Values and Goals

• All ministry must seek to promote a grand view of God. Though the God of the Bible is desirous of entering into relationship with man, it should never be forgotten that He is “wholly-other”; that He is holy. Portraying a majestic view of God will engender an appropriate reverence as well as an accurate view of humanity and its need of coming to God in repentance and faith.
• All ministry must be clearly Christ-centered. Since Christ is the central figure of all Scripture and since it is our goal to “present every man complete in Christ”, Jesus Christ needs to be the focus of all ministry. Effort should be made to avoid focusing on any other topic that would take us from coming to know the crucified Christ.
• All ministry is to be rooted in Biblical truth. We believe that all ministry philosophy and practice must find its foundation in biblical truth. Though findings in the social sciences may offer insight, a truly Christian ministry must never adopt ideas and practices without determining if they are biblically compatible. All teaching, as well, must be rooted in the Bible. There can be no correct living with correct teaching. The truths given to us by God, contained in His Word must be passed on faithfully from generation to generation.
• All ministry must be conducted in an environment of love. We believe that truth apart from love looses its power. We want every classroom to be a place where children are greeted by an environment of God-like love. We want children to feel that being with the family of God is a wonderful thing. We want to provide a foil to the cool, harshness of our secular world.
• All ministry must provide positive Christian role models. We believe that we often struggle living a Christian life because we have never seen one lived before us. Our commitment is to provide godly teachers who will live out their Christianity before the children. So much of our faith is caught and not taught.
• All ministry must promote practical Christian service. we believe that our ministry to children should not only be to heart and head, but also to hand. We believe that our faith should usher out into practical acts of love. After all we were created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Throughout our ministry we seek to provide opportunities where children have opportunities to serve others.
• All ministry must hold in tension the importance of the family and the importance of the community. Though we believe that parents have the primary role in raising their children for the Lord (Deut. 6:4-9, Eph 6:4), this view should not be held in neglect of the contribution that the community must make. God has so designed His church that no child will come to be complete in Christ without a vital integration into the community of faith.
• All ministry to children that desires to be effective must include ministry to the parents. Though the church can design marvelous programs for children, its work will never be truly effective unless there is a significant effort to work with parents as well. Home life and community life must both be faithfully demonstrating the gospel.
• All ministry must be conceived on a community model, not a consumer model. We believe that it is most God-honoring to see ourselves as a community, coming together to minister to one another. We believe the consumer mentality of coming to church to receive goods and services is harmful to an effective ministry. Our commitment needs to extend beyond ourselves and only our families to the family of families.

Ministry Goals

The goals for our ministry are based on Psalm 78:5-8. Psalm 78:5-8 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.As we link arms with parents it is our hope that children will grow in the following ways:

1. Children will grow in their confidence in God. As God is presented as the great, awesome, sovereign Lord of the universe, children will learn that there is only one worthy object of their confidence. Confidence in self, others, man’s wisdom and techniques, science and technology will be replaced with a supreme faith in God.
2. Children will grow in their knowledge and consciousness of God’s work. As children are exposed to the whole counsel of God in a systematic way and as they are exposed to God’s present working in the world they will learn to respect God’s personal involvement in lives historically and expect it in the present.
3. Children will grow in their obedience. As there is no love of God outside of obedience to Him, children will be encouraged to take on the will of God as their own. This will result in their developing a heart for the lost and needy which ushers out in practical acts of love.