What makes us CrossLife Community Church? What are our core values and priorities as we seek to live out our mission and vision? What we value can be seen and remembered by our name’s acrostic "C-R-O-S-S-L-I-F-E".
Christ: Well, if you haven't noticed already, we value our God and savior Jesus Christ. He's our number one value, our heart's chief desire. Valuing or wanting anything more is idolatry. So the Christ of the Bible is our foremost value.
Relationships: Human beings were made for relationships, first with God, and then with one another. At CrossLife we care about people and about nurturing fellowship within the body of Christ. We also care about cultivating friendships with those outside the church. At day’s end, life is about people and relationships, so we do all we can to make this a mark of our church.
Orphans and Widows: The apostle James tells us that this is true and pure and undefiled Christianity (Js 1:27). What would it look like for the watching, unbelieving world to stop calling churches "hypocrites" and start calling us "orphan and widow helpers"? In the early church it was the Christians who would go to the outskirts of the cities and take in the abandoned, the unwanted children, and the shunned widows. At CrossLife, we believe it's a picture of the gospel (viz., rescuing the fatherless, loving the husbandless), so we want to network with other churches and ministries and practice this kind of Christian love and mercy, for the renown of our King Jesus.
Sufficiency of Scripture: We hold God’s Word in highest regard (Ps 19:7); we believe that it is totally sufficient to form us into the image of Christ (Jn 17:17) and provides us with biblical solutions to the problems we face in this life (2 Pet 1:3). This high view of God’s Word, therefore, affects all we do at CrossLife --- from our expositional preaching of the Bible, to the way we counsel, to our methods of evangelism and discipleship. God’s truth is for life and God-centered theology nurtures God-centered living.
Servanthood: We put a high priority on being servants. When you come to CrossLife, we want to serve you in a way that honors God and blesses you. Just as Jesus came not to be served but to serve (Mk 10:45), we by grace want to imitate Him. But a word of warning: serving is contagious, so we hope, sooner than later, you’ll join us in this Christ-honoring value.
Life on Life (Discipleship): Whether making disciples (evangelism) or growing disciples (sanctification), at CrossLife we really do care deeply about the Great Commission and our Lord's words to "[teach] them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt 28:20a). So we put a high priority on teaching the Word, as well as instruction through mentoring and modeling godliness, both individually and through small groups. This means that we value the spiritual growth of each and every person at CrossLife, desiring to "come alongside" each sheep, and journey together toward the image of Christ renewed.
Integrity: We value integrity. From the way we care for others, to the way we conduct our ministries, to how we steward our finances, we place a high premium on being honest, transparent, and walking “with integrity of heart and uprightness” before the Lord (1 Kgs 9:4).
Families: We also make families and marriages a priority. In one sense, "church" begins in the home, where husband and wife seek to honor and love one another, and where parents seek to train up their children in the ways of the Lord. Parents are the primary teachers of their children, not the church. So we do all we can to support our families and marriages at CrossLife.
Encouragement: Most of us are pretty good at tearing others down and building ourselves up. But through the power of the cross, we by God’s grace can reverse this pattern and be people who encourage one another and build others up (1 Thes 5:11). In this fallen and hurting world, we need encouragement and support, both in word and deed, so at CrossLife we hope you will find this true of our people.
