Core Values

Core values are the shared organizational ideals of the group of people that begin a church.  They by no means sum up all that is important to the church nor do they explicitly describe what the church is going to do.  They simply identify those values that, according to the founders, must exist at the core and, thus, permeate the entire culture of the church.  The founders of BridgePoint Church identified the following seven core values.

• Seeking a Daily Walk with Jesus Christ

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Philippians 3:8

In Jesus Christ, we have peace with God and the forgiveness of sins.  In Christ, we have hope for the future-the victory over death and hell.  In Christ, we have power now to break free from slavery to sin and live a prevailing life of love.  In Christ, we have inexpressible joy-we, who were dead in our transgressions, have been born again to eternal life.  In Christ, we are gloriously rich.  Therefore, we value pursuing a daily-even moment by moment-communion with the living Christ through the presence of His Holy Spirit in our lives.

• Practicing Christ-like Servanthood

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.

Philippians 2:5-7

In eternity past, Jesus enjoyed perfect love, fellowship, majesty, & power in the Trinity.  He gave up that glorious existence, to become a tiny infant, born in an obscure little barn, in a no-name town in the middle of nowhere special on a tiny little rock called Earth.  Then, He lived, suffered and died for the glory of God and the joy of all the Earth.  Therefore, we value sacrificial service that imitates His amazing humility & self-giving love.

• Emphasizing Expository Preaching & Teaching

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16

The Bible is a sacred text-God’s inspired Word.  We are its servants, not its master.  Aware of the dangers of “proof-texting”, we stress not having an agenda with the text, but letting the text set the agenda.  Rather than start with a topic of human interest and go looking for a verse or set of verses, we begin with every human’s need to know what God’s message is to us.  We value careful reading, explanation, illustration and application of the Bible, especially in weekly corporate worship.

• Spreading the Glory of God

In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 16:11

God is joyful, kind, gentle, good, patient, wise, infinite, eternal, unchanging, hopeful, zealous, peaceful, powerful, humble, loving, merciful, gracious, just, righteous, and perfect.  God is glorious!!  He is the One and Only!  There is no one like Him!!  Everything humanity needs is found in His presence, at His right hand.   In fact, soul satisfaction can only be found in Him.  He is what we are looking for in life-life’s bottom line.  Therefore, we value making our great and awesome God known with our words and deeds-with our very lives-especially to people who do not yet know Him.

• Prioritizing Prayer

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Acts 4:31

God changes things on Earth through the prayers of His people.  He delights in answering our requests according to His will and purposes.  So, we go to God now, rather than later.  We begin with prayer rather than use it as an afterthought, or, worse, a last resort.  We value putting prayer at the top of our “to-do” list, not merely as a perfunctory exercise, or a measure of our spiritual maturity, but simply because we are desperately dependent on God’s power to work in, through and among us.

• Building Strong Marriages and Families

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Ephesians 5:25

God created marriage & family for procreation, human intimacy and societal stability, but His primary purpose was more profound.  He designed marriage to mirror the relationship that Jesus Christ, has with His Bride, the church.  As such, it is a transcendent expression of God’s love for people, not merely an institution for human fulfillment.  Therefore, we value strengthen marriages & families for the glory of God and the joy of husbands & wives, dads & moms, sons & daughters, brothers & sisters, and, of course, grandpas & grandmas.

• Fostering Loving Relationships

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

True love is not merely a fuzzy feeling, nor is it a only a decision.  In the example of Christ, we discover the amazing reality of true love-heart-felt devotion to the welfare of another without regard to their worthiness to be loved.  Without regard to their worthiness!!  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!  His love produces willing and joyful personal sacrifice, service, and even suffering.  Therefore, we value cultivating a community where people express this kind of true, Christ-like love, not only for one another, but in all of their personal relationships.