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series: Core Values

title: introduction: cultivate

teacher: Jacob Bender

date: September 10, 2017

scriptures: Proverbs 29:18-19, 2 Corinthians 5:16-19, Joel 2:25, 1 Corinthians 1:10, the book of Esther.

Core values are the fundamental beliefs of a person or organization…

and what we are going to do is just go through, each week for the next couple of months, some of the main things that make Courage Church, Courage Church. These are some of the things that we consider to be extremely valuable in our journey here in Detroit.

As we go through these, we want to encourage you to think about your own life… pray about your own life… if you haven’t done so already, establish…

“what are the core values in my life?”

“what are the core values in our home?”

Because if you have no gauge on what is important, then you have no way to measure whether or not you are on the right track.

That is what Core Values do… they keep us disciplined… they keep us on mission… they give us something t0 bounce whatever it is we are doing, off of, and see… IS THIS FURTHERING THE MISSION OF MY LIFE?

I know for us, in this city, as transient as it is, and just because of the heart of the city… it can sometimes be difficult to determine “God… are we on the right path?” but this gives us a clear guide…

So we ask questions like:

are we living and growing more and more generous? Are we working together more than we used to? Are we getting more courageous with every new step we take? or are we getting more timid and less bold with each step we take? are we holding closer to our wallets because we feel like things are too tight for us to help anyone else…

Do we send support to others, like Florida and to Texas when THEY have a disaster, when we know that we have a HUGE mission of our own here in Detroit?

Are we living our lives outside of ourselves?

Are we reading the word of God more, praying more, and growing in our worship and adoration for Jesus? Or have those things become afterthoughts to our busy lives?

So week by week we are going to go through some things that we want to make sure that everyone knows, we value these things here at Courage Church. But today, as a bit of an introduction to the series, we are going to first address the issue of WHY -

because unless you build the foundation of your life on PURPOSE, you very well may find yourself working and working and working but never feeling like you have gotten anywhere.

and we don’t want that for any of you.

We want to be people who walk in the purposes that God laid out for us.

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Character means that We live publicly like we do in private. We write the Word of God on our hearts, practice generosity, and prioritize integrity.

Commission means that we are a sending church. We honor the past, while we work for the future. And we always believe that everyone’s brightest days are ahead of them.

connection is living a life of constant community with God.

He is our supplier, who is as close to us as the air that we breathe.

conversation means that we bind and we loose together, we learn together, we serve together, and we grow together.

We welcome each other’s perspectives, and we depend on each other’s accountability.

collaboration is all of us working together to create something better than any of us could create on our own.

Contribution understands that everybody has a role, and there is room for us here. We know that the gifts we are given matter to the body of Christ, and we so seek to discover where we each fit.

We honor the contributions of others, knowing that God perfectly crafted each one of us, and only together are we truly the church.

Community is a body, committed to all its parts.

Compassion sees the world through the eyes of others, and it is stirred to action by what it sees. It can not sit by while injustice is done around it.

communion is a common union of broken people, who are made whole by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We are united by our differences, and there is a seat for everyone at the table.

Courage goes to the places that nobody else wants to go, and works to create places that everybody wants to be. Courage loves the one who nobody else wants to love…

if you have no gauge on what is important, then you have no way to measure whether or not you are on the right track. That is what Core Values do… they keep us disciplined… they keep us on mission… they give us something the bounce whatever it is we are doing, off of, and see… IS THIS FURTHERING THE MISSION?

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