Our Vision
 

 

I. Our main Vision

1. "We come together to celebrate God's goodness and faithfulness."
SUNDAY CELEBRATIONS: Eph. 5:18-20

We need a sense of God’s dynamic presence as we worship and come before Him. We also need encouragement, teaching, and an opportunity to give of our resources.

2. "This is a safe place to be."
KINSHIP / SMALL GROUPS: Acts 2:46

Redemptive relationships allow us to know one another deeply and to be known by others. The Christian life is lived out with people. What we receive from the Lord is always matured, tested and developed in the context of people, like you, in the Body of Christ.

3. "We don't have a membership - we have a ministry team."

IN THE MINISTRY: Matt. 28:18-20

We must function in a ministry of some sort. We all need an opportunity to give away and to lay our lives down for others. To simply receive and not give in the Christian life will result in a theoretical walk and a people full of information but lacking in practical reality. We must, therefore, lay down our lives as Jesus did, in serving others in an on-going ministry of some sort. We encourage people to become involved in a ministry that is existing, or to find a need and begin to minister in that place.

II. Our Values

A. We value THE PURSUIT OF GOD. We are hungry to know God's presence, hear His voice and follow hard after Him.

B. We value CHRIST-LIKENESS. We desire that Jesus' love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power, and integrity shine through all that we do.

C. We value BEING SPIRIT-LED. We honor Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our Counselor. We seek to be responsive to the Holy Spirit in life and ministry.

D. We value DISCIPLESHIP. We aim first, to grow personally in the disciplines of Christ and secondly, to make disciples, calling others into those same practices.

E. We value THE KINGDOM OF GOD. We aim to move in the signs of the present fulfillment of the Kingdom, invoking the Spirit's powerful presence, ministering through the Spirit's gifts, and seeing God heal and work wonders.

F. We value THE MERCY OF GOD. We believe that mercy is fundamental to all that God does in salvation. We, therefore, aim to extend mercy to one another and to all to whom we minister.

G. We value INTEGRITY. It is important to us to speak the truth, deal honestly, and live uprightly.

H. We value SERVANT LEADERSHIP. We believe that Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the pastor and his associates. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, and care for the sheep and a sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ.

I. We value UNITY. We are convinced that all who belong to Christ are one in His Body, the Church. We aim to maintain unity by honoring all who call on Jesus' name and by seeking reconciliation with all parts of the church.

J. We value COLLEGIATE RELATIONSHIP. Every person whom God adds to our fellowship is a blessing to us. We aim to work together to build the church through maintaining mutual respect, open communication, determined cooperation, and believing and speaking the best about each other.

K. We value REALITY. We aim to walk in the Spirit and see real supernatural works of God. We aim also to function on the natural plane based on God's leading and excellent, rational thinking.

L. We value SIMPLICITY. We wish to do nothing "for religious effect" but rather to operate in natural low key, "non-hype" patterns. We prefer to have fun while doing the ministry of Christ.

M. We value BEING CULTURE CURRENT. We reflect this through worship music that is of a popular style. We aim to develop an atmosphere of ease and to speak, act, and dress in ways to which the current generation can respond readily and positively.



III. Our Priorities

A. WORSHIP

1. We desire to worship God with all our hearts. We want Jesus to central as the Lord of our lives. We hunger for the fullness of the Spirit...His glory resting upon us.

2. We desire Spirit-enabled worship in a style that is intimate, dynamic, cultural, and life changing.

B. THE WORD

  1. We want to hear the Word of God taught in a practical, inspiring way. We wish to hear God's current prophetic Word in conjunction with it. 
  2. We aim to hear and obey God's Word to us...to be "doers of the Word" who are transformed and becoming more like Jesus.


C. FELLOWSHIP

1. We are the family of God, one Body in Jesus Christ, joined together as brothers and sisters forever.

2. We seek to develop real, intimate, enabling friendships together, built on covenant love and faithfulness.

D. MINISTRY

1. We believe that all Christians are called to serve Christ in the power of His Spirit, in ways that build up the local church.

2. We are called to: 

  • preach the gospel of the Kingdom
  • persuade men to repent and believe in Jesus
  • heal the sick

  • care for the poor and those in need

  • counsel those in need of God's wisdom

  • teach believers to follow Christ

  • give to the work of Christ

  • train Christians to serve the Lord


    E. TRAINING

  1. We believe that all Christians should be trained to "do" the works of Christ.
  2. We are committed to the "show and tell" model of training, in, which trainees are introduced to ministry and then nurtured during and after the training experience.
  3. We aim to provide training for all aspects of responsible Christian life and ministry.

F. SENDING

  1. We aim to send trained personnel out on short-term "catalytic team" ministry assignments both to renew the church and enable church planting.

  2. We aim to help plant 100 Vineyards in our regions and 10,000 Vineyards around the world in our generation.
    IV. The Practices We Aim To Instill

    A. PRAYER SKILLS

    1. Prayer of Praise and Adoration.
    2. Prayer of Petition.
    3. Prayer of Intercession.
    4. Prayer of Tongues.
    5. Prayer of Faith - in healing and expulsion of demons

    B. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY SKILLS.

    1. Intimacy.
    2. Communication.
    3. Child-rearing.
    4. Financial planning.
    5. Life management.

    C. GENERAL MINISTRY SKILLS
    3. 1. Communication Skills - the ability to speak
      a. The ability to witness  - sharing your experience with others.
      b. The ability to counsel - sharing the wisdom of God with others.
      c. The ability to reach - sharing God's word with others.

    2. Community Skills - the ability to relate
      a. Ministry to the Lord
          - Worship
      - Fellowship
      - Obedient service of all kinds
      - Giving
      - Personal Bible study

      b. Ministry to the Body
      - Laying on of hands
      - Exercise of gifts
      - Fellowship - sharing and relating to one another
      - Healing the sick - spiritual, social, emotional, physical, demonic

      c. Ministry to the World
      - Care of the poor
      - Care of the lost
      - Care of the sick and broken-hearted

    V. Our Leadership Personnel Requirements

    A. Sincere love and pursuit of Jesus Christ demonstrated in regular personal worship, meditation on the Word, and prayer.

    B. Demonstration of a fullness of the Holy Spirit, of faith, and of wisdom.

    C. A perception of leadership not as position, or title, or power, or authority, or respect, or privilege...but an obligation to service and self-sacrifice.

    D. Personal exposure to, intimacy with, and loyalty to their leader.

    E. Trustworthiness, with the ability to resist being bribed or bought.

    F. Commitment to the Barnabas style of open, loving communication, to solving relational problems, to processing anger constructively, to encouraging and building up, and to maintaining confidences strictly.

    G. Willingness to be a "team player" and to help one's pastoral associates to succeed.

    H. A strong, loving marriage in which both the husband and wife sense the call to minister.

    I. Capable and respected, mature in the faith, and with proven ministry ability.

    J. Willingness to be judged by strict standards and to accept reproof.

    K. Love for people and for Jesus without desires to benefit personally at the expense of the sheep.

    L. Commitment to equipping others for ministry through active recruiting, training, deploying, monitoring, and nurturing.

    M. Commitment to doing excellent work, taking responsibility seriously, being pro-active, planning and executing well.

    N. A committed, cheerful giver who tithes regularly to this fellowship.


    Other Characteristics of the Vineyard

    In addition to the above items, you will notice that nearly all Vineyards are contemporary, relaxed, and informal in their approach to music and worship. We find that this style is more effective in reaching the majority of the population that has little or no understanding of Jesus Christ. God uses many different and equally valid approaches of worship to reach different people. This is the approach that we enjoy.  We prefer a non-hype approach to Christianity. We don't like a lot of fanfare, nor do we feel comfortable with high pressured altar calls, or flamboyant, glitzy ministry styles. We desire to be gentle, low-key, non-manipulative, and to focus the attention away from ourselves and onto Jesus.

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