Values, 
Priorities
& Convictions

Values

• Pursuit of God - We are hungry to know God's presence, hear His voice and follow hard after Him. (Psalm 63:1-3)
• Christlikeness - We desire that Jesus' love, mercy, grace, truth, purity, power, and integrity shine through all that we do. (Ephesians 5:2)
• Being Spirit-Led - We value Jesus as our Head and the Holy Spirit as our Counselor. We seek to be responsive to the Holy Spirit in life and ministry. (Ephesians 5:25)
• Prayer - We believe that prayer is essential because it is our primary means of communion with God and because it is God's primary means of accomplishing His purposes in the world. (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18)
• Discipleship - We aim first to grow personally in the disciplines of Christ and secondly to make disciples, calling others into those same practices. (Matthew 28:18-20)
• 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. (Mark 1:14-15)
• 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. (Colossians 3:12-13)
• Integrity - It is important to us to speak the truth, deal honestly, and live uprightly. (Ephesians 4:15)
• Servant Leadership - We believe that Christ has put significant leadership authority in the hands of the pastor and the associates. We aim to exercise that authority with humility, selflessness, grace, and sincere desire to build up the Body of Christ. (Mark 10:24-45)
• The Individual - single or married, and we want to enable and support mature relationships and family growth.
• 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. (John 17:21-23, Acts 4:12)
• Relationship - We are honored by every person whom God adds to the Vineyard. 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. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)
• 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 upon God's leading in conjunction with excellent, rational thinking. (James 1:5)
• Simplicity - We wish to do nothing "for religious effect," but rather to operate in natural low-key "non-hype" patterns. We desire to do the ministry of Christ with joy. (Philippians 4:4)

Priorities

• Worship - We desire to worship God with all our hearts. We want Jesus at the center as our Lord. We hunger for the fullness of the Spirit... His glory resting on us! (Philippians 3:3, Hebrews 13:15, Psalm 42:1-2, John 4:24, Psalm 63:1-5, Romans 12:1)
• The Word - 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 that teaching. (Romans 15:4, II Timothy 3:16-17, I Corinthians 14:1-4)

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. (Matthew 7:24-27, James 1:22)
• Prayer - We desire to enter into the presence of God with fervent and powerful prayer. We aim for daily, real, Spirit-led speaking with and hearing from God (Hebrews 4:16, Romans 8:26-28, James 5:16-18, Jude 20-21, Colossians 4:2)

We aim to follow the patterns of Christ and to pray for the Kingdom to come, for the fullness of the Spirit, for workers to enter the harvest, for healing, deliverance, forgiveness, peace, love, mercy, for great doors to open for the gospel, for renewal in the church. (Matthew 6:10, Matthew 9:37-38, Mark 9:29, Luke 11:13, John 17:1-26, Ephesians 6:19-20)
• Fellowship - We are the family of God, one Body in Jesus Christ, joined together as brothers and sisters forever. (John 17:20-23, Romans 12:3-5)

We seek to develop real, intimate, enabling friendships together, built on covenant love, mutual responsibility, and faithfulness. (Hebrews 3:12-14, Philippians 2:3-5, Ephesians 4:11-16, Colossians 3:12-17)
• Ministry - We believe that all Christians are called to serve Christ in the power of His Spirit, in ways that build up the local church. (I Peter 4:10-11, Acts 1:8, I Corinthians 12:4-7)

We are called to: preach the gospel of the kingdom, be the "good news", 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, train Christians to serve the Lord. (Luke 4:18, Lude 9:1-6, James 1:27, Acts 26:18, Matthew 10:5-10, Matthew 28:18-20)
• Training - We believe that all Christians should be trained to "do the works of Christ" (Matthew 28:18-20, II Timothy 2:2)

We are committed to the "show and tell" model of "on the job" training, in which trainees are introduced to doing ministry functions with trainers and then taught during and after the training experience. (Luke 11:1-4)
We aim to provide training for all aspects of responsible Christian life and ministry. (Ephesians 4:11-16)
• Sending - We aim to renew, refresh, and enable existing churches by sending trained personneol out on short-term ministry trips. (Matthew 10:5-15, Luke 10:1, Luke 9:1-6)

We aim to build the church of Jesus Christ by sending trained personnel to plant churches around the world. (Revelation 5:9-10, Romans 15:20)

Convictions

• We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that this triune God created all, upholds all, and governs all (Matthew 28:19, Isaiah 40:12-26, Isaiah 46:8-11)
• We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired, and the infallible rule of faith and practice, and that they are to be interpreted according to their context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord Who speaks through them in living power. (II Timothy 3:14-17, Romans 15:4, James 1:22)
• We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love; that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:9, Isaiah 6:3, Romans 11:33-39, Psalm 138:5-6, Matthew 7:11, Isaiah 55:6-7)
• We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings, His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into Heaven, perpetual intercession for His people and personal, visible return to Earth. We believe that in His first coming Jesus inaugurated the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. (John 1:14-18, Luke 1:18-20, Hebrews 4:15, Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:1-8, Ephesians 1:20, Mark 1:14-15, I Thessalonians 4:16)
• We believe in the Holy Spirit, Who came forth from the Father and the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ; we believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher, Comforter, and Guide. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all the Biblical gifts of the Spirit. (John 15:26, John 16:8, Titus 3:5, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:9, Ephesians 1:13, John 14:16, I Corinthians 12:4-11)
• We believe that all men are sinners by nature and choice and are therefore under condemnation, that God regenerates and baptizes by the Holy Spirit those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. (Ephesians 2:1-10, Acts 2:38, Ezekiel 36:26, John 1:12-13, John 10:9)
• We believe in the universal Church, the living spiritual body, of which Christ is the Head and all regenerated persons are members. (I Corinthians 12:12-13, Ephesians 2:19-22, I Peter 2:4-5)
• We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the church: baptism and the Lord's supper. We believe in water baptism and communion open to all believers. (Acts 2:38, I Corinthians 11:23-30, Luke 3:3)
• We believe also in the laying on of hands for empowering of the Holy Spirit, for receiving gifts of the Holy Spirit, for healing, and for recognition and empowering of those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the church. (Acts 13:3, Mark 6:5, I Timothy 4:14, II Timothy 1:6)
• We believe in the personal, visible, appearing of Christ to Earth and the consummation of His Kingdom; in the resurrection of the body, the final judgement and eternal blessing of the righteous, and eternal punishment of the wicked. (Acts 1:11, Matthew 25:31, I Corinthians 15:20-24, Revelation 20:11, Revelation 21:8)
• We believe in what is termed "The Apostles' Creed" as embodying fundamental facts of Christian faith and endorse the historic orthodox creeds of the church.

Return to Odessa Vineyard home page

Please send comments or questions.