Doing some thinking before Annual Meeting...

Non-negotiable purposes for the church

1.The Gospel
Our mission is to carry a message to the world. That message: God exists, is personal, is knowable and has done an incredible thing to save the people He created from the deadly consequence of their self centered and God ignoring choice to disobey. God set aside the right to separate us permanently and horribly from himself and to continue down our own destructive path by humbling Himself, becoming a human like us, living among us as Jesus, and suffering a death that He did not deserve, in our place, so that all who trust in what Jesus did for them and accept that free gift might be restored to life with God and even be transformed from self centered destructiveness to God centered life. We are transformed by the gift of God Himself dwelling mysteriously in us as the Holy Spirit, so that we can have assurance of God's constant presence and fellowship, and receive gifts and live lives that demonstrate this change.
We accomplish this mission and carry this message by declaring it through words and also by showing through deeds the love God has for people by serving them and caring for their needs, sharing the gifts God has given us and strengthening each other where any of us lacks. We teach the Bible because it is God's own Word and a revelation of these things. It is our source and our reference to know the degree of correctness or error of belief or action.
Without the above we are not a church because our business is in fact “making disciples”, meaning sharing this good news with others and encouraging them to believe it and helping believers live lives that demonstrate this message. However we do what we do it is always to accomplish this purpose.
2.Worship
Our second purpose is tied to the first. Believing that God exists and has done the things we believe He has done we find that God is worthy of praise and Honor. We honor God by first obediently doing as he would have us do. Discovering and doing His will is a major part of worship and failure in that area or failure to turn away from known error, itself invalidates any other acts of worship. Obedience occurs in both daily life as well as the worship we give specifically and intentionally to God. The sacraments of Baptism and The Lord's Supper are done and should be done as correctly and we are knowingly able as much out of obedience as for the benefits we receive from them.
Worship also involves communication with God through Prayer. We are not worshiping deaf dumb idols but a living and personal God who not only hears but in various ways, as He wills, communicates to us. Prayer is essential to knowing and doing God's will as well as important in honoring God's gracious offer to hear our prayers and respond to our needs an the needs of others we bring to Him.
Worship also includes our spontaneous and organized personal and community responses to God's person and work. Public and private worship includes such responses as singing, shouting, telling, expressing through art, playing on instruments, and other ways of expressing God's attributes and giving thanks for God himself and the things he has done or has promised to do. This kind of worship takes many forms and reflects the momentary experiences, emotions and ways of expression of the worshipers as well as their culture. While styles and particular expressions may and should change care is taken in the true Church that expressions accurately convey without confusion that could lead to idolatry, the true nature and works of God.
3.Fellowship
The third Essential element of the church is Fellowship. Connections between people are necessary to sharing the Gospel and to encouraging believers in the life of faith. Connection is also necessary to have true congregational worship and to adequately and appropriately share gifts and resources. Connections also build community and demonstrate the love that is created between people when they become acquainted through the Holy Spirit with the Love that God has for them. We value other people because we see them as God sees them, specially created in His image. Jesus took for himself widening circles of disciples, one closest, three close, twelve immediate, seventy two close enough to train, and more, while on earth demonstrating the importance of community. God ordered human life in families, tribes, and nations, and called no just one man, but his family through whom he would reveal Himself to the world.
In whatever forms and with whatever uses of cultural and technological opportunities this community building takes, sharing life together with a group of fellow believers is essential to being the Church. Efforts must be made to ensure we are doing more than just being in the same place, but welcoming newcomers, and growing and strengthening relationships among our members.

Whatever programs we do,; whatever tasks we take on; however we use our buildings, supplies, money, and other resources; Everything we do and how we do it, must be done with thought to the question: “How will it do these things?”