Values Our mission statement may guide and direct us, but it is our values that mold and shape us as a church. The following “stated” and “practiced” values are what makes Creekside Bible Chapel unique in our postmodern culture. 1.) We are committed to the Bible as our foundation (Ps.119:105, Jn.17:17; Tim.3:16-17). Just as the foundation of a house will determine the structure’s strength and integrity, we believe that the Bible must be the foundation that anchors all that we do as a church. Moreover, like a GPS (global positioning satellite) system found in car or boat, the Bible identifies our exact location in life and then points us in the direction that we need to go. 2.) We are committed to seeing God as sovereign (Isa.6:1, 1 Pt.1:16). From the beginning, mankind has been trying to be like God. This quest for divinity requires that humanity elevates himself, and at the same time reduces God to something that is unholy and common. It is our goal as a church to have a renewed vision of God, seeing him as holy and majestic. 3.) We are committed to communicating a biblical gospel (Acts 20:21). Modern evangelicalism has been watering down and diluting the gospel to be nothing more than believing some facts about the person of Christ. When people’s feelings are more important than communicating truth, words like repentance, hell, and sin are tossed out. As a result, we are left with another gospel that is less than biblical (Gal.1:6). Only a gospel message that consists of repentance and faith will effectively impart the transforming truth needed to respond to the gospel call. Therefore, we are committed as a church to unapologetically communicate the biblical gospel. 4.) We are committed to communicating with God (Eph.6:18). Only God can change the hearts of man and cause qualitative growth (Ez.36:26, 1 Cor.3:6). We recognize that we are completely dependant on him for our very being. Therefore, we will seek to communicate with God in prayer to commit our plans and ministries to him. We will request his divine intervention in our lives as we seek to fulfill his will for his church. 5.) We are committed to equipping and empowering people (Eph.4:11-16, Acts 6). As Paul pointed out, the church functions properly when the pastors/elders equip the body/people to do the work of the ministry for the building up of the whole. To equip the body means that we are not only committed to giving them intellectual resources, but material resources they need to succeed. Each and every ministry is equally valued and will be given the necessary resources to excel for Christ and his glory. This will be modeled amongst our pastoral team in that the youth pastor will not be under paid and therefore undervalued. But he will be paid on a similar level as any other associate and not far behind anyone else. 6.) We are committed to developing character (1 Tim.3, 2 Pt.1:5). What qualifies a man for leadership in the church is not his success in the business world, but the integrity he has displayed in it. Simply put, character counts! Both our paid and volunteer leaders are committed to developing Christ-like character. We believe that this is the central feature and the critical litmus test that must be employed in seeking out qualified leaders. 7.) We are committed to sending out our own (Mt.28:18-20, Phil.4:14-18). There are many parachurch organizations that play a critical role in sending out missionaries all around the world. But we believe that the local church must retake the lead in sending out missionaries. We are committed to preparing, equipping, and supporting our own home grown missionaries in order to advance the gospel.