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Our Core ValuesCore Values are what we believe drive and motivate us to do what we do as a church today. The statements stem from congregational input and were shaped by appointed and elected leaders as part of a planning initiative. These Core Values may help readers understand life and ministry at the Kirk of the Hills. Our Vision is built on these primary attributes.
We value the Bible as God’s Word, the source of all revealed, reliable truth from Him. It is inerrant, infallible, and sufficient, and it reveals the central theme of God’s grace. We value a reformed and covenantal understanding of the Scriptures. We seek to know, understand, and see our lives transformed under the authority of God’s Word. What we do is guided by the Bible and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Preaching and teaching are grounded in the Bible; church authority, direction, and decisions are tested against it.
We value the truth that Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Old and New Testament, is the center of all life. Worship, teaching, service, fellowship, and outreach grow out of our joyful response to what God the Father has done by grace in sending His Son to be Savior and Lord.
Because we seek to be biblically faithful and Christ-centered, we value worship that is directed by Scripture and prompts the congregation to deep reverence and joy in Christ. All aspects of the worship service express a dialogue between God and His worshipers and lead believers to glorify the triune God.
We value gospel-centered preaching that is founded on and faithful to the Bible and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Our preaching seeks to be Christ-centered, to honor God and to edify and instruct (or speak truth to and strengthen) His people. It is used by the Holy Spirit to convict hearts, call all people to faith in Christ, transform lives, and equip for and compel Kingdom service.
We value maturity in Christ that comes from God’s people learning and embracing scriptural truth and the doctrines that flow from that truth. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to know, understand, and live under the authority of God’s Word which is a trustworthy guide in matters of teaching, correcting, and training. We desire that the community life of the believer in the context of Christ’s Church compel the believer into God’s world as His gospel witness in all areas of life. We believe spiritual growth should be experienced in a learning and an encouraging community that is experiencing the love of Christ together.
We view the world and life through the prism of the Bible. We believe that the fallen world is actually and truly reconciled through Christ and that His rule and reign are made visible through the ministry of His church; and that believers, as priests, carry the presence of the Holy Spirit with them and declare God’s excellencies. As they fulfill this priestly role, God’s mandate to subdue the earth and have dominion over it is enacted.
We value God’s gospel mandate as the primary mission of His Church. We are compelled, as followers of Christ and participants in His continuing ministry, to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Motivated and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we seek to communicate and demonstrate Christ’s love in deed and word to those who do not yet know Him in our local area, the St. Louis metro area, the United States, and to every tribe, tongue, and people group on the face of the earth.
We are committed to encouraging and assisting parents as they nurture their children in the Lord. We value the teaching of God’s Word about the nature of families as part of His covenant relationship with His people. We value the call of God’s Word for families to be a witness to other families and to be reconciled in Christ. We value the restoration of family relationships through godly counsel. We value the spiritual preparation of our children to impact the unbelieving world by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Because Christ is the head of the Church, we value a godly leader that desires, motivates, and encourages people into a deep love for, knowledge of, and dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. This results in those leaders influencing others to love their neighbors and God. As a church, we strive to identify, develop, equip, support, and follow those men and women who labor in this manner.
We acknowledge our total dependence on God’s grace for our very existence as well as our salvation, sanctification, and eventual glorification. We know therefore that we must rely on Christ for everything, and that to do so we must be in a constant state of repentance before our holy and yet merciful God. We know that we have safe and complete access to and fellowship with Him through prayer. Our worship of Him, our service to Him, and joy in Him will be possible and enriched as we are in prayer before Him empowered by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
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