Every human being is created in the image of God and therefore possesses worth and dignity, no matter how that image has been marred by sin. God’s eternal purpose is to redeem all cultures and people groups in Christ, uniting us all in Him (Ephesians 2:14-19).

God desires we bring our gifts and what is good in our cultures into the Church (Revelation 21:24-26).

God promises that in the end, He will have an innumerable multitude of the redeemed from every nationality, people group, and language, glorifying Christ forever (Revelation 7:9-10).

Our church membership should reflect many racial, generational and economic groups. Our diversity will influence the songs we sing, and the ways we express ourselves and participate in worship (Romans 14:19).

God has given each generation of believers the holy responsibility of passing, to the next generation, “the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” (Psalm 145:4-7). God expects that parents disciple their children and has entrusted children to believing parents for that purpose (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).

Equipping all believers is a task of the church, where the older teach the younger, so all can come to Christ and grow to maturity (Ephesians 4:11-16).

The church also supports its older members, widows and shut ins, fulfilling God’s teaching for what is pure religion (James 1:27)

In Christ, our whole lives are made worship to God who is pleased with the sacrifice of praise from our lips, and with our efforts to do good to others (Hebrews 13:15-16).

We gather on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, to fellowship with other believers under the reading, preaching, and teaching of the Scriptures; praying together sharing in the Lord’s Supper; singing with and to one another; and giving of our means to support the work of the Church (Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 4:13).

The purpose of our gathering together for worship on the Lord’s Day is to confess our common hope together and provoke one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:23-25). The discipling we receive on the Lord’s Day prepares us to live as disciples every day as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Indeed, in gratitude for all that God does for us, we are called to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and do everything to His glory (Matthew 22:36-38).

Jesus says that His disciples are His sheep. He is the head of the Church, His flock, as well as our Good Shepherd (John 10).

To follow Jesus is to belong to the Church. His people are called to deny self and live a life sacrificed to follow where He leads (Luke 9:23).

He directs us every day of our lives, pursuing us with goodness and mercy, to ensure that we arrive safely home to eternal life with God (Psalm 23).

Jesus says that the second greatest commandment of God is to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39-40).

Our neighbor is anyone the Lord places before us, especially one in need — regardless of their beliefs, culture or race (Luke 10:25-37).

Love expresses itself as good works borne out of faith in Christ, in gratitude for our salvation (Romans 12:1).

The greatest love we can show our neighbor, and gratitude we can show to God, is to share the Gospel with those who have not yet believed it, as God puts before us the opportunity (1 Peter 3:15).