Life’s Core Values – What makes LIFE unique!
- Church Should Be Fun! Laughing is important. We don’t take ourselves so seriously that we can’t enjoy the journey. There is no room for “Pharisee attitudes.” We don’t major in minors.
- Live to Give. Through giving to missions and our community, we can change the world.
- Do It Right or Don’t Do It At All. Through creativity, media, logos, video, music, printed books, facilities; our church should be more than excellent because we represent Jesus.
- We are Partners in the Journey. Relationships trump numerical results. Ministry spans life from birth to death. Our goal is that each person at Life will find two or three significant connections; hundreds are not realistic or healthy.
- Dreamers Are Welcome. We want a culture of big dreams. We strive to “stay the course” with a God-inspired, long-term, family perspective.
- We Don’t Want Members; We Want Citizens. Members ask what they can get; citizens own the process and ask what they can give. We don’t exist to make people comfortable, but rather to love them as the Spirit moves them into adventurous and effective living.
Biblically, We Are Committed To:
- Discipleship. Through programs, classes, and Life Groups, we strive to teach all the truth of the Gospel. We are committed to an accurate knowledge (rightly dividing the word of God); not just doctrinal tradition, but expropriation of scripture
- Opportunities for Connection and Ministry. We want to expand the gifting and influence of our citizens and provide opportunities for them to connect with other believers in an environment of Christian faith.
- Genuine Care in the Kingdom. The foundational elements of faith are rooted in a Kingdom perspective and in caring for one another through the biblical directive to Jesus’ followers to “love one another even as Christ so loved the church.”
Our Theological Viewpoints:
Life Assembly believes that the scriptures are inspired by God, declaring His design and plan for mankind. There is only One True God–revealed in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is Deity . . . both human and divine. Though originally good, humankind willingly fell into sin, ushering evil and death, both physical and spiritual, into the world. Every person can have a relationship with God through salvation, which is accepting Christ’s offer of forgiveness for sin. We practice two ordinances: water baptism by immersion after salvation and Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper) as a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s suffering and death for our salvation.
We also believe that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a distinct experience that follows salvation, empowering believers for witnessing and effective service, just as it did in New Testament times. Gifts, fruits, and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles, are still relevant for the church and believer today. Sanctification initially occurs at salvation and is not only a declaration that a believer is holy, but also a progressive lifelong process of separating oneself from the old lifestyle as believers continually draw closer to God and become more like Jesus. The Church has a mission to seek and save those who are separated from God. We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ and consists of the people who, throughout time, have accepted God’s offer of redemption (regardless of religious denomination) through the sacrificial death of His son Jesus Christ. Healing of the sick is a privilege for Christians today and is provided for in Christ’s atonement (His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins). We believe that Jesus will return to rapture His Church prior to His final return to Earth (the Second Coming). At this future moment in time all believers who have died will rise from their graves and will meet the Lord in the air, and Christians who are alive will be caught up with them, to be with the Lord forever. A final judgment will take place for all humankind. Those who have rejected Christ will be consigned to eternal punishment in a punishing lake of fire and those who have accepted Him will enter eternity in perpetual relationship with Him and all those in His family within a new heaven and a new earth.
