Core

ST. MARK'S CORE VALUES: (What is important to us as a church.)

We Value Relevant Bible Exposition
We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, the authoritative and trustworthy rule of faith and practice for
Christians. The bible is both timeless and timely, relevant to common needs of all people at all times and to the specific
problems of contemporary living. Therefore, we are committed to equipping Christians, through the preaching and
teaching of God’s Word, to follow Christ in every sphere of life.
(II Tim. 3:16-17; I Pet. 1:20-21)

We Value Prayer
We believe that God desires His people to pray and the He hears and answers prayer (Matt. 7:7-11; James 5:13-18).
Therefore, the ministries and actives of this church will be characterized by a reliance on prayer in their conception,
planning, and execution.

We Value Full Devotion to Christ and His Cause
We believe that whole-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ is not only the biblical norm for the believer, but that anything
less is sin in God’s eyes. Therefore, full devotion should be expected of and encouraged by every believer in the
community. (Matt. 6:30-33 Mark 12:30)

We Value Biblical Culturally Relevant Evangelism
We believe that evangelism begins with our willingness to befriend and build relationships with lost people. We also
believe that it is the work of the Spirit of God to bring people into His Kingdom. Therefore, our responsibility is to be
faithful in showing God’s love to the lost through caring relationships and to be ready to share the gospel with them
through a variety of methods as the Holy Spirit gives opportunity. (Matt. 28:19-20; I Cor. 3:4-7; I John 4:7-21)

We Value Equipping and Mobilizing Members to Minister
We believe that everyone in the body of Christ has been uniquely designed to serve God. This Divine Design involves
personality, spiritual, giftedness, experience, and passion. Therefore, we believe that it is the responsibility of the
church corporately to equip, encourage, and actively help the individual believer find the place where God has designed
him or her to serve in the body of Christ; understanding, that this place of service may or may not be within the
traditional programs of the church. (Eph. 4:1-17; I Cor. 12:12-26)

We Value Strong Servant Leadership
We believe that Christ is ultimately the only head of the Church, but that He has chosen to function through human
leaders in the local church. Therefore, we believe that these human leaders must meet the biblical qualifications of
leaders; they must have Godly character, biblical vision, and influence. We believer leadership must be team leadership
if it is to be biblical and effective in our culture. Realizing as with all biblical teams, this team leadership must be lead
by a visionary leader of leader. Leadership must model the leadership of Christ in that it is both strong leadership and
servant leadership. Hence, we believe that the church should be led by strong servant leadership team led by a strong
servant leader of leaders. ( I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-15; I Peter 5:1-4)