Our Purpose Statement

A motif and heartfelt theme of our church, through all its years, is to be a branch of the living Vine which is Jesus Christ. We need to hear again how Jesus is saying to us: “I am the Vine; you are the branches." (John 15:5) In light of what it means to be a branch of the living Vine in a new age and situation, here is a our purpose statement of what we are to be about at Northminster Church …

Through Jesus Christ...

Planting seeds of hope,

Branching out in faith,

Bearing fruit in love,

...All for the glory of God!

That’s it. This is the defining statement of what we aspire to be and do as a community of faith and grace, in Jesus’ name. In this new statement, and in these five lines, it is intended that we pray, think and plan carefully in the three dimensions of 1) Reaching out in evangelism and witness (planting seeds of hope); 2) Growing in our life of discipleship, obedience and faith (branching out in faith); and 3) Sending folks to live and serve and offer Jesus’ love to others (bearing fruit in love). Fellowship is the way we relate to each other and our Savior in doing these things (through Jesus Christ), and our life purpose of Worship is pursued as we strive to do all for the glory of God.

In accordance with what we have learned in our Presbytery Acts 16:5 renewal process, we will shape our lives by these transformational values, which derive from our shared faith and call in Christ.

Transforming Values that Shape our Service:

1. We will seek to be Spirit-driven.
   “You do not have because you do not ask God.” - James 4:2
   “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:8
2. We will strive to be Biblically-based.
   “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” - Psalm 19:7
3. We will be discipleship-directed.
   “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20
4. We will seek to be need-responsive.
   “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace (shalom).” - Numbers 6:24-26
5. We will be attentive to the gathered-scattered dynamics of our life.
   “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” - Matthew 18:20
   “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” - John 20:21
6. We will work to be principle-patterned.
   “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” - Matthew 9:37-38

The defining practices of how we will try to do will include: 1) bearing witness in our lifestyle, 2) practicing prayer, 3) caring for others, 4) centering our lives in God’s Word, 5) employing the “with me” concept in what we attempt, 6) and asking God to continually send us as his servants in this world he wants to re-claim in love. And lastly, 7) in the palm of our hand, the last key defining practice is worship, celebrating God’s goodness in the way we gather to praise his name.

We will make a commitment to ask God to develop both, these values and these defining practices, in our personal lifestyles, but also in our life as community, in each of these practices.

They can be summarized as...

Reaching (“Planting seeds of hope”)
1) Bearing witness.
2) Practicing prayer.

Growing (“Branching out in faith”)
1) Caring for others.
2) Centering in God’s Word.
3) The discipline of “with me” in what we do.

Sending (“Bearing fruit in love”)
1) Continually seeking to live missionally in real life every day.

Lastly — we believe that we do all these things not for our glory or goal, but to ascribe Worship to the God who created us, loves us and restores us.