Covenant

The Sanctuary Fellowship

Covenant

Jesus is the hope of the world. This hope is actualized and revealed to the world by the Church and
to join a church is to join a cause, a movement, a revolution. Itā€™s the movement of Godā€™s people
who are awakened with the grace and love of God. We want to awaken this love in as many people,
places, and ways as possible. And we want to celebrate the measurable and vivid changes that
Godā€™s grace and love brings.

Look honestly at this and consider what is required. You are not joining an institution but an
active, living, and ever-changing movement that will require what God requires: YOUR LIFE
exchanged for HIS LIFE.

Truth

We affirm the Bible is the truthful account of historic orthodox Christian faith and see ourselves in
a long line of generations taking part in the endless conversation between God and people. The
Bible is the Word of God to us. It is our sole authority, and we must both individually and as a
body, learn its teachings and embody all it says. To know where weā€™re going, we have to know
what God says about where weā€™ve been.

RESPONSE: We covenant to look with INTENSITY at Godā€™s character, His creation, and the
Scriptures to learn the roots of our faith so we can go onward, and that the message of the gospel
of Jesus be passed on to the next generation.
Embrace

We embrace salvation as a gift of God and deem that baptism is the confession of the reality that
Jesus has given to us His saving grace. We cling to the cross of Christ as the only lasting solution
to the separation between God and man as well as between man and mankind. God is bringing
completeness to all things, and we embrace that this happens only through Jesus. We embrace the
change that God is continually birthing in our lives. We embrace Him with the awareness that a
changed life is now inevitable.

RESPONSE: We covenant to look INSIDE our hearts, and embrace Godā€™s changes in our lives
and in this body of believers.
Journey

We are sure that God has called us to be HIS people. He is taking us somewhere. We will inspect
every step of the way to be sure we are walking in faith, humility, and change. We choose not to try
to predict anything and to live confidently in knowing that God is ours and we are HIS. The
Christian life is a mission trip journey. We believe that God has chosen people from every tribe and
nation, so we accept people as God accepts them.

RESPONSE: We covenant to go on this journey with devoted INTENT, never desiring to hold
anyone back, but always pressing forward with everyone.
Community

We value authenticity and the depth of relationship that community brings. This is not easy and
requires caring for one another, carrying each otherā€™s burdens, sharing our possessions, praying
and confessing our sins to each other, and suffering and celebrating together. In community, we
go out together to ā€œbe Jesusā€ to others so that they can be transformed by His power. The way of
Jesus cannot be lived alone. Therefore, we commit to actively participate in a Life Group so that we
can be a part of living missionally in our neighborhood with our church family.

RESPONSE: We covenant to go INTIMATELY with each other and passionately participate in a
Life Group, because we were made to live in community.
Serving

Life is a mission trip. We believe that the church is Godā€™s ongoing presence in the world. Led by
the Spirit of God, we are passionate about relieving suffering and fighting injustice, joining the
God of the oppressed in living out the transforming message of the resurrected Jesus. Jesus calls
His church to be a compelling force for good in the world, and we believe that the church is at its
best when it serves, sacrifices, loves, and cares about the things God cares about. We were created
to live for something larger than ourselves.

RESPONSE: We covenant to go INFLUENTIALLY because Jesus calls us to serve the world.
Celebration

God is to be worshiped and celebrated as the One who is restoring all things in Christ. Thus, for
those who have experienced this restoration, all of life is worship. We celebrate the Divine daily by
pursuing lives of hope, gratitude, and generosity. We invite others to celebrate with us the
redemption that God is bringing to all things through Jesus.

RESPONSE: We covenant to live in the worship of God by living INCREDIBLY, celebrating
Godā€™s redemption of all things.
Giving

The people of God in the Old Covenant gave a minimum of ten percent of the ā€œfirst fruitsā€ of their
labor. God has required even more giving to and from the church in the New Covenant. It is
difficult to do all that God has set before us if everyone does not give. Ten percent would be a
great place to start as there is precedent for that in ages past. God desires cheerful generosity in
our giving to His work through the Church. Therefore, we believe that every person who is in
covenant with us must give sacrificially with a cheerful heart and with generosity. We must make
this kind of giving a point of prayer and effort, and then be as obedient as possible with the
amount we give.

RESPONSE: We covenant to INTENTIONALLY strive to give no less than 10% of our financial
resources as an offering to God and to the Sanctuary Church.
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