JESUS

The way of Jesus is our way. Before and in all things we value Jesus as the image of the invisible God. We long to worship Jesus by imitating His life and ministry. We submit to the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. He brings everything together and gives them significance, reality, and meaning. Without Him, all things lose their value. He is our model, mentor, hero, mediator, savior, judge, king and ruler of all. All of our values flow from what we understand about His character, concerns, and the practices of His ministry. 

(Matt 28:19, Jn 1:3, Jn 13:15, Jn 14:6, Jn 17:18, Rom 5:10, Eph 1:22-23, Phil 2:5, Col 1:15-20, Col 2:9, Col 3:17, Heb 1:3, Heb 12:2, Eph 5:1-2, Jn 13:14-15, Acts 26:16, Rom 1:4, 1 Tim 2:5, Heb 7:25, Acts 4:12, Ti 3:6, Rom 2:16, Jn 9:39, 2 Tim 4:1, Rev 1:5, Rev 19:16,  Col 1:18, Rev 17:14).

THE BIBLE

We trust the authority, reliability and truth of all Scripture. In humility, we acknowledge we do not fully understand God and the world He made. For that reason we rely on the Bible to be the rule of our faith, teaching us what we do not know, challenging and leading us away from our misconceptions, self deceptions, and convenient ideas about life and God. We don’t choose the parts of the bible we prefer or want to believe, obey or understand; instead we submit to all of Scripture believing it reveals the truth that is beyond us. 

(Deut 4:10, 2 Sam 7:28, 22:31, Neh 8, Ps 18:30, Proverb 30:5, Is 40:8, Jer 15:16, Matt 4:4, Matt 22:29, Lk 8:21, Lk 11:28, Lk 24:32, Jn 1:1-17, Jn 5:24, Jn 5:39, Jn 8:51, Acts 8:35, Acts 18:11, Rom 3:2, 1 Tim 4:13, 2 Tim 3:16, Col 1:25, Col 3:16, 1 Thess 2:13, Heb 4:12-13, 1 Pet 4:11, 2 Pet 3:16, 1 Jn 2:5, Rev 3:8, Rev 19:9).

MISSIONAL LIFE

We will do mission because we are sent people. We believe that the church is not the church until it is engaged in the mission of God. As individuals, as families, as the Church - we joyfully participate as God’s people, in God’s mission for the redemption of God’s creation. We do crave healing, discipleship and intimacy with God. But we believe that all of these things come in large part through obedience to the mission. Since we believe that the life of Jesus and the early church demonstrate that God Himself is with the lost and the poor of the earth, proclaiming the good news of His kingdom, we also believe that when we co-labor with Him as workers in that harvest field, we not only bring the kingdom into that place, but that we also experience the deepest and truest intimacy with God. 

(Ps 51:10-13, Is 58:6-8, Matt 9:35-38, Matt 25:40, Matt 28:18-20, Mk 1:14-15, 38, Lk 4:18-21, Jn 4:34, 35, Jn 6:27, Jn 9:4, Jn 12:26, Jn 15:9-10, Jn 17:18, Acts 1:8, Rom 15:20, 1 Cor 15:58, 2 Cor 5:18-19, Eph 2:10, Phil 2:3, Col 3:17, 23, 1 Jn 3:18, 1 Pet 2:9).

THE OVERLOOKED AND UNDERVALUED

It is our conviction that God is always on the side of those who have no one on their side. For that reason we believe the church should also stand on the side of the poor, the widow, the orphan, and anyone else who is overlooked and undervalued. We believe this is the heart and work of God. Jesus’ own ministry is our model. We welcome all people but prioritize the marginalized in our ministry concern, allocation of resources, and advocacy. Wherever God has placed us for mission, we will keep our hearts open and move toward those who are overlooked and undervalued. Therefore, we commit to prioritize and remember those who have less and have access to less, so that in all things there might be dignity and equality. 

(Deut 15:7, Deut 15:11, Ps 82:3, Ps 140:12, Prov 14:31, Is 61:1, Jer 8:21, Jer 22:16, Matt 11:5, Matt 25:40, Mk 2:17, Lk 4:18, Lk 6:20, Lk 7:22, Lk 14:23, Lk 18:22, 2 Cor 8:9, 13, Gal 2:10).

MICROCHURCHES

We affirm microchurch as the most basic expression of the church. When believers work together in sincere worship and genuine connection to each other to accomplish a part of the mission of God, they are the church. Microchurches are simple and small, but potent in their ministry to those marginalized by the culture or by the church itself. We commit to disciple the leaders of our microchurches to a biblically healthy model of church. We believe that these microchurches also need the larger church network and leadership to equip, encourage and expand them in their labor to obey Jesus and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom to their mission field. 

(Matt 28: 19-20, Lk 10:1, Jn 4:23, Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:24, 31, Acts 6:3-4 and 6, Acts 14:23, Acts 16:4-5, Acts 20:20, Rom 15:5-6, Rom 16:3-5, 1 Cor 3:16, 2 Cor 5:18-20, 1 Cor 14:26, 1 Cor 16:19, 2 Cor 3:5-61, Eph 2:22, Eph 4:16, Col 3:16, Col 4:15, Tim 3: 2-7, Heb 6:10-11, Heb 10:24-25, 1 Pet 2:5,9, Rev 1:6).

EMPOWERMENT

We rejoice in and affirm the priesthood of all believers. That each person who has given their life in surrender to Jesus and His cause has a unique calling from Jesus to fulfill His mission and in the church. We believe that this is only possible by the Spirit of God living in and working through each and every believer. It is the Spirit of God that empowers. Therefore we work towards empowering each and every believer to hear and fulfill the calling of Jesus on their life. This value of empowerment is expressed in all spiritual gifts and callings for all people regardless of race, gender, or age for the sake of Jesus’ mission and for the equipping of all believers towards their maturity. 

(Matt 4:18-20, Matt 10:1-15, Mk 6:7-13, Lk 4:18-19, Lk 6:12-16, Lk 11:13, Jn 14:26-27, Jn 15:1-4, Jn 15:26-27, Jn 20:22, Acts 2:1-4, Acts 4:29-31, Acts 6:3, Rom 8:9-11, Rom 8:15-17, Rom 12:3-8, 1 Cor 2:4-5, 1 Cor 2:9-16, 1 Cor 12, 1 Cor 14:1, 1 Cor 16:19, Gal 5:22-26, Eph 4:11-13, Eph 4:10, 1 Tim 1:18-19, 2 Tim 1:7, 2 Tim 4:19, Jam 4:10, 1 Pet 2:9-10, Jude 20-21, Rev 1:5-6).

CONTEXTUALIZATION

We value the empowerment of every ministry and microchurch community to contextualize the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel to the people they hope to reach. There is no one paradigm or model that works in every context. We do not put our hope and trust in a model or formula. We trust in the Spirit of God to lead our models of ministry as we do the hard work of listening, learning and being faithful in the contexts that God has called each of us to. 

(Jn 1:14, Acts 16:3, Acts 17:22-23, Rom 12:2, 1 Cor 3:5-9, 1 Cor 9:19-23, 1 Cor 10:32-33, Phil 2: 5-8, [the passages of the ministry of Jesus and his parables are all examples of contextualization]).

GENEROSITY

Generosity flows out of a life defined by simplicity, gratitude and humility. In sharing what we have with others we confess that God is the true owner and that we are only stewards in His vineyard. In giving we joyfully release the grip of materialism over our hearts. For this reason we will pursue relentless generosity and the holding of all things in common. We encourage our people to give their time, talents and treasures as often and as generously as they can, and to consider themselves stewards of the rest. Likewise, the collective finances of Samaritan Church, our microchurches and its ministries should set an example in this regard.

(Mal 3:10, Matt 25:40, Lk 3:11, Acts 2:43, Acts 4:32, Acts 20:35, 2 Cor 8:7, 2 Cor 9:10-13, 2 Cor 8:13, Eph 4:28, 1 Thess 2:8, 1 Tim 6:18, 1 Jn 3:17).

HUMILITY

We commit to pursue humility in leadership, in community and relationships, in the contextualization of our mission, in our prayer, and even in our appraisal of ourselves and others. We are convinced that humility and setting aside personal preference for the good of the whole is necessary for following Jesus, as well as for unity with individuals and within the organization. We are always looking to refine our commitments and expand our understanding and revelation of God and His call upon us. We believe in the living prophetic word of God, that it can be heard and obeyed, yet we also believe that we are flawed listeners and should always listen and follow with humility. 

(Ps 25:9, Ps 51:17, Ps 147:6, Ps 149:4, Prov 11:2, Prov 18:12, Prov 22:4, Ecc 5:2, Is 29:19, Is 57:15, Is 66:2, Mic 6:8, Matt 5:3, Matt 11:29, Matt 18:3-4, Matt 20:26, Matt 23:12, Lk 1:52, Lk 6:20, Lk 10:21, Lk 14:10, Lk 17:10, Lk 18:13-14, Lk 22:26-27, Jn 13:14, Rom 10, Rom 11:20, Rom 12:3, Rom 16, 1 Cor 1:28, 1 Cor 3:18, 1 Cor 10:12, 1 Cor 13:4, 2 Cor 11:30, 2 Cor 12:6, 2 Cor 10, Gal 5:26, Gal 6:14, Eph 4:2, Phil 2:3-11, Col 3:12, Jam 1:9, Jam 3:1, Jam 4:6, 1 Pet 3:8, 1 Pet 5:5-6).

PROXIMITY

We believe proximity matters when it comes to the pursuit of sustainable relationships. When an expert asked Jesus about experiencing true life, Christ answered with a call to loving one’s neighbor. When the question grew to ‘who’ and ‘how’, Jesus told the story of the Samaritan. The journey of proximity is illustrated in the posture and progression of Luke 10:33 when Jesus describes “a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him…” He SAW, He had COMPASSION, and He moved in PROXIMITY towards the broken man. We too commit to become learners in similar journeys as we move in proximity toward those in our overlooked and undervalued neighborhoods.

(Luke 10:29-37, Mark 10:21, John 9, Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 19:1-10, Jeremiah 29:4-7, John 4:1-26, Matthew 5:14-16, Phil 2:7, John 1:14, Luke 6:17)