Foundational values: We maintain that the New Testament Church must be build upon the following foundational values:
-The ministry of Grace Christian Church is governed by biblical principles, prescriptions and patterns. Because the Bible is the sole guide for our operation, the church in not bound by traditions or culture, but is free to develop and conduct ministry based on the timeless principles of God’s Word (I Timothy 3:15, II Tim. 3:16-17, Mark 7:13).
-The crucified, risen and glorified Savior, Jesus Christ, is the living head of GRACE CHRISTIAN (Eph. 1:22, Col 1:18, I Peter 5:4, Rev. 2-3).
-Grace Christian is committed to maintaining a balance between the internal New Testament ministries of exhalation, encouragement, edification, equipping and the external mission of local and worldwide evangelism (Acts 2:38-47, 6:1-7).
-Grace Christian operates under the conviction that New Testament church ministry was simple in organization, structure and operation. The New Testament church was not programmed oriented, but ministry oriented.
-Grace Christian is committed to the New Testament pattern of large group praise and worship celebration, and small cell group meetings as the foundation of church life and ministry (Acts 2:41-47, 20:20). In recent years this simple and effective New Testament approach to church ministry has come to be known as “The Cell Church Model”. We embrace the cell church model as being the biblical pattern that is simple and effective.
-A major motif that describes the New Testament church is that of a family. Therefore, at the core of Grace Christian is a commitment to cultivate a family atmosphere of love, acceptance, care, nurturing and instruction, where believers are made whole in Jesus Christ, as well as a place of peace and unity with clear lines of authority and discipline.
Values that govern our praise and worship celebration:
-We hold to the clear distinction between the acts of praise and worship. Praise is our joyful and exuberant expression of what God has done, while worship is our humble and submissive expression to God for whom He is (Psalm 95:1-7). We believe that a celebration service must have both of these elements present.
-Over the past years God has brought a great revival of praise and worship through biblically based, dynamic contemporary music. At the same time we recognize the value of the traditional hymns and seek to use hymns when they are the best expression of truth for that particular service (Eph. 5:19-20).
-Central in the New Testament church was the teaching and preaching of the Word of God by gifted ministers of God for the edification of believers ( Acts 2:42, Acts 20:7, 20, I Tim 4:13-14, I Cor. 14). Therefore the preaching of the Word of God in an expository manner, that is, inspirational, instructional and life changing is central to our service.
-We value an integrated celebration where the primary teaching theme of the sermon is integrated with the music, style and other factors of praise and worship. In this way the sermon is not the message, but rather the entire celebration becomes God’s big message to our church family for that day.
Values that govern our cell life:
-The small group cell was God’s plan for decentralized pastoral care (Ex. 18: 13-27). At Grace Christian we believe that decentralized pastoral care must be carried out by equipped leaders and encouraged believers. We reject the traditional view that says the paid pastoral staff meets all the shepherding needs of the body.
-The small group was Jesus’ model for equipping the disciples for ministry and leadership (Mark 3:13-14). Therefore, we are committed to cell groups that are sequential and intentional as the primary means of the maturing of the saints for the work of the ministry.
-Small groups of believers meeting in homes was the center of encouragement, prayer, and outreach, in the New Testament (Acts 2:46, 5:42, 12:5, 12, 18:6-8, Rom. 16:15). Therefore, we value cell groups that meet for ongoing care, spiritual growth, prayer, ministry and mission.
Values that govern Christian maturity and ministry:
-We are saved by God’s grace in His provision of the gospel in Jesus Christ. We believe that salvation is not by law nor is the Christian life lived out by law. We believe that true spiritual maturity is not attained by the keeping of law or man’s rules, but rather by the power of grace and love of Christ in our lives (Romans 8:1-12, Gal 3:1-3, John 14:21, I John 5:2-3, II Cor. 5:14).
-Being grace oriented does not mean we are easy on sin, it does mean that we believe that God’s grace is greater than any sin (Romans 5:20). At Grace Christian we are enamored with Jesus, what He has done for us and our new identity in Him.
-We believe that every believer is indwelled by the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation and is given a spiritual gift(s) for the purpose of ministry. Every believer should be encouraged to identify his or her spiritual gift and serve the Lord and his body with joy and great impact (I Peter 4: 10-11, I Cor. 12:7).
-For the church to build itself up in love every believer must take responsibility to also be equipped for life and ministry, through the provision of the teaching offices given to the church by Jesus Christ Himself (Eph. 4:11-16).
Values that govern our leadership:
-It is our conviction that the New Testament church was pastured by a team of qualified men known as elders (Acts 14:23, 15:4, 20:17, 28, Titus 1:5-7, I Peter 5:1-4).
-The elders are to fulfill their ministry not as lords, but as Jesus’ under-shepherds. They are charged with leading, protecting, feeding and caring of the church body (Acts 20:28, I Thes. 5:14, Hebrews 13:17).
-We believe that just as God has established a clear line of authority in the home, government and work place. He has established a clear line of authority in the church. The elders are to lead the church as a godly man leads his home. In the same way the wife and children are to look to their husband and father with respect and submission, so is the congregation to look to the elders. Unfortunately the church in America today, for the most part, has rejected biblical eldership and this clear line of authority. The results are churches in anarchy and ineffective ministry. At GRACE CHRISTIAN we are committed to restoring biblical eldership and biblical follower-ship. Such a restoration will result in church unity and effective ministry for Jesus Christ.
Values that govern our mission of outreach:
-We believe that GRACE CHRISTIAN must be active in evangelism on two fronts: locally and throughout the world.
-We believe that local evangelism occurs three ways: spontaneously, as equipped and encouraged believers share their faith and testimony with others. Strategically, as cell groups and the Church, as a body, host planned out reaches and follow up. Thirdly, as we saturate the community with the gospel via direct mail, radio, and other means.
-We are committed to worldwide evangelism as we send forth missionaries, supply finances and most importantly pray for the harvest.