Here at Asbury we are striving to follow the purposes of the church that we see Jesus teaching in the Great Commandment and in the Great Commission. The five purposes we see are:
- Evangelism - Attracting
- Worship - Honoring
- Fellowship - Connecting
- Discipleship - Teaching
- Ministry - Challenging
We use these five words to develop a purpose statement that then drives the way we do ministry. Instead of being program driven, we are purpose driven.
When we look to the scriptures, we find a very revolutionary idea of what the Church (Big C - the universal body of believers, not the building - little c church) is to look like. The following passages in the book of Acts give us an idea of what the Church was and is intended to be:
- Acts 2: 42-47
- Acts 4: 24, 31-35
- Acts 5 : 17-18, 27-29, 40-42
From these verses we have identified 8 key elements of the Church. We believe that each member of the Body of Christ are called to exhibit these qualities. These are:
- Intimate Worship - God expects all Christians to spend time daily in worship, both private and in the company of others.
- Radical Love - We are each called to love all. This type of love is sacrificial in nature; the kind of love that hurts. It is the same love that sent Jesus to the cross.
- Faith Based Conversations - We all spend time on a daily basis talking to those around us about a ton of things. Nothing should excite us more than to share the story of God's love through low intensity/high impact conversations. You are not called to beat people up, but you are called to speak God's truth daily.
- Intentional Spiritual Growth - Our faith is to be the central point of our lives. We must daily seek to learn and to experience and to grow in Christ.
- Servant-hood - Jesus came to this planet to serve, not be served and John tells us that "If we claim to live in Him, we must walk as Jesus walked." (1 John 2:6) Servanthood show the transformation of a life touched and controlled by Christ.
- Resource Investment - The early Church understood that we own nothing in this life and that we should wisely invest that which we are allowed to manage. You can note from the verses above that the Church shared "everything." Nothing was held back.
- Spiritual Friendships - The early Church was all about relationships, and so are we. These Godly relationships lead to encouragement and accountability.
- Family Faith - Christian families are responsible to teach the ways of faith in their homes and families. In the early Church, the home was the church. We encourage moms and dads to be the spiritual leaders ofthe family and to develop a Christ-centered home.
It is the exercising of these values on a consistent basis that leads to a real faith that makes a difference in the real world around us. We strive to consistently model these core values to our students and families.
