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| introduction
to the City's Gate |
section
3 - III |
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III. Our
Core Values
(Guiding
principals from scripture
and God’s leading regarding his call to us)
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Table of Contents
A. God's Call
B. Prayer
C. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
D. The City of Harrisburg
E. An Outward Face
F. Changed Lives
G. A Movement Mindset
H. Social Concern
I. Cultural Renewal
J. Leadership Development
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Love God / Love Neighbors
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| We love and minister to neighbors in the city
and to each other by faith. We believe God’s call to
individuals comes through scripture study and prayer, by His Holy Spirit.
Consequently, our leadership will identify areas of need and possible
ministry opportunities, but God will lead individuals and establish ministry, and a
Church, as He desires.
As individuals are led of God to be part of The
City’s Gate, they are being placed in ministry to the City of
Harrisburg, and to each other, by virtue of God’s call to us as a body.
It is our individual responsibility to go to God for a specific
understanding of our spiritual gifts, and His desire as to how they should be used in carrying out this call.
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The Foundation & Frame Of The City's Gate
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| We believe that prayer is the foundation and frame of
this calling and ministry. There is nothing more important. This mission
will be achieved on our knees. Without prayer, we will not act in faith.
We will not hear God’s call. We will not have a deepening relationship
with Christ, and we will have no love for our neighbors. There is no more
important component of God’s call to us, than that everyone who is a
part of The City’s Gate, should actively be praying, individually, with prayer partners and in weekly prayer cells.
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Our Peace, Hope, Fulfillment & Purpose
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| We believe that the Gospel
is the way to life forever with God, our Creator, as well as the way of peace, hope, fulfillment and purpose in this life. The Gospel is God's love to us, which
enables us to live abundantly. Living by the Gospel, by the work of
Christ, is what the Christian life is about. Specifically, peace, hope, fulfillment and purpose come through a sound
understanding and continual application of the Gospel.
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| God could have chosen any means for the spread
of His Gospel and subsequent expansion of His
kingdom, yet he chose us. His last command before ascending into
heaven was “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel…” While
Christ walked on earth he said, “Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as
yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments." These statements are the core of God’s call to us.
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We Love The City
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| God has called us to focus our ministry on
Downtown, Midtown and Uptown Harrisburg. We are here to love and serve the
people of the city by faith in Jesus Christ. Our resources and our lives
will be expended on them. We love the city.
Christians need the city as
much as the city needs Christians. The city is “rich in humanity” and
we desire to mine those riches for Christ. The city leads us to rely on
Biblical Theology instead of our traditional Church models. The city
teaches us to use the Gospel to critique our own culture, while
appreciating the culture of others. The city calls us to integrity and
coherence in our professed beliefs. The city challenges us to excellence
in all we do. We love the city.
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A Life Style Not An Event
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| Evangelism is not a “department” of ministry; it is simply living the Gospel. We seek to infuse every aspect of personal and
church life with the light of the gospel, the love of Christ,
shining out of us.
For our members our discipleship charge is that of
Christ’s, “follow me and I will make you
fishers of men”, leading every member to a lifestyle that lets God's light shine.
We treat non-Christians with respect, remembering what it is like not to
believe, and with hope, remembering the grace-miracle of our own faith. For us, evangelism is a dialogue, a process, a lifestyle, a personal
relationship with someone needing Christ. It is not a program or event.
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Proof That It's All Real
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| We are convinced that the Gospel heals and
matures everyone. In each one, the Gospel produces a unique beauty,
nobility of character, a love for God and neighbor, burdening our hearts to
further share the Gospel. We seek not doctrinal subscription and
conformity to moral principles, but personal life-transformation. We seek
not “conversions,” but a new humanity. The experience of His saving grace
leads to a deep and joyful knowledge of God, to a humble and confident
spirit in one’s self, resting on Christ, to a new life flowing in
increasing quantity with love, integrity, justice, and purity. All this, not through
“human effort” but by believing the Gospel.
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More Than A Single Church
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Our focus is not the
establishment of a Church. Our goal is the reformation of the City. We
expect to be an incubator for dozens of new ministries. Along the way, we
expect to be involved with the establishment of new churches, both within
and outside our own denomination. We encourage an “empowered team”
approach to neighborhood and community needs, and desire to foster an
“entrepreneurial” spirit to ministry, based on God’s specific call
and leading in lives.
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The Gospel Restores People To Community
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We will not only proclaim the Gospel
in our way of life, but will seek to demonstrate it, through
ministries of mercy and justice that renew the City of Harrisburg. We
desire to show the world that the Gospel will transform neighborhoods
through Christian community development, by mending an area with the
ministries of Word, Mercy, and Justice. We
desire to demonstrate that the Gospel lifts up the poor and reconciles
races and classes, otherwise at odds with one another.
We believe that Christians grow to respect, be taught by, and
partner with the poor, as well as, show them love and compassion. We do
not expect the people of Midtown, Uptown and Downtown to take us
seriously, if they don’t see our love for the poor and care for the people and communities that have been marginalized by society.
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A Renaissance For Everyone
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We will not privatize our
faith, but rather help Christians work toward excellence and
Kingdom-distinctiveness that renews the culture of Harrisburg. Large
sectors of the Church have historically either retreated from culture, or
created a Christian Sub-culture, which mimics mainstream values and
trends. Rather, we desire to foster
theological reflection, work with excellence, collaborate and network
Christians within vocations. We desire to demonstrate to the world the
alternative Christian ways of being human through the arts, business,
government, education, and all professions.
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In Ministry For Ministry
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Through various growth stages,
we will move through three different leadership models. In model one,
leaders are the workers. In model two, the leaders lead the workers. In
model three, the leaders lead other leaders, who lead the workers. We
believe that growth can be constrained, if we fail to move from one model
to the next, when size dictates. As we grow in number, the elders must
devote more and more time to articulating God’s purpose for us, to
spiritual care of the flock, and specifically to discipling individuals. |
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To move through our growth plan will require God’s call
on individuals to various aspects of the work of the ministry. Individuals
who recognize God’s call, to a specific aspect of ministry, will be
discipled by leaders. Our discipleship motto
is Christ’s, “follow me and I will make you
fishers of men”. This will be modeled by our leaders and is the goal and measure of our discipling
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Our mode of discipling and
equipping members for ministry is “training in
ministry for ministry”, a maximum hands-on approach. We
recognize classroom training can be useful, but all to often is terminal to moving
Christians quickly into the work of the ministry.
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