Our Priorities (How we fulfill our purpose)

Our purpose involves the following priorities...

• Exalting God's presence through various expressions of honor, praise, and love (Worship)
• Encouraging God's family through fellowship in God's Word and Spirit (Community)
• Expressing God's love through serving others (Ministry)
• Extending God's call, in word and deed, to those around us, and to the world as God leads us (Evangelism)

Exalting God's presence (Worship)

The highest priority of God's people is to worship Him, that is, to give God the worth that He ought to have in our lives. Such worship establishes the posture for everything else we do in our lives and ministry, and therefore we place a high priority on the opportunity to worship God with all of our hearts. (Luke 10:38-42)

Dallas Willard states:
The first objective (in becoming disciples) is to... dearly love and constantly delight in that "heavenly Father" made real to earth in Jesus and (become) quite certain that there is no "catch," no limit, to the goodness of his intentions or to his power to carry them out. A popular saying is "Take time to smell the roses." What does this mean? To enjoy the rose it is necessary to focus on it and bring the rose as fully before our senses and mind as possible. To smell a rose you must get close, and you must linger. When we do so, we delight in it. We love it.
This is to be done in such a way that love for and delight in God will be elicited and established as the pervasive orientation of the whole self. It will fill the mind of the willing soul and progress toward an easy and delightful governance of the entire personality.
(From The Divine Conspiracy, pp. 321-326 edited)

Therefore, at the Vineyard we give a high priority to
Worshipping God with all of our hearts...
... to become increasingly centered and satisfied in God; that all we do might rise in response to His deep love.

Encouraging God's family (Community)

As Christ came into our world He confronted a divided reality. The human condition was given to contempt and competition even as it is today. We see division all around us. Age-old hatreds rooted in ethnic and national identity. Hostility between genders. Separation between rich and poor. And in more sobering moments, we see division within ourselves... pride and prejudice...hurt and hostility.

It shouldn't surprise us that Christ would not only address our divided condition, but He would accomplish a new means to overcome it. And He would establish a new community to show the world His reconciling power.
Jesus said our unity was critical in revealing this great work of God. He prayed for our unity. (John 17:23) For the church is to be a "preview" community of the Kingdom of heaven... a foretaste of all things united through God and unto God.

Therefore, at the Vineyard we give a high priority to
Establishing fellowship that reflects the unity we share in Christ...
.... demonstrating the unique love of Christ in our midst through developing supportive relationships based in love and truth. (Eph. 2:19; 4:15-16, 25-29; Heb. 10:25)

Expressing God's love (Ministry)

Christ teaches us that life in the Kingdom involves becoming servants of God's love and power.... just like Himself. (John 13:1-17, 31-38) At the Vineyard we believe this involves:

Serving one another....

.... as each one of us discovers and develops our unique contribution to the life of the "body" (fellowship).

Healing the sick....

....as we cooperate with the Spirit's ministry of healing the sick, caring for the wounded, comforting the confused, and freeing the spiritually oppressed.

Serving the poor....

....the "lonely and least" around us, whether they be children, single parents, elderly, or immigrants; that each of us would simply follow Jesus in extending compassion and dignity.

Extending God's call (Evangelism)

Jesus came to "seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10), and sends us into the world to do the same, accompanied by the power of His Spirit. At the Vineyard this involves:

Helping lost people find God....

....by simply sharing our lives with them, loving them, and providing a fellowship that welcomes their presence and process; a fellowship is not so much focused on the behaviors which define who's "in" and who's "out," but rather on inviting people to know and follow Jesus.

Serving our community...

... communicating God's love through practical acts of kindness which demonstrate God's own love; freely given without any repayment but response itself. This involves large community outreach projects such as free car washes and gift-wrapping as well as small group and personal opportunities.

Planting new churches and partnering with ministries around the world....

.... through prayer, financial support, and the sending of teams, we share in the joy of reaching our world.

Read about Our Purpose

Read about Our Mission

Read about Our Vision

Read about Our Values