"Owe nothing to any one except mutual love; for he who loves his fellow man has satisfied the demands of Law."

...Romans 13:8

• Biblical Teaching. At Grace Community Church, the Bible is central because it reveals the depth of god’s love for us and it answers the two most important questions anyone can ask: What is God like and what does he require? Therefore, the ideas and principles we teach come from the bible — not from us. We believe that the principles articulated in the bible satisfy our deepest spiritual need and are completely sufficient on their own to thoroughly help and equip a person’s life¹. We embrace and proclaim the central message of the bible, which is God’s loving invitation to be reconciled with Himself by receiving His free gift of salvation in Christ².
  ¹II Timothy 3:16-17; ²Romans 6:23


• Real Community. It is our conviction that people need one another³. There is something within all of us that desires to know others and be known. Our fundamental emotional needs are met by sharing our lives⁴, and that can’t happen by simply attending a church service. Therefore, home groups, personal friendships, as well as just "doing life" together are a major focus of our church⁵.
  ³Hebrews 3:13; ⁴Galatians 6:2; ⁵Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25


• Ministry Participation. We want everyone to get involved in the mission of Grace Ghurch⁶. Church ministries are a team effort involving the pursuit of unity, identifying and using spiritual gifts, and full commitment of our life, time, and material resources⁷. Together, by the Spirit’s power, we want to serve Christ, build up the body of Christ, and bring glory to God.
  ⁶1 Peter 2:5, 9; ⁷Romans 12:4-8; I Corinthians 12:12-26


• Grace-Based Discipleship. It is our goal that people will grow in their spiritual lives to become fully devoted followers of Christ. This is the measure for all church ministries. this growth can only happen by God’s grace — only that can teach us to live the way we should⁸. We desire that love and a "spirit of grace" undergird the ministries, members, and message of our church just like the example of Jesus as he taught his disciples.
  ⁸Titus 2:12


• Engaging Praise. Genuine, heartfelt praise is our natural response when God impacts our lives. When we gather together, we celebrate who God is and what He’s done for us. Music and singing is the fullest expression of praise⁹. That’s why God tells us to sing to Him. We believe that our time of singing is sacred for that very reason. Therefore, we advocate freedom of expression during our time of singing. Raising hands¹⁰, kneeling down, being quiet, and/or being celebratory are all accepted and encouraged.
  ⁹Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, James 5:13, Psalm 27:6, 33:1-2;¹⁰Psalm 134:2, I Timothy 2:8


• Contemporary Style. We believe the message of Christ is the hope of every generation. For this reason we trust the Spirit to guide us in being both contemporary and relevant¹¹. We value what is contemporary and relevant not so we can be accepted by the culture but to reach the culture. Therefore, our mode of ministry will be culturally relevent, but not culturally conditioned.
  ¹¹I Corinthians 9:22

• Biblical Roles. At Grace Community Church, we believe that God has established two critical institutions for human development: the church and the family. These two institutions function properly when they follow God’s design¹². By God’s design, male and female, young and old are completely equal in worth and dignity. Also by God’s design, there are biblical roles both in the church and in the family. When the bible distinguishes some roles uniquely by gender¹³, we honor those roles. For instance, we will emphasize the responsibility that men have in the church and in the home to be an example of Christ’s loving leadership¹⁴.
  ¹²I Corinthians 12:14-26; ¹³I Timothy 2:12; ¹⁴Ephesians 5:25


• Open Communication. We pursue honest and open communication that is protective of the dignity and self-esteem of others. One reason relationships breakdown is a lack of communication. For this reason, we desire to make it our comittment to lovingly communicate in an open and honest way with one another¹⁵.
  ¹⁵II Corinthians 6:11-13


• Mission Focused. By the grace of God, we want to make it our comittment to be continually focused on our mission as a church: to grow people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ¹⁶. This mission implies reaching people outside of Christ (Evangelism/Outreach) as well as renewing those in Christ (i.e., Discipleship/"Inreach"). Both ministries fuel one another. It is our prayer that this value will keep us from stagnating. It is also our prayer that it will hold us accountable to be continually stepping out in faith by taking risks for God and trusting him to provide the financial, personnel, and ministry resources necessary to be obedient to his plan for grace church.
  ¹⁶Matthew 28:19-20