CORE VALUES

PRESENCE OF GOD:  We completely acknowledge the fact that without the presence of God in our Sunday morning services or in our people we have no capacity for real life transformation. This is something that will begin with each individual and make its way into everything we do. This is not just something that we want on Sunday morning but also in every community group that we have.

THE WORD OF GOD: We acknowledge that the basis and direction of our ministry will be formed and founded on the Word of God. We believe and trust in its authority and power. This will be felt and realized in every Sunday message and every community group discussion. We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of all people, and the final authority for all Christian faith and life.

AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIPS: Real discipleship, training, and mentoring happen in authentic relationships. It is difficult to grow authentic relationships on Sunday morning; therefore, we will focus from day one to build community outside of that time frame.

THE NEXT GENERATION: We are dedicated to partnering with parents in building the next generation of passionate Christ followers who fulfill Jesus’ Great Commandment to love God, love others and reach our world. We believe our best and most effective way to do this is by equipping and growing parents to shepherd their children.

COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION / OUTREACH: Community transformation happens best in the community. Our heart is to train our people to be agents of change in the place that God has placed them – in their work environment, in the neighborhoods and in their sphere of influence. We will use our community groups to share the Gospel and see lives changed in our city, our nation, and our world through practical ministry that meets people’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

In addition to our CORE VALUES, we have set beliefs that define who we are as Reach Community Church.

BELIEFS

ONE GOD: There is one living and true God, infinite in glory, wisdom, holiness, justice, power and love; one in His essence but eternally substantial in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

THE BIBLE: The books which form the canon of the Old and New Testaments as originally given are plenarily inspired and free from all error in the whole and in the part. These books constitute the written word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

CREATION: God sovereignly created the world out of nothing, so that His creation, while wholly dependent upon Him, neither comprises part of God, nor conditions His essential perfection.

CREATION OF MAN: God created man in His own image, in a state of original righteousness, from which he subsequently fell by a voluntary revolt, and as a consequence is guilty, inherently corrupt, and subject to divine wrath. The unregenerate are totally depraved and do not possess a will free from the dominion of the sin nature.

JESUS THE CHRIST: Jesus Christ is God the Son, the eternally existing second person of the Trinity.  In His incarnation, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary to live among men on the earth, where He performed miracles and later died on the cross for the sins of man.  Jesus was both fully God and fully man, and was without any sin.  According to the Scriptures, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after His death on the cross, appeared in a glorified body to His disciples and many witnesses, and ascended into heaven to take His exalted place at the right hand of God the Father.  Through the shedding of His blood in His substitutionary death on the cross and His resurrection three days later, Jesus atoned for the sins of man once and for all, and is the one Mediator between God and man by which man can be reconciled to God.  Today, Jesus dwells within and intercedes for believers, and one day He will return in power and glory.

THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, through the ministry of regeneration and progressive sanctification applies salvation, guides and comforts the children of God, directs and empowers the church in fulfillment of the Great Commission, and convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement.

SALVATION: Salvation consists of the remission of sins, the impartation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the gift of eternal life and the accompanying blessings thereof, which are a free gift of God, and received by faith alone apart from human works of merit. Even the ability to believe is the gift of God. This blessing in no way relieves men of their responsibility to repent and believe.

WATER BAPTISM: After repentance towards God and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer is to publicly proclaim his identity with Christ by immersion in water baptism, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

BAPTISM AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Lord Jesus Christ baptizes regenerated believers in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8). The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an empowering work of the Spirit which is distinct from the regenerating work of the Spirit and is offered to every Christian. All gifts of the Spirit (Rom. 12 & 1 Cor. 12) are available today for believers and are subject to the order prescribed by Scripture.

COMMUNION: Communion is to be taken frequently and offered to all believers except those who are living in unrepentant rebellion or immorality. The communion elements are symbols of Christ’s body and blood and are useful to the exercise of faith in the person of Jesus Christ as the only means of absolving guilt, shame, and punishment of sin.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD: The Kingdom of God is a present reality and a future hope, forcibly advancing through the agency of the church.

DEATH: At death, the souls of the redeemed are made perfect in holiness and immediately enter into the presence of Christ, enjoying conscious fellowship with Him, there to await the resurrection of the body.

THE RETURN: The Lord Jesus Christ will return bodily, visibly, and personally to conform believers to His own image. He will judge the quick and the dead and will effect a final separation of the redeemed and the lost, assigning unbelievers to eternal punishment and believers to eternal glory.