Shoreline Community Church – The Big Picture - The Vision of Shoreline
The reasons we exist as a group of people are to: Love God and Share His Love with Others
The Five Purposes of Our Church are to:
- Sense and Experience God’s Reality (God - Worship)
- Experience Real Relationships with One Another (Groups - Fellowship)
- Prepare people for Meaningful Spiritual Lives (Growth -Equipping)
- Share God’s truth in a Loving Way (Grace - Evangelism)
- Reach out and Respond to the Needs of Others (Gifts - Service)
At Shoreline Community Church you can expect:
- Relaxed and accepting people who take God seriously without taking themselves too seriously.
- No Guilt Trips – practical, positive messages that relate the Bible to everyday life.
- A Caring and Quality Children’s program – from nursery to age 12
- Contemporary Music – true to your heart and your head.
The Guiding Principles of Shoreline:
1 - The Bible is our ultimate source of truth
We believe that there is an ultimate source of truth. There must be some standard for morality that is applicable to all men. Without a source of truth, the alternative is anarchy or chaos. We regard the Bible as God’s source of truth to man. The Bible is God’s guidebook for living. It is not a rulebook to lay guilt trips upon people. The Bible is practical and relevant to every day life situations. It also enables us to relate more effectively to God and others.
2 – Prayer is our most important way to communicate with God!
We pray to know God better, to gain His guidance, to receive His help. We pray for others and God hears our prayers. We are delighted and amazed at how God answers prayer.
The Values of Shoreline
Values Related to God
1. Love of God - First and foremost we are a group of people who love God. We will seek to live according to the guidelines of the Scriptures. We will seek to grow in our understanding of God and in our relationship to God through worship, prayer, study and service to Him - Matt. 22:37-40.
2. The Word of God - The vision, and actions, of this group of people are to established and refined by the Scriptures. We desire to be both hearers and doers of the Word of God - James 1:22.
3. Prayer - We desire to lay every decision and activity before God in prayer. We seek to make prayer an essential part of our daily lives - Phil. 4:6-7.
4. Commitment - The journey of life is an ongoing process in which God's people are being changed (Gal. 4:22-23; Rom. 12:1-2). We are committed to grow as people of character (2 Cor. 1:12). We also are committed to be the people God has chosen for His usefulness. We believe that every member of the family of God is given a unique set of gifts and opportunities in which to contribute. Thus, every member has a ministry and every ministry is important. We will strive to help people find their unique area of contribution and hope that they will in turn give of themselves to God's work (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4 and 2 Cor. 8:5.)
Values Related to People
5. People - We also seek to love people (Matt. 22:37-40). Each individual will be accepted as a person of God with enormous value, regardless of background, race, class or status. We value people's individuality and unique contributions - Rom. 15:7; 12:6; Phil. 2:1-4.
6. Lost people matter to God - We are committed to seek and serve people without a church home. We will accept them, befriend them and search for ways to express God's love to them. Our model is Christ who came to seek and save that which was lost - Luke 19:10; 15:1-2.
7. Teamwork - We desire to cooperate together in serving God and people, and not to compete, gossip or cause division with others. Those causing hurt or divisions in the body will be encouraged to grow out of that behavior. - 1 Cor. 12:27; Prov. 6:16-19.
8. Freedom and Flexibility - We seek to live under grace (unconditional acceptance - Eph. 2:8) and to enable people to become all that God has intended for them (Gal. 5:1; 2 Cor. 3:17). God is a most flexible God, may we be the same. We intend to be informal and relaxed, yet committed (Prov. 14:30.) We desire to be moldable and useful wherever God places us, like clay in the potter's hand - Rom. 9:20-21.
9. Integrity - We seek be people of integrity. Our actions are consistent with our words. We will be honest with each other and open to loving criticism and input from anyone. We hope that all people will feel free to, "tell their friends if they like what they see, and tell the staff things that could be improved." - Prov. 12:15; Prov. 13:10; 2 Cor. 1:12.
