THE GREAT COMMANDMENT AND THE NEW COMMANDMENT Luke 10:27  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” (NIV)   Intimacy with God  We believe that everything God wants us to experience will flow out of our intimacy with Him which is developed as we praise and Worship Him privately and corporately.   John 13:34,35   “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (NLT)   Loving Community            We believe that Jesus commanded us to be an accepting and gracious community within which we develop and nurture spiritual friendships and mutual caring.   THE GOSPEL COMMISSION   Matt. 28:19-20   “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (NLT)   Mark 16:15-18  He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (NIV)   Preaching of the Gospel with Power    As they preach the Gospel, Christ’s followers will do the same things (miracles and authority over demons) that He did in His ministry. He promised that they will perform “even greater works” in His name.                                                               Mark 16:17-18; John 14:12-14   SPIRITUAL GIFTS   1 Cor. 12:4-7   Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church. (NLT)   1 Peter 4:10   Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace. (NCV)   Spiritual Gifts           We believe that God bestows spiritual gifts upon all members of His Church in every age which each member is to employ in loving ministry for the common good of the church and humanity.  We believe that the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit described in 1 Corinthians 12, including the gifts of prophesying and speaking in unknown tongues, are still in operation today and very much needed by the Church in its last-day work of reaching all nations with the Gospel.                                              1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 31; 14:13-39;                                    Romans 12:4-8; 1 Peter 4:10,11; Jude 20   THE ASCENSION-GIFT HEADSHIP MINISTRY   Eph. 4:11-12   “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (NIV)   Five-Fold Ministry  We believe that Jesus Christ, when He ascended to heaven, gave His Church headship ministries (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) in order to equip and mature members for Spirit-gifted and Spirit-empowered ministries.                           Eph. 4:10-16; 2:20; 3:5; Luke 11:49; 1 Cor. 12:28