Early on in my time as pastor at LOCF, our board adopted “Seeking to Know and Follow the Lord Jesus Christ” as our church motto.  We realize it is not catchy, and we have been tempted at times to change it to something more catchy.  But we always end up determining yet again that this is what we most aspire to do.  It is His church – not ours, not Kingdom Ministries International’s, or anyone else’s.  He said in Matthew 16 that He would build His church, and the gates of hell would not stand against it.

So the values and distinctives that I am going to discuss are those that we have learned over these 17 + years are crucial to help us accomplish this objective of seeking to know and follow Him.

1.     Being Christ centered.  Because it is His church, and He is building it, and only He is “the way, the truth, and the life”, we strive to proclaim Him above all else, and to present every man “complete in Him”. (Matt. 16:18, Jn. 14:6, Col. 1:28)

2.     Being Kingdom focused.  Because John’s overall message was, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt. 3:2), and because Jesus’s overall message was, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt. 4:17, Acts. 1:3), and because Paul finished out his days, “preaching the kingdom of God…” (Acts 28:31), we aspire to do the same.

3.     Being Broken and humble.  Because the very first characteristic of the kingdom culture Jesus Christ is seeking to build is poverty of spirit or brokenness (Matt. 5:3), we aspire to being a broken and humble people – a people who are always aware of our great need for Him and His grace, and whose focus is the log in our eye and not the splinter in someone else’s.

4.     Being Generationally Joined.  Because God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:16), and throughout scripture there seems to be an expectation that the generations will be integrated instead of segregated, we aspire to see each generation appreciate and receive from the others. We are seeking to build a congregation wherein each generation is cherished for their unique contribution to the whole (I Jn. 2:13).

5.     Being Ethnically diverse.  Because there is really only one race (humans), and because Jesus Christ bought with His blood “men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”, we aspire to build a congregation wherein this ethnic diversity is celebrated, and the uniqueness of each ethnic group is welcomed. (Rev. 5:9)

6.     Being Prayerfully propelled.  Because Jesus Christ said His church is to be “a house of prayer for all the nations”, and because God has made it clear that “unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it”, we aspire to advance on our knees, so He can be released to build as He so desires, and so what He builds will stand the test of time. (Mark 11:17, Psalms 127:1)

7.     Being Whole Counsel driven.  Because “all scripture is given by inspiration of God….” (II Tim. 3:16), and because “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4), we aspire to be a people of the whole book. We aspire to be able to say like Paul, that we “did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose (or counsel) of God.” (Acts 20:27).

8.     Being children friendly. Because Jesus often made time for children and rebuked His disciples for their disdain or neglect of children, we aspire to be a people wherein children are honored, made a priority, and can thrive spiritually. (Matthew 18:2f; 19:13,14).