Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church

core values

Monday, 29 September 2008 20:59

1. We value glorifying and enjoying God.

Our chief purpose in life is “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Our ultimate joy and satisfaction is found in God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therefore, we give ourselves to knowing, loving, serving and obeying Him with a whole heart, and blessing others in his name. (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1; 1 Corinthians 10.31; Psalm 16.11; Matthew 5.16)

The gospel is God’s liberating message of grace through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most important news in the world. This gospel is contained in and is the great theme of the Bible. As the written Word of God, the Bible is uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks. It is relevant to the common needs of people at all times. It directs us to the living Word Jesus Christ. Christ rules His church through the Word. Therefore we are committed to proclaiming the gospel and teaching God’s Word in order to follow Christ fully.. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Matthew 4.4; Romans 1.16,17)

Worship is an expression of our joy in God. Jesus said that his worshippers worship him in spirit and in truth—this is the kind of worshiper the Father is seeking. Such worship knits us together, strengthens our relationships, and fuels our service for Christ. With this in mind CCPC desires to maintain its strong commitment to traditional worship, but to have avenues for a more contemporary worship as well. We seek to do this in a way that is accessible and welcoming for all who come through our doors. (John 4.23,24)

We want to be characterized as a people who call upon the name of the Lord, who rely on the leading of Christ and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in all we do. We are committed to pray in the conception, planning and execution of all ministries and activities of this church. (Philippians 4.6; Ephesians 6.18)

We are committed to Christian spiritual formation of all age groups in the church by providing opportunities and encouragement to grow in Christian understanding, in Christ-like character, and in Spirit-empowered service. (Galatians 4.19; Matthew 28.20; Ephesians 4.12,13)

We desire to be obedient to the Great Commandment (to love God and neighbor), and to the Great Commission (to make disciples of all nations). Because of this we want to live and proclaim the gospel in our own culture and cross culturally. This means we will commit our selves to supporting missionaries and mission partnerships at home and abroad. We will remain active in church planting. We will increasingly think as missionaries in reaching out to our surrounding post Christian culture. (Matthew 28.18-20; Matthew 5.16; Acts 1.8)

As followers of Christ we are called to represent Him in all we do, by loving our neighbor, living and standing for life, truth, goodness, justice and beauty in all of our professions. We are therefore committed to train our congregation to see the practical implications of the Bible for the world we live in, and to act as salt and light in our society with a special concern for the poor and oppressed. (Matthew 5.13-16; Philippians 4.8; Micah 6.8; James 1.27; Luke 4.18-19)

We are committed to the development and nurture of families as portrayed in the Scriptures. We are committed to strengthening marriages, nurturing the Christian family, and partnering with parents in raising up a new generation of Christ followers. In this regard, we are committed to strong children and student ministries in winning and training this next generation for Christ. (Deuteronomy 6.1-9)

We are committed to be a caring community that is characterized by love for one another, accountability to one another and caring for the whole person. We believe that building relationships and reconciling broken relationships by biblical principles is essential to spiritual and corporate growth. We also believe that active participation in small groups is essential to building relationships and Christian maturity. (John 13.35, 2 Corinthians 5.18,19, Acts 2.46,47)

In our leaders we value personal character, humility, courage, and servant-leadership, pursuing Christ-honoring relationships in all areas of their lives. Among us all we value loving relationships that promote open communication, honesty, teamwork, and accountability in order to promote the mission, the unity and the purity of the church. (1 Peter 5.1-4; Philippians 2.3-5; Matthew 18.15-20)

We are called to be good and faithful stewards of every gift God gives to us, including our time, our talents, our treasures and our spiritual gifts. We will promote the wise use of these resources for the blessing of the church and the world through the growth of the kingdom. (Proverbs 3.9; Luke 8.3, Matthew 25.14-30)

We value our connection to the EPC because the EPC is a denominational fellowship committed to Biblical Christianity, Presbyterian polity, Evangelical outreach, and reformed and Biblical theology. We value this accountability, support, and common collaboration in the cause of Christ. Accordingly, as a church we celebrate our loyalty to and our freedom under the Lordship of Christ. We want to avoid both the legalism of fundamentalism and the worldliness of liberalism. We want to pursue godliness and Christ-likeness in a lost world. Hence we affirm the EPC motto “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” (Acts 15; Acts 14.23; 1 Peter 2.16)