Psalm 42:8
Through each day the LORD pours His unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing His songs, praying to the God who gives me life.
I wanted to continue on taking a look at the core values of what it means to be a part of the Vineyard Association of churches. A common belief and heart understanding that unites us. To be honest with you, our core values aren't really much different than those of other churches. What you will read is a collective effort to give language to what we feel inside and the belief's that we have come to understand as identifying us a church movement.
We humans like catchy phrases that boil our theology down to a simple statement. The trouble comes when the statement does not reflect the heart and effort of a community of believers. That somehow it is merely intended to make us look good in the eyes of others. The mission statement for Vineyard Recovery Church is Following In His Steps. Four simple words that seem to reflect the words of Jesus to follow Him, found in Luke 9:23. Yet we have also incorporated the heart of the Twelve Step program. That the discipline and direction needed to actually live out this thing call recovery is found in Jesus. That if we truly are relying on Jesus, the ultimate Higher Power, to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, then it would have to involve following in His steps.
Let's move onward and upward!
We value being Spirit-led:
We honor Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our Counselor and the Administrator of our churches. We seek to be actively responsive to the Holy Spirit's daily leading of our personal lives and ministries and of the local church.
Romans 8:14 - Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Here again, we look for balance in our daily lives as we seek to follow Jesus. . We want to be grounded and founded in the Word of God, but open to the leading of the Holy Spirit to move and act under His direction. I remember years ago a pastor making the statement that "the Bible tells us how...The Holy Spirit tells us when and where."
We value prayer:
We believe that prayer is essential, because it is our primary means of communion with God, and because of our personal lives and ministries and of the local church.
I Thessalonians 5:15-18 - Be joyful always, pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
We value discipleship:
Our intent is to teach all believers to believe Jesus' words, obey His commands and do His works. We aim first to grow as disciples of Christ ourselves and then to make disciples of others.
We find this in the Great Commission given by Christ in Matthew 28:18-20. As I wrote in a previous posting, Jesus did not command us to go and make converts or church members.......He commanded us to replicate His ministry by making disciples of ourselves and then others.
That is what truly burns within me.
The desire to be a disciple of Christ and teach others.
II Timothy 2:2 is the mandate for us as believers.
"Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others."
I appreciate your stopping by the Greene Street Letters, and it is my goal to post something each day that might be an encouragement to you.
God on you...
mb
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