Our Core Values – We are The Cityline Church

The Cityline Church Core Values

The principle of purpose before task

NIV Psalm 138:8; The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever– do not abandon the works of your hands.

We are called to love God, love people and serve the world.
We are called to lead people to purpose through the truth so that they in turn can positively impact every segment of society (Family, Church, Education, Economics, Government, Arts & Entertainment).
We should always put our purpose before our task.
Identity (being) defines our tasks (doing). What we do is a result of who we are. We do because of who we are as opposed to doing in order to become.

There is only room for one vision

NIV Psalm 133:1; A song of ascents; Of David. How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.

Psalm 133: The anointing flows from the head down the garment.
My purpose is to selflessly support and advance the vision given to the visionary (the Senior Pastors).
God may speak to us all, but all ideas/dreams/visions must be submitted and approved by our Senior Pastors.
If you have another vision, you are engaging in a division (two visions).
The Error of Balaam à an attempt to establish another vision (rebellion) means an attempt to fight God (His appointed leadership), not man.
Submission to leadership is essential for the healthy functioning of the body. Only in a diseased body do the members rebel against the authority of the brain/head (for example, in the illness Parkinson’s Disorder, the brain sends messages but the body fails to respond).

The principle of delegated authority

Matthew 8:5-13: Jesus and the Roman Centurion.
I have no right to exercise authority if I am not under authority.
Our Senior Pastors are under authority and we need to follow their example.
When I am assigned a task of service, I carry it out as though my Pastor were doing it.
The orders I carry are not mine, they are my Pastor’s (and essentially, God’s); therefore, they are to be fulfilled with excellence and should not be questioned.
Submission to delegated authority is essential; no matter the age, gender, or experience of the person in authority, my purpose is to obey.
We must learn to empower others patiently.
My family’s future is directly linked to my Senior Pastors.

The principle of Accountability

NIV 1 Peter 2:13; Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority.

In order to be successful in life I need to be accountable to those that God has placed in authority over my life.
We all need a Coach (or Mentor), Confidant and Confronter.
God’s desire is that we walk in perfection (integrity) before Him; however, if we miss the mark, we must be accountable to those in authority upon our lives.
If we minister to others, while we are down and hurting, we will negatively affect the whole body of Christ.

The principle of Holiness

NIV Hebrews 12:14; Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

I am called to live a life of consecration unto the Lord.
The more responsibility that is given to me, the less options I have.
Living by grace is not a license to sin, instead it means living up to higher standards.
We will not compromise the message of the gospel and the word of God.
We will uphold and never compromise the standards that we have created for all those in ministry.
We should always respect boundaries. We are an affectionate, warm and loving church, but not everyone feels comfortable with hugs and kisses.
We model what we believe and live by example.

Message from the Mountaintop

Exodus chapter 17 & 18.
The more faithful I am at my assignments, especially when my Pastors are absent, the less my Pastors have to worry; the less they have to worry, the more time they can spend hearing from God (Moses) in order to feed me, my family, and our congregation.
As opposed to the secular view of security which states that the life of the key man depends on the security, in the church we must understand that the lives of the security ministers depend on the key man (the Senior Pastor).

I am my Pastors’ Ambassador

NIV Proverbs 25:13; Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.

I do not represent my own interests; I represent the interests of my Pastors and of the Kingdom of God. My purpose is to be a trustworthy servant in order to refresh my Pastors’ spirits.
I represent my Pastors in all I do; therefore I should ask myself: how would my Pastor speak, how would he interact with this person, what would he expect from me, what is his heart?
The more time I spend with my Pastors, the better I will know their hearts

I am my Pastors’ Armor Bearer

1 Samuel chapter 17 and chapter 31.
I am called to honor and respect my Pastors.
I am called to be loyal to God, my Pastors and the vision of this house.
I must not allow anyone to disrespect my Pastors.
I am called to cover my Pastors’ backs at all times.

The principle of conflict resolution and correction

NIV Matthew 18:15; If your brother sins against you, {15 Some manuscripts do not have against you.} go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

I should always be willing to confront others with tact and love when necessary.
I should never make assumptions. I should always ask questions as opposed to making accusations.
I should never lend my ears to gossip or murmuring.
I should go directly to the person and not get others involved.
If I am not able to resolve the problem or conflict, I need to get a responsible witness and have a second conversation. A responsible witness is not a friend who will side with me. A responsible witness is a spiritual person that has a proven track record of responsibility, wisdom and discernment within the body. In essence a witness should be an Elder or Minister of the congregation.
If I hear murmuring I must confront it head on and should report it to the Elders.

No assignment is “beneath me” or too insignificant

Luke chapter 17.
Only foolish, immature servants fail to humble themselves and see the big picture; every task is important whether it is recognized or not.
Someone is always watching the manner in which I perform the tasks assigned to me.
Faithfulness in “small” tasks leads to “bigger” assignments.
Understanding: Entails being able to relate things, persons and events in order to see the big picture.

Service is an honor, not an obligation

NIV 1 Timothy 1:12; I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

I do not deserve the privilege to serve; Jesus has seen fit to bless me with the honor of placing me at His service.
The greatest in the Kingdom is the one who serves the most.
We believe in serving others to the highest degree.
The Kingdom of God is founded on service. As a result, we will exemplify the highest degree of excellence in all areas of service.

The Ritz Carlton principle

NIV Ecclesiastes 9:10; Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, {10 Hebrew Sheol} where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

I must take ownership of problems and convert them into opportunities even if the problems are not part of my job description.
I must be willing to serve at all times even if the task assigned is not part of my job description.
I must be willing to serve people with a smile.

Balance is the key to life

NIV 1 Timothy 3:5; (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

I must strive to be faithful to God, self, family, work, ministry and all other responsibilities.
Family comes before ministry, but I must strive to serve God, as I serve people in a given ministry.
We are a church that practices a balance between the Philippian and Colossian Church Models.

One Body many members

1 Corinthians chapter 12.
The body of Christ is a team comprised of many members from different tribes, tongues, people groups and nations. We do not compete, instead we complement one another.
We respect, love, value, celebrate and embrace all members of the body of Christ, regardless of the faith traditions that differentiate us.
We believe that God values all members the same and as a result so should we.
We all have different functions, gifts, talents and abilities, yet God loves us all the same.
The Cityline Church is not above or below any other congregation. We are not better than other congregations based on the measure of grace that God has extended to us.

The principle of zealousness for God’s house

Genesis 1:2-3: God extracts order out of chaos.
Order is pleasing to God, thus it is my purpose to bring about and zealously maintain order in every aspect of the church (worship, prayer, etc.)
Psalms 69:9: The zeal of your house consumes me (we teach this text to our security ministers and instruct them that along with the ushers, it is their responsibility to passionately ensure that there is order in the house of God.)
There should be awe and reverence for God in the church building and church events. The manner in which people conduct themselves is not negotiable; they must conduct themselves as we direct them to do so!
An orderly church is an inviting church to people who themselves are orderly and accustomed to a high quality of service (Orderly people will not return to a chaotic environment.)
An orderly church helps people who are disorderly become healthy.
My purpose is to model healthy behavior to the flock.
My purpose is to teach the next generation of believers how to conduct themselves in the house of God through my example.
The church is my community; I take ownership and do all I can to beautify its appearance through my giving and my service (no one should walk by garbage on the floor.)

The principle of interchangeability (“cross-training”)

NIV 2 Timothy 2:2; And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

No one is indispensable.
Everyone in the ministry must be “cross-trained” so that over time, most functions can be fulfilled with excellence by multiple members of the team.

The principle of growth and replication

NIV Genesis 1:24; And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.

I am designed to grow.
I am designed to reproduce. If I am a leader, I prove this by reproducing leaders.
I am not designed to duplicate myself; I am designed to replicate myself. The world does not need another me, it requires other leaders.
We must continue to learn. Alvin Toffler said: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be persons who cannot read or write, but instead will be persons who refuse to learn, unlearn and relearn.”

The principle of Succession Planning (faithful transmission)

NIV Psalm 127:4; Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.

I have been designed to faithfully transmit/impart by grace that which has been transmitted/imparted to me by grace to the next generation of leaders and believers.
Judges 1,2: All it takes is for one generation of leadership to fail to uphold the doctrines of faith and service for there to be widespread disaster in subsequent generations.
We must be willing to invest in the next generation at all costs.

The Principle of Generosity

“And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity”. 2 Corinthians 8:1-2

We should all reflect on the generosity of God and how He loved the world as it is expressed in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It is for this reason that we should imitate the generosity of our God, who not considering the glory that Jesus himself had, was willing to give it up in order to save all of humanity. We are a generous people here at “The Cityline Church” because our God is a generous God. As a result we have decided to model generosity in our giving and in our lifestyle. God encourages us in His Word to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We understand and fully comprehend that everyone is at a different level and as a result of this, we do not expect equal giving. However, we should all believe God at the level that we are at and should all model equal sacrifice.