Church Values – 10 Values Our Church Must Have

Church Values – 10 Values Our Church Must Have                       

Excerpts from the sermon of Dr. Harold Adams,

    Radford Worship Service, Radford, VA, March 18, 2018 

A man was walking through a field and came across a valuable coin. He then buried it, went home and sold everything he had so he could buy that field. 

A field -- on the Blue Ridge Parkway - Photo by Connie Wohlford

This little story is a parable Jesus told in Matthew 13:44. Jesus likened the discovered treasure to the Kingdom of Heaven.

That man placed so much value on the treasure, he was willing to give up every other possession he owned in order to obtain that one thing. 

In a recent sermon, our pastor, Dr. Hal Adams, used Jesus’ “Parable of the Hidden Treasure” to illustrate how people assign value, whether it be to living beings, like family members and pets or to inanimate objects, like houses and cars.

Throughout his sermon, Pastor Hal eloquently talked about values and their importance in the daily life of every person. Our value systems determine how we spend our thought life, our energy, our time, and our money.

Pastor progressed in his sermon, talking about the values we should have as followers of Jesus. He then focused on values we need in our own church, Radford Worship Center.

The core of Pastor’s sermon was to emphasize the values we should have as a church—in our own church. He said, “Our values as a church will determine what we accomplish here. … What we value is also going to affect The Great Commission.” 

Pastor Hal then gave us his list of values for Radford Worship Center. I believe other Christians, especially church leaders, might find his list helpful.

Ten Values that make a difference in fulfilling or not fulfilling the vision, purpose, and commission of this church:

1.      We will regard Jesus’ deservedness, importance, and worth above all things. This must be inscribed on our hearts. God values people so we must value people. 

2.      We will honor Christ and the Church with integrity. We need to have the right heart—we must be honest before God in excellence and moral principle.  

3.      We will give up the things we love for what we love most. We do that every day. It’s an honor to sacrifice for God. We need to love what God loves. 

4.      We will believe all people are important. If we do this we’ll be willing to give up what we need to give up in order to please God. 

5.      We will do anything, short of sin, to reach people who don’t know Christ. For us to reach people no one else is reaching, we need to do things no one else is doing. 

6.      We will be contributors, not consumers. Our church must consist mostly of people who contribute not simply consume. 

7.      We will lead the way with intentional generosity. We need to truly believe it is better to give than to receive. 

8.      We will be faithful to things we value. If we value our spouse, we’ll be faithful to him or her. If we value God, we’ll be faithful to Him. If we value The Great Commission, we’ll be faithful to do our part. 

9.      We will always bring our best. To drag into worship service after staying up until 4 a.m., watching sports or the entire season of “The Walking Dead,” is not bringing our best. In essence, that says, “Now I’ll give God what’s left.” Let’s give God our very best. Excellence honors God and inspires people. 

10.  We will have fun! We have much to thank God for and we’re winners. The loosing team never celebrates a loss.  Let’s celebrate the love and goodness of our God! 

Today’s Tweets: “What we value determines what we will become.”

                       “Our values are the engine that brings fulfillment.”

Know that Christ values you. That’s why He died for you.

To get the most from Pastor Hal’s message, watch the video of him delivering this valuable message.  He calls it “Values.”  Please watch it all the way through, including his powerful prayer at the end.  I pray you are blessed and ministered to. 

Here’s the link:

https://www.facebook.com/RadfordWorshipCenter/videos/1865090990190723/

©Copyright 2018 Connie Wohlford