Home > What We Believe

Mission Statement: “Building People Like Jesus.”

Core Values: All of our Core Values support our Supreme Value of loving God with all our Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength! (Mark 12:30)

1. We value Belonging.

We believe everybody desires to belong and we want to provide a place where people can truly understand what it means to belong to Christ and to belong to the church family in meaningful relationships.

2. We value Growing.

God calls us to grow deep in Him. We call this our foundation and we want to help every person grow as deep as they possibly can spiritually in their relationship with God, relationally with their spouse, kids, and other key relationship, mentally by learning to think properly, and physically by becoming free from addictions so that we have a healthy temple to serve God with.

3. We value Serving.

We believe God has created us to serve and we are happiest when we do. We want to see people serving in many ways through ministering in tangible ways to our community and beyond.

4. We value Sharing.

We believe God wants us to live generously in every way, sharing the Gospel with the world, sharing our people, and sharing our resources to further His Kingdom.

Supporting Values: These values support and help us accomplish our Core Values.

1. We value creativity & innovation.

We represent the Creator of the universe—doesn’t it seem like the church ought to be leading in the areas of creativity and innovation? We think so! Because of this, at The Connection we’ll use many different metaphors and “out of the box” teaching ideas to make the message of the Bible applicable, memorable, and understandable.

2. We value ethnic diversity.

Heaven will be made up of people from every tribe and language—we ought to be practicing on earth. The Connection is located in a very ethnically diverse area and we are committed to developing a multi-ethnic congregation. We are committed to putting behind us racial tensions and loving, learning from, and appreciating each other both for our differences and our similarities.

3. We value family.

The family is the foundation of society—it is also under assault. We are committed to championing and building families through excellent children’s & youth ministries. We will also support families through practical teaching on marriage & parenting as well as providing opportunities for counseling and seminars.

4. We value excellence.

Unfortunately, much of culture views the church as out of date & out of touch. We intend to do the best we can with what we have. If a ministry is worth doing, it’s worth doing with excellence—we will pay attention to the details and work hard to do services and publications with the highest quality available to us.

5. We value unity.

Our democratic society celebrates individualism—God says we are a body and that each one needs the other. We are committed to working together in one direction to fulfill the Core Values of the Church. Because of this, gossip will never be tolerated and dissenters will be confronted and dealt with deliberately and in love.

 

STATEMENT OF FAITH: What We Believe . . .

1. About God:

God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God.

Genesis 1:1,26,27, 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14

2. About Jesus Christ:

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus born of a virgin, lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

Matthew 1:22, 23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14,15; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Romans 1:3,4;Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13

3. About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also comes to live in every Christian from the moment of salvation though there may be subsequent “fillings.” He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift(s) when they are saved and we believe that the Holy Spirit still works in the same power today as He did in Acts through signs & wonders, healings, speaking in tongues, words of knowledge, etc. We do not believe, however, that speaking in tongues is THE sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Though it may be a sign, the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is a transformed life demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily.

2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13, 14:16,17; Acts 1:8; Acts 4:31; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18

4. About the Bible
The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any mixture of error in its original manuscripts.

2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105,160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5

5. About Human Beings
People are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. People are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by attitudes and actions of disobedience toward God called “sin”. This sin separates people from God and causes many problems in life.

Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1, 2

6. About Salvation
Salvation is God’s free gift to us but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by realizing our need through repentance and trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.

Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5;

7. About Eternity
People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.

John 3:16; John 14:17; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; 1 Cor. 2:7-9