Our Core Values

07.01.12 | Village Distinctives

This document outlines the core values of Village.

Our Core Values

We value worship.

It is the privilege and the duty of all who have met God to worship and adore Him. Proper worship engages both our minds and our hearts, and it cultivates a balanced sense of awe and intimacy in our approach to God. Our worship style should be culturally relevant while remaining theologically pure. We unite in worship weekly and we cultivate a love relationship with God daily. 

We value theology.

We believe that personal and cultural transformation is only possible by meeting the living Jesus Christ of the Bible through His gospel. Because of this we believe that culturally accessible mission also requires biblically faithful theology. At the center is the Word of God. Since God has chosen to reveal Himself through His Word, studying and meditating on the Bible are essential to our relationship with Him. Every believer should be regularly fed through individual reading of the Word, small group Bible study and relevant expository preaching.  

We value prayer.

We are committed to developing a church-wide prayer focus, strategy, and organization, utilizing a range of ideas, opportunities, and ministries for meaningful, powerful, and passionate prayer that helps each one to know God more intimately and give Him the worship due Him. 

We value grace.

The church should be a place where lost, hurting, and broken people are free to be authentic, while yearning for and moving toward continued growth. Jesus Christ came to seek the lost, heal the brokenhearted, and transform lives to reflect His glory. Transformation does not happen overnight with any of us; it takes place in an environment of both grace and truth - grace that frees us to be transparent about our hurts and failures, and truth that encourages us to continue to walk in obedience to Him.  

We value the leadership of elders.

Village Bible Church is led by a group of mature men who seek and submit to the Lord's direction for His church. The living head of the church is Jesus Christ; He alone is the Chief Shepherd. At the same time, in shepherding His flock, Jesus has entrusted its care and protection to a group of mature "under-shepherds" called elders. These men are accountable to the Lord to lead the Body in a way that is consistent with the Word of God and the leading of the Spirit. 

We value family.

Village Bible Church is here to encourage and support parents and grandparents in helping children love God with all their hearts! We desire to be a home-centered and church-supported ministry. It is our goal to equip parents to disciple their children in the Christian faith, so that their children will in turn be able one day to disciple their own children. 

We value community.

The church is to provide care, support, and training for believers endeavoring to live for God. The ministry of the church is to be carried out by all believers as they use their spiritual gifts to glorify God and build up His body. Since authentic Christian community involves much more than can possibly take place in Sunday morning worship, commitment to a small group should be an essential part of every believer's experience of church. 

We value missional living.

We believe Jesus Christ is on a mission to seek and save people, change their lives, and transform their cultures. The church is in the world not for itself, but for others.  We are to be God’s witnesses, both at home and around the world.  We have been commissioned to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded us.  We have also been commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, demonstrating by our actions the life-changing power of the Gospel. Because of this we believe that Christians, Christian organizations, and Christian churches exist to join Jesus on His mission by immersing themselves in whatever culture Jesus has placed them.

We value cooperation.

We believe an effective way to reach our community is to partner with other churches and ministries - working together as a family in providing culturally effective and biblically faithful ministry.  Therefore, Village Bible Church seeks to create one church with the same vision under one common leadership team to exist at multiple locations.  We understand that this approach to church is somewhat unique, yet we believe that it allows us to combine the strength of a large church and strengths of the small church to produce a more effective and healthy body.