{"id":1320,"date":"2011-12-27T21:00:04","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T03:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/?page_id=1320"},"modified":"2022-04-26T14:20:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T19:20:07","slug":"core-values","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/?page_id=1320","title":{"rendered":"Core Values"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Worship<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value worship.<br \/>\n<em>Psalm 100<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church which responds to the character and work of God with gratitude and obedience.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where God is the focus of worship gatherings; where Sunday worship is about people with lifestyles of worship coming together to praise God; and where all are invited to praise, joining hearts before the throne of Almighty God.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is encouraging all to prayerfully center on God to prepare for our worship gatherings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>People<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value people.<br \/>\n<em>Luke 10:25-37; 1 John 4:20-21<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church which recognizes the image of God in every person and treats all people accordingly.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church driven by love where all people are accepted and find a place to belong regardless of cultural background, race, age, and financial status; where claims of love for God are validated by love for people.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by providing a safe environment where people can share their deepest joys and fears.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Spiritual Transformation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value spiritual transformation.<br \/>\n<em>2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22-23<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church of increasingly transformed Christ-followers.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where lives are being transformed in a way explained only by the activity of the Holy Spirit of God; where God is shaping people by the holy power of Holy Spirit into a people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by encouraging spiritual relationships built on love, accountability, and prayer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Acceptance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value acceptance.<br \/>\n<em>Romans 14; Romans 15:7<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church characterized by attitudes of gracious acceptance, not judgment.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where the most unlovable people are loved.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is through our LIFE Groups where anyone can find a place to belong.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Unity<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value unity.<br \/>\n<em>John 17:20-23<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church united in our diversity and promoting the oneness of humanity.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where people work through differences and difficulties to stay united.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by viewing diversity as a strength rather than a weakness.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Giftedness<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value giftedness.<br \/>\n<em>1 Corinthians 12:12-31<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church that recognizes, honors, and nurtures spiritual giftedness.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where the leadership encourages rather than restricts the use of spiritual gifts.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by encouraging the praise team to use the gift of song poured out on them by God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Prayer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value prayer.<br \/>\n<em>Matthew 6:9-13<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church which openly and honestly communicates with God.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where the focus is on relationship rather than religious ritual so that prayer is open communication with God.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by encouraging members to grow through special seasons of prayer and prayer exercises.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Ministry<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value ministry.<br \/>\n<em>1 Peter 4:10-11<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church in which each person ministers in the name of Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where the leadership equips the members to minister rather than leaving ministry to \u201creligious professionals.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is having the leaders assess the giftedness of members and assign them to appropriate ministries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Active Mercy<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value compassionate active mercy.<br \/>\n<em>Micah 6:6-8<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church which dwells among and walks alongside the marginalized and neglected of our society, getting involved in their lives rather than just throwing money or things at problems.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where there is genuine concern for widows, orphans, and the marginalized in society.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by hosting homeless people in the Room in the Inn program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Evangelism<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We value evangelism.<br \/>\n<em>1 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 4:10; Matthew 28<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We strive to be a church which embodies and proclaims the good news message of Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine a church where people are encouraged to share the story of what God is doing in their lives.<\/li>\n<li>One way Lafayette tries to live out this value is by having a missional mindset that encourages members to represent Jesus every day wherever they go.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Worship We value worship. Psalm 100 We strive to be a church which responds to the character and work of God with gratitude and obedience. Imagine a church where God is the focus of worship gatherings; where Sunday worship is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/?page_id=1320\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15090391,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_wpcom_ai_launchpad_about_page":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1320","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PZj9u-li","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15090391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1320"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12793,"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1320\/revisions\/12793"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafayettechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}