Christ Lutheran Church - Valencia, CA

The core values of Christ Lutheran Church are:

Jesus is Lord
This was the earliest Christian creed found in the scriptures. As such, it informs and impacts all we do. From hanging banners to approving budgets, from developing strategic plans to planning worship, everything points to Christ and serves Christ. It is Christ's church, not ours. To confess that He is Lord is to confess that we are not. Everything is planned, decided, prioritized and evaluated under this principle. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

We value community
We commit ourselves to healthy, whole, Christ-centered relationships. We hold each other accountable to interact with compassion and gentleness in a manner that builds each other up. Therefore, we emphasize the process of building relationships as the most effective means for providing care and facilitating a life changing relationship with God. Since we are all sinners saved by grace and we have all fallen short, we are a community in which all are welcome and all are accepted. All people will know that in this place they are loved. (Acts 2:42)

We value prayer
Because we recognize our complete dependence on God, we value prayer as the source of God's guidance for our actions (Psalm 16:7-8), and as central to effective ministry. We surround all we do with prayer and urge our people to a life of prayer. (James 5:16)

We value a growing faith in Jesus
We view constant, on-going growth in discipleship as central to who we are and all we do. We commit ourselves to be a people who seek to "grow to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13), and we hold this expectation as the norm for all those in leadership. We view as key to our ministry providing people opportunities to grow in the practice of their discipleship.

We value compassionate service
Another core value of our congregation is a commitment to compassion, acknowledging that Christ commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We make this value specific in the way we give ourselves in service to Christ, through the church, by serving the needs of others both through the ministry of the congregation and as we go about our daily lives.

We value excellence, innovation and joy
We value innovative approaches to doing ministry and reaching people (1 Corinthians 9:22). Out of response to God who spared nothing for us, we strive for excellence and quality in what we do. Our approach is joyful, not as people under compulsion, but as people given to gospel gladness.

We value shared ministry
We view all ministry as an equally shared responsibility; all people as full ministers; and all ministry as significant. We are committed, in whatever we do, to using each and every opportunity to equip people and release them for ministry.

We believe in the triune God. This means that God, one, true, and holy, exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is three yet one, one yet three. We believe that God created and creates all that exists and continues to sustain and preserve his creation out of Fatherly and divine goodness and mercy. (Psalm 8)

Jesus
We believe that Jesus, as the second person of the Trinity, is both true and fully God and also true and fully human, present at the foundation of the world with God and the Holy Spirit, and through whom the world came to be (John 1:1-3, 14). We believe that Jesus has bought us back from sin, death, and the power of evil through His own innocent suffering and death on the cross, freely given for our sake (Romans 3:21-26). We believe that Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God, and it is His death and resurrection that guarantees the eternal life for all who believe. Jesus has done all this that we might follow, love and serve Him.

Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is at work in the world today, calling people to faith, gathering people into Christ's body, the church, making it possible for people to believe, and transforming the lives of God's people to more and more resemble that of Jesus. (John 14:16-17; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

the Bible is the written and inspired word of God and is the authority for our faith and lives. We believe that the Bible is true, and through it God speaks to us of His love and salvation shown most fully in the person of Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

we are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is not something we can achieve on our own; it never comes to us as a result of our good behavior; and it cannot be bartered for through our good intentions. Salvation comes to us only as a gift of God's mercy which we receive by faith. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

baptism is the means by which God ushers us into His kingdom. We baptize infants and adults because we believe that baptism is something God does for us, rather than something we do for God, through which God gives us forgiveness of sin, new life, and incorporation into the body of Christ. We believe that baptism involves God's promise, combined with water and His word, for our salvation, and as such it is a gift offered to all, both adults and children. (Acts 2:38-39; Mark 16:16; Romans 6:3-4)

in communion we receive the true body of Christ through the bread and wine, as Jesus commanded. In receiving Christ in this way we receive the forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation. (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25)