Although we value every word of Scripture, we know that God’s revealed will for us entails more than can be said in this small space.  In light of that, the following list contains aspects of the Christian life that we, as a church, feel called to emphasize in our life together:

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• God-centered Worship: Worship is something that everyone does all the time. It motivates every human action. God has made us in such a way that we are always worshiping, always seeking to glorify something or someone. As Christians, we live our whole lives in worship of the Triune God who has poured out his great love on us. In worshiping this loving God, we find the greatest joy that any human being can experience. Gathering weekly to worship God with other believers is a foundational part of a life of worship. (Heb 10:24-25; Ex 20:8) At Good Shepherd, we are committed to God- centered worship in Word and Sacrament by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we meet together to worship God in this way something happens to us: we ourselves are changed. The way we worship forms who we are in the same way that the way you eat shapes your body, and we hope to worship God in a way that shapes us as God would have us be. God is always first, and when we give him his proper place in our lives, we find the greatest source of joy.

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• The Foundation of the Word of God: We have nothing to offer people but what comes from the infallible Word of God written in the Bible. Any church that does not give the preaching and the teaching of the Word a primary place in it’s life together will languish because it is through the preaching of the Word of God that the Kingdom of God spreads. (Acts 6:7, also 2:42-47; 4:31; 28:30-31) And so, the Word is central to everything we do. We will learn it, live it and pass it on to others. (Ezra 7:10)

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• The Centrality of the Gospel: We have no hope to be right with God or to have any taste of the good life apart from being in a covenant relationship with the Triune God through faith in Jesus Christ. We have this loving relationship with God, not because of anything good in us, not because we have any worthiness in us, but because of God’s sovereign grace to us in Jesus Christ. In fact, God works despite our continual sins against Him to bring us into and keep us in relationship with Him. No one loves us as much as God does, and we receive his love through Jesus Christ, who is the only way to God and eternal life, the only way to see God as He truly is, and the only way to have life that is truly life (John 14:6; Titus 3:5).

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• Expectant Prayer: Prayer is simple and yet very profound. Any child can pray, but it is also a great mystery beyond our understanding. Even if we don’t understand how prayer works, it is a great joy to know that we can talk with God and meet with him in prayer. We strive to be people who pray for each other and our community. Prayer is a regular part of our every-day lives at Good Shepherd, and we often set aside significant amounts of time for prayer. Who wouldn’t want to talk to God given the chance? (1 Thess 5:17)

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• Life is About Relationships: Life is about relationships: with God, with others and even ourselves (Matt 22:37-40). Therefore our ministry will be “life on life” as we encourage clergy and lay leaders alike to pour into the lives of others so that these people can in turn pour into others (2 Tim 2:2). We strive to be relationally rich people, even at the expense of being poor in other areas (e.g. possessions, travel, social standing, comforts, success as the world defines it, security, career-advancement, etc.). We also know that relationships are inherently inefficient, and so, we intentionally seek to have margins in our lives in order to give a significant amount of time each week to our relationship with God and with others. This includes time with our church family, with our own families, and with our neighbors, and coworkers.

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• Servant Ministry for the Sake of Others: Everything we’ve been given (whether it’s success in business, a gift or talent, etc.) is given for us for the benefit of others. And so we desire to understand our community’s needs, both physical and spiritual, and be God’s instrument to help meet those needs. Our work and ministry is not about us or about our needs but about expanding God’s Kingdom in the lives of the people in our area. We trust God to meet our needs as we step out in faith to love our neighbor (Mark 6:34-44).

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• Sacrificial Giving: We believe that every Christian has been given gifts by God that are necessary for the life of the Church, and that for the Church to function as God intends, everyone in the Church needs to give of their time, their talents (abilities) and their treasure (finances). There are no “spectators” in the church, and Jesus demands that each of us give Him all we are and all we have (Eph 4:1-16; 1 Cor 12).

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• Learning from those who have come before us: Tradition is simply the wisdom of Christians who have gone before us, and every ministry operates within some form of tradition. A tradition may be deep or shallow, old or new, expressed or tacit, but this tradition will inevitably shape the way ministry is done. At Good Shepherd, we have been placed within the Anglican tradition and seek to operate out of its distinctives, recognizing the biblical respect for the wisdom of previous generations. We have much to learn from their wisdom, and we will not needlessly depart from Church tradition, unless there is a clear warrant from Scripture. We believe that the ancient practices of the Church are the perfect means to reach our hyper-individualistic, materialistic, post-modern culture. The wisdom of previous generations offers a culturally relevant critique that all of us need to hear (Jude 3; Prov 26:12).

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• Multiformity:  The Church is a fellowship of many types of people. We have been blessed to have a multi-generational church in which people of all ages and different cultural backgrounds interact and serve together. We believe that a healthy church will include people of all ages and backgrounds, and we will value all people as created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26), no matter age or background. This has been normal throughout the history of the Church and should be today. We have a vision for a church that sees older men and women mentoring younger men and women, for a church where different people are growing together in their relationship with Christ. The Church is our “forever” family, and, whether, young or old or in-between, every generation and culture has a place at the Table.

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• Personal Evangelism: We are a church that exists for those who are like “sheep without a shepherd.” Our world is a frenzied place and even in the midst of so much activity, there is still a lot of emptiness, numbness, and hurt. And though we are still learning how to follow Jesus ourselves, we do know the joy and true life of being in his Kingdom. We have all been in dark places and have seen God pull us out. Having been without God or even having struggled with God, we all want others to know Him and through Him find true life and true rest for their souls.

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• Personal Transformation: We believe that Church growth is defined not in terms of numbers added, but by spiritual transformation in the members of the Church. Christ promises that those who abide in Him will produce fruit (Jn. 15). Therefore, we seek to abide in Christ and be transformed through the means of grace that God has provided in worship, the sacraments, the Word of God, and fellowship. In doing so, we seek to imitate Christ as we live in relationship with a Holy God.

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• Resilience:  Christians are called to enduring despite difficulties and opposition. Christ promised that Christians would face opposition as they follow Him (Jn. 15:20). In addition, there are the regular trials and tribulations of everyday life. We believe that the Church should be a place where we can encourage one another, band together to face opposition, and run the race set before us with endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2).