community where people can be who they are, truth can be told, and real life-change can take place.

 Romans 12:3 (NLT) As God's messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.

Ephesians 4:11-16 (MSG) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
     Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4:25-26 (NIV) Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.

Union With Ourselves

6. Wholeness

We value journeying side by side as we move from isolation, brokenness and bondage to restoration, sanity, and freedom; bringing about a new identity in Christ.

 John 10:10 (MSG) A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

 Luke 4:18 (MSG) God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free,

 Psalm 147:3 (MSG) He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds.

 

7. Stewardship

We value being God’s stewards. God graciously has given us everything: time, resources, abilities and opportunities.  We strive in love and obedience to manage all that he has given.

1 Peter 4:10(NLT) God has given gifts to each of you from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you.

Colossians 3:17 (NLT) And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.

2 Corinthians 7:1 (NLT) Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God.

 

Union For A Broken World

8. Compassionate Servanthood

We value being an active agent of change in our society by caring for and serving those who are poor, oppressed or marginalized.

Matthew 28:20 (NLT) Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Matthew 25:34-46 (NLT) “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
      “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? Then did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
      “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
     “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
      “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
     “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
    “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”

 

9. Altruism

We value character that is marked by unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

 Acts 4:32 (MSG) The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." They shared everything.

1 Timothy 6:18 (MSG) to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous.

 

10. Missional Responsibility

We value sharing the love, life and power of God to our communities and world, joining Christ in his mission to rescue fallen humanity.

 Colossians 4:5 (NLT) Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity.

 Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT) Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

 Matthew 4:19 (NLT) Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!"

2 Corinthians 5:18 (NLT) All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him.

 

11. Diversity

We value the breaking down of cultural walls of race, gender, age, class and politics by uniting the body of Christ in love and empathy.

 Ephesians 2:15-16 (MSG) He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. Christ brought us together through his death on the Cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility.

 Galatians 3:26-28 (NLT) So you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians—you are one in Christ Jesus.