Core Values

At Eagle Ridge Church of God, we believe Jesus has called us to be active disciples in this world.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteous of God.

As "ambassadors of Christ," we, therefore, are to Be a Bridge and Build a Bridge to our community, both locally and worldwide.

​These values are a part of our history. In 100 years, we have been at our best not simply when attendance has been high and staff was big, but rather when we displayed these values. Be a bridge, build a bridge will be nothing more than a catchy saying unless our culture continues to change.

The 4 R's

Real

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Where you are is where you are. No false self or managing people’s perceptions.

Here’s how God feels about you where you are as you are right now, not once you get yourself straightened out:
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. Romans 5:7-9

The people who came to Jesus as they are were the ones who experienced his power. Example, Isaiah (6:1-13) “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” 6:5

You won’t have deep and fulfilling relationships with others if you are not real. Don’t try to straighten up and come here or stay away because you know there is something in your life that is contrary to something in the Bible or what the church has traditionally taught. Allow Jesus to meet you where you are instead of trying real hard to change or simply staying away because “I don’t fit there." If we stop right here it sounds like the culture in America. “You be you.” “You do you.” Decide who you are, how you want to define yourself, and then live it. There’s nothing that is sinful, wrong, or out of bounds if you say, “This is who I am.” But there’s more…

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Ready to Change

Listen to the attitude behind this passage:
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Psalm 51:10-13

We come as we are, not trying to pretend, and then we ask God to transform us. Believing in the transformational power of the Holy Spirit. Understanding that God loves me as I am but enough to not leave me as I am.

Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:1-4

Not resisting that power in the Bible, in my brother or sister, the Holy Spirit. “I’m a just a sinner, addict, broken, flawed…person and that’s what I will always be.” Instead be open to change. Growth mentality or a fixed mentality - it's a choice.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Cor. 3:18

Your destiny is to be changed into the likeness of Jesus more and more. The pace is different for each person. The person who is not seeing the change that another is, must have peace with God’s pace and the rest of us must have grace trusting that the person is not resisting the Spirit. The attitude of being ready and not resisting God’s desire to change us.

Relational

As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children (gentle) among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children. We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too… And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory. 1 Thess. 2:7-8 & 11-12

All transformation happens in relationship. Discipleship is life on life. Transformation never takes place outside of two relationships, God and other disciples. Iron sharpening iron. We won’t ever become a church that makes disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples, without relationships as a core value. Preaching isn’t relational, therefore, it is disciple making. Pastor Bill preached a similar series, Good and Beautiful
Life, previously. The impact of this series was much greater because the people shared it life on life. It wasn’t just the pastor talking about it. 

Release

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:7

Sabbath and tithe are examples of releasing because we trust. Tithe is a way of releasing what we want to hold tightly to. It’s where we acknowledge that what I have is not mine, but only entrusted to me by the real owner. Not squeezing or hoarding out of fear our time, abilities, energy, money and best people. We must become an airport, not a warehouse. When we keep all that is in our grasp for ourselves, we build something that is for us. If we release, then we will build bridges that are for others to walk across.