The Future of The Brook (Core Values)

In this "Purpose Driven Church" world (no offense to Rick Warren) we are living in a culture where every other church down the street is looking for that magic formula that someone else has written to finally take their church to the next level. Pastors go to conferences in desperate need of returning with some morsel of creative or innovative genius that they can steal - excuse me, I mean borrow - and subversively sneak into the fabric of their own church's vision. How do I know this? Because I've played this game myself. After playing and watching for years now, here's what I know: it doesn't work!

Here at The Brook we have entered into a season of birthing, declaring, reciting, and anchoring everything we ARE and everything we DO into very simple, biblical Core Values. As a church - as individuals & as a corporate body - we are called to Worship, Grow & Serve. Period. Look at it again and think on it for a moment:

WORSHIP --> GROW --> SERVE

As we enter this new season together, everything we do will be birthed from or feeding into 1 of these 3 Core Values. If it's not - [HOLD YOUR BREATH] - we will most likely not be focusing our time, attention, or spiritual energy in that direction. And not only will this be our corporate map, we will also encourage every member of The Brook (and every follower of Christ for that matter) to cultivate their own walk rooted in these Core Values.

Here are some simple questions you can ask yourself to determine if these Core Values are being practiced in your life or if there is room for improvement:

- Are you making time weekly to actively participate in corporate worship with your church family? Our worship together includes: singing & declaring praise to God; teaching the Word of God; praying with & for one another; confessing our sin to God & one another; actively being part of the fellowship; giving our tithes & offerings.

- Are you growing in your walk with Christ? Are you growing not only in your knowledge of His Word, but in discovering what it means in your everyday life? Are you growing in relationships with other believers? And because we believe this is where this growth most ideally takes place: Are you actively involved in a Life Group?

- Are you serving others in the church - living for the sake of others? Are you serving those in your neighborhood, your workplace, your class - those in the community around you? Are we serving at home & abroad as a church?

Think through these questions. Pray about these Core Values.

More to come....