Scripture is the first governing value because through scripture we receive God’s special revelation which primarily teaches what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of us. Scripture shapes the content of the teaching, preaching, and bible-study. It directs our methods of worship and discipleship and how we interact in all areas of life. It is the lens through which we see and filter everything.

The Gospel is the second governing value. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we will never move past or graduate from our need of the Gospel. There is no other answer to our sin and brokenness. The Gospel is the good news of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf. We have no life outside of the Gospel and anything we do outside the Gospel will produce bad fruit. Therefore, everything we do as a church must be done in light of the Gospel and for the advance of the Gospel.

Fellowship is central to the outworking of the Gospel in the Church and inherent to our Triune God. Jesus did not die to for individual sinners to remain individual saints. Jesus died so that individual sinners would be united together in the body of Christ which builds itself up in love (Eph 4:16). Fellowship is built on a love that serves one another (John 13:34-35). Fellowship is expressed in gathering to worship our God but also in everyday life together. Everything we do will seek to build up and support the fellowship of the saints.

Authenticity is essential to Christian fellowship which calls for relating to each other openly and honestly. It calls for vulnerability and humility. We are first authentic in our relationship with our triune God in recognition of our brokenness and need for 3 his Gospel. Second, we are authentic within the fellowship of saints to build authentic relationship because Christ was vulnerable to death for us (Phil 2:1-11). We are also authentic to those outside the church because being a disciple of Christ is not about pretense or posturing. “We are simply beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.”

Intentionality is essential to being a disciple of Christ. We are called to be wise and make the best use of our time (Eph 5:16). There was nothing about Jesus’ life that was arbitrary or not intentional. Everything from choosing the disciples to dying on the cross and sitting at the right hand of God was intentional and we will be the same. In all our relationships and activities, we seek to intentionally love God and love our neighbor. Disciple-making doesn’t happen on its own. We will be intentional in making disciple-makers.

Self-sacrificial love is an essential characteristic of a disciple (John 13:34-35). We love because we have first been loved and we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. We will seek to be hospitable to and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ in all areas of life and to serve the local community, in love, where there is need. We want to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the community and around the world.

Reproduction is the natural outworking of a growing body of Christ. It is a fulfilment of the Great Commission of making disciples who make disciples (Matt 28:19). We will seek to help start churches in Florida and around the world from day one. Instead of being a destination Church, we want to be a church which reproduces by planting churches and sending disciple-makers as missionaries to the ends of the earth.