Annoucements:
Core Values- What's important to us
Core values, mutually understood and embraced, are the principles, standards and virtues at the center of the way we live, love and think. They dictate what we allow ourselves to desire and they decide what is critical to accomplish in our lives and church. Some of our core values at NCC:
• God loved us before we loved Him, and He never stops loving us. We never earn His love through good works. This core value trains us to focus on His love more than our lack, and to trust we have an unlimited source of love to give every person we meet. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
• God wants to speak to us more than we want to listen. After all, how can a person called the “Word of God” not want to talk to people? This core value creates an expectation in our hearts to hear Him at any moment.
• All things work together in our favor when we serve God, no matter what the circumstances might look like. This core value trains us to look for and focus on God’s redemptive purposes more than problems. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
• We are a special, holy, and royal people. This core value trains us to value others and ourselves as the precious possessions of God, for whom He sacrificed His only Son. It fosters a culture of honor in which we treat others as royalty because we are royalty. “But you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” (1 Pet 2:9).
• We are to overcome and overpower anything evil that is against us. This core value prevents us from thinking of ourselves as victims of circumstances and frees us to think from a perspective in which nothing is impossible. It enables us to look for creative and extravagant solutions to problems. “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37).
• The devil is evil and is behind all the bad stuff in the world. Jesus is always good and does all the great things. We are called to destroy the works of the devil with our supernatural ministry. This core value keeps the lines of the battle clearly drawn so that we are not directing judgement at people, but instead are bringing them the justice that Jesus purchased for them at the cross. “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1Jn 3:8). “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
• God has plans for our welfare and blessing and not for calamity in our life. This trains us to see difficulty as an opportunity for God to bless us and bring us more fully into His purpose for our lives. It also creates an expectation for God to bless us richly so we can be a blessing to others. It prevents us from coming under a poverty mindset. “For I know the plans that I have for you’ says the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
• We were born to rule through the power of the Kingdom and the love of God. This core value enables us to perceive the authorities and kingdoms of the world from an eternal perspective, so that our faith and intercession are founded firmly on the dominion of Christ. “Then the sovereignty , the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him” (Dan. 7:27)
• We are God’s friends and He tells us His secrets. This core value reminds us that God wants us to live in intimacy with Him far above obedience. He is calling us to move beyond slavery and co-reign with Christ. “No longer do I call you servants, for the slave dies not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things That I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15)
• Signs and wonders follow all believers, not just a few special people. This core value trains every member of the Body of Christ to think of themselves as carriers of the power of God who are available for miraculous assignments. “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18)
• We have inherited the divine nature and grow in the fruit of the Spirit as we hang out with God. This core value trains us to embrace the journey of maturity as a process of yielding to the work of God within us and keep us from a striving mentality. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against suck there is no law’ (Gal 5:22-23)
Core values, mutually understood and embraced, are the principles, standards and virtues at the center of the way we live, love and think. They dictate what we allow ourselves to desire and they decide what is critical to accomplish in our lives and church. Some of our core values at NCC:
• God loved us before we loved Him, and He never stops loving us. We never earn His love through good works. This core value trains us to focus on His love more than our lack, and to trust we have an unlimited source of love to give every person we meet. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
• God wants to speak to us more than we want to listen. After all, how can a person called the “Word of God” not want to talk to people? This core value creates an expectation in our hearts to hear Him at any moment.
• All things work together in our favor when we serve God, no matter what the circumstances might look like. This core value trains us to look for and focus on God’s redemptive purposes more than problems. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
• We are a special, holy, and royal people. This core value trains us to value others and ourselves as the precious possessions of God, for whom He sacrificed His only Son. It fosters a culture of honor in which we treat others as royalty because we are royalty. “But you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” (1 Pet 2:9).
• We are to overcome and overpower anything evil that is against us. This core value prevents us from thinking of ourselves as victims of circumstances and frees us to think from a perspective in which nothing is impossible. It enables us to look for creative and extravagant solutions to problems. “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37).
• The devil is evil and is behind all the bad stuff in the world. Jesus is always good and does all the great things. We are called to destroy the works of the devil with our supernatural ministry. This core value keeps the lines of the battle clearly drawn so that we are not directing judgement at people, but instead are bringing them the justice that Jesus purchased for them at the cross. “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1Jn 3:8). “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
• God has plans for our welfare and blessing and not for calamity in our life. This trains us to see difficulty as an opportunity for God to bless us and bring us more fully into His purpose for our lives. It also creates an expectation for God to bless us richly so we can be a blessing to others. It prevents us from coming under a poverty mindset. “For I know the plans that I have for you’ says the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
• We were born to rule through the power of the Kingdom and the love of God. This core value enables us to perceive the authorities and kingdoms of the world from an eternal perspective, so that our faith and intercession are founded firmly on the dominion of Christ. “Then the sovereignty , the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him” (Dan. 7:27)
• We are God’s friends and He tells us His secrets. This core value reminds us that God wants us to live in intimacy with Him far above obedience. He is calling us to move beyond slavery and co-reign with Christ. “No longer do I call you servants, for the slave dies not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things That I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15)
• Signs and wonders follow all believers, not just a few special people. This core value trains every member of the Body of Christ to think of themselves as carriers of the power of God who are available for miraculous assignments. “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18)
• We have inherited the divine nature and grow in the fruit of the Spirit as we hang out with God. This core value trains us to embrace the journey of maturity as a process of yielding to the work of God within us and keep us from a striving mentality. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against suck there is no law’ (Gal 5:22-23)