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Emmanuel
Eritrean Baptist
Church Core Values
These values reflect our best understanding of who we are as
Emmanuel
Eritrean
Church at Pentagon City Arlington, Virginia. They are at the core of our life together and define us. Some of these values are clearly evident in every area of our church’s life. Some of these values remain goals for us to embody even more fully. We aspire to become completely, through God’s help and the power of His Spirit, who we are as His church.
The Lordship of Jesus Christ
We affirm the Lordship of Jesus Christ and His leadership as the head of our church. As a church and as individuals we submit our will to His. We are his servants for His glory ambassadors of Christ light and salt on this earth.
Bible-Centered Preaching and Teaching
We affirm the centrality of the Bible, God’s Word, in our preaching and teaching. The Bible is the authority for our faith and life as a church. We are committed to equipping people through Biblical instruction that addresses the opportunities and challenges of everyday life and calls on people to follow Jesus Christ in every sphere of their lives.
We're working to cultivate a Christ-like and loving atmosphere within our church. We encourage commitment to and full participation in biblically functioning small groups, Adult Bible Fellowships and corporate worship to help us build authentic spiritual community. We are committed to following Jesus in a lifestyle of unity, love, and forgiveness. We value people over programs, and encourage a lifestyle of authenticity, transparency, and accountability and a commitment to integrity and holiness.
The Priority of Prayer and Dependence on the Spirit of God
We depend on the Spirit of God for our direction as a church and for the spiritual resources to fulfill our calling. We rely on private and corporate prayer to discern God’s will in the conception, planning, and implementation of all of the ministries and activities of our church.
We practice consistent, fervent intercessory prayer that recognizes and reflects our full dependence on God. We rely on private and corporate prayer to guide the conception, planning and execution of all of our church's ministries and activities.
Outreach to the Lost
We value people, and we desire for all people to have a dynamic, growing relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We know lost people matter to God, so they matter to us, too. We seek to bring the un churched into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and into our community of faith.
Inspiring Worship
We seek to demonstrate God’s supreme worth in our personal lives and in our church through our private devotion and our corporate worship. We aim to provide inspiring worship experiences in a variety of worship styles which cultivate an authentic and meaningful encounter between each individual and our living God. We encourage people to praise God joyfully and to serve Him gladly with a heart of genuine agape love and gratitude in response to His grace. We believe that if there is some one who worships God in truth and Spirit but who does not love his brother is a liar.
We practice vibrant and expressive worship and praise that magnifies the Lord, seeking God-honoring excellence in every aspect of our ministry. While appreciating history, we are also committed to varied forms of worship and ministry that correspond to what God is doing in our generation and culture
Spiritual Growth in the Life of Every Christian
We believe all followers of Jesus Christ are called to grow in their faith and to become like Him. We are committed to helping people grow to spiritual maturity through an emphasis on training in discipleship, the encouragement of supportive relationships with other Christians, and the provision of opportunities for discovering and exercising one’s spiritual gifts.
Commitment to the Great Commission
We are committed to the fulfillment of the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). The focus of our missionary endeavor begins in our own community--our own "Jerusalem" (Acts 1:8), and every member has a responsibility to be a witness in the way God wants to use us where we live, work, go to school, and play. We also have a heart for the whole world. We fulfill our commitment to missions through prayer, active ministry to the physical and spiritual needs of people in our community and throughout the world, and financial support.
We pursue relationships with people who do not follow Jesus to love them, and to eventually communicate the gospel to them. We practice evangelism that is both intentional and culturally relevant, so that we can offer a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ to our neighbors here and across the world.
Christ-Centered Fellowship
We value Christian fellowship. We affirm our calling to live, love, learn, and laugh together in unity as the Body of Christ. We take seriously our identity as a family of faith where we accept one another and are accepted, love and are loved, care and are cared for, encourage and are encouraged, forgive and are forgiven, and serve and are served. We have a vital place for everyone--young and old, single and married, male and female.
Ministry to Strengthen Families
We seek to provide a nurturing environment of support and guidance which strengthens families. We are committed to a partnership with the home in providing strong youth and children’s ministries.
Godly Leadership Equipping Every Member to Minister
We value leadership which is obedient to God and servant in nature. We look to pastoral leadership "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 knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-13). We believe God has called every Christian to minister and has given gifts to every Christian to fulfill the ministry to which they are called. The church is most healthy and functioning most effectively when every member is discovering, cultivating, and using their God-given spiritual gifts faithfully in ministry
Stewardship of Our Whole Lives
We acknowledge that "the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1) and we are stewards who are accountable to God for our use of every material and spiritual blessing He has entrusted to us.
We are cheerful and generous givers, sacrificing our time and money to Jesus and his church. We are sensitive to material concerns of those in need, for people within and without our church family, and we are committed to serving one another by cultivating and using our spiritual gifts for the good of our church and our community. ( Mt 6:19-21, 7:11, Lu 6: 38, Rom 8: 32, 1Co 16: 2, 2Co 9: 7 -14,
Col 3:23.)
Reaching Our Contemporary World
We are committed to new approaches to sharing the gospel without compromise in our contemporary world. We believe God gave his best to us in his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Consequently, we believe God deserves the very best we have to offer in our ministries. and activities to His glory.
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