We are deeply committed to becoming a community with the Bible – and the God of the Bible – at our center. The Word of God is our ultimate source of truth for faith, and for how we live our lives. We believe that individual and community assimilation and application of Biblical truth is the pathway to spiritual formation: through public teaching of the Word of God on weekends, regular exposure to Scripture in small groups, and daily personal reading of the Bible. This is our non-negotiable starting point for expanding the Kingdom of God in the Bay Area.

Jesus teaches us that loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving people as ourselves, is to be our ultimate spiritual purpose (Matthew 22:36-40). As a local church in the Bay Area, this means that we must be deeply committed to reaching the 75% who are far from God, and maturing the 25% who are Christ-followers – we are fully united around this Biblical mission. Our strategy is becoming one church in multiple locations throughout the Bay.

Growing in passionate love for God, courageous obedience to Christ and His Word, and living in the life of the Spirit, is our understanding of full devotion to Christ. When our life begins to be spiritually formed in this way as a disciple, we understand that obeying God is loving God. Truth does not transform us until we do it! Growth Track is our primary system for spiritual formation. We are committed to becoming spiritually healthy, because healthy things grow naturally.

We exist to love people. All people. Lost and found. An essential component of our DNA is our passionate commitment to the Biblical purpose of evangelism, which is sharing God’s love with those who are far from Him. We are committed to staying open and courageous in our pursuit of the people in the Bay Area who do not yet have a relationship with Christ, while at the same time remaining committed to maturing those who are believers. The simple truth is that lost people matter deeply to the Father, and they should matter to us as well. We embrace the value of being gracious in acceptance without compromising truth. Reaching people outside God’s family, through personal relationships, is the most effective strategy for sharing our faith. We have a high commitment to reaching children and youth (who are the most receptive to Christ), and their families. We will go to great lengths to help people connect with Jesus, while at the same time not diluting our convictions concerning the principles of the Bible. The balance of demonstrating grace to people, while also sharing God’s truth with them, can be complicated but we believe it is a balance worth attempting. This is the tension that Jesus demonstrated in His life and ministry to people, and was willing to die for. Jesus was/is “a friend of sinners”. We will continue loving and investing our lives in people... for us, it will always be all about people!

Each of us belongs to God’s family. Real community happens when we develop loving relationships with each other, either at weekend gatherings or in small group settings. Authentic community is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus – it’s the family of God caring for itself. We are always better together. We are a community of those whose sins have been forgiven by Christ on the cross, and are made whole in a unified community of genuine loving relationships.

Our mission is loving people, in practical ways. We best demonstrate the truth of the Gospel, and enable people’s hearts to become receptive, when we compassionately serve them. Jesus spent the majority of His time investing in people, one at a time. Our purpose is to demonstrate the love of God by serving the underserved, the impoverished, the abandoned, the homeless, the trafficked, the widow and the orphan, and the victims of injustice. When we see a need, we will do our best to meet that need... for good deeds lead to good will, which will result in an openness to the good news.

Each one of us is unique and created in the image of God, thus all human beings are of immense value. There is yet much prejudice in our culture, including in the church. To be clear: prejudice, racism, and injustice are “sin”, and grieve the heart of the Father. We believe a multi- ethnic and multi-generational church can bring healing to the suspicions and hatreds in our culture. Diversity is a picture of eternity. We are becoming something here on earth that is in anticipation of what is to come in heaven. We will continue to create a gracious culture at The Bay Church that reflects and accommodates the diversity of the millions of beautiful people in the Bay Area.

Ministry is serving people’s needs with God’s love. A believer cannot spiritually mature until they begin to serve other people in ministry. It is a high priority to equip each member of our church family for a ministry that is aligned with their gifts and passions. When this local church is operating in love-based, need-meeting ministry – our communities can be changed forever.

Financial generosity is managing our finances and personal resources according to Biblical principles, in order to empower the church to fulfill its mission, and so expand the Kingdom of God. This process of generosity begins with tithing, the spiritual practice of worshipping God with 10% of our income, and continues with offerings (over and above the tithe)... for global evangelism, the poor and underserved, compassion ministry, and the widow and the orphan. Developing a lifestyle of generous giving is vital to our personal spiritual formation.

We hold a serious commitment to the model of leadership that Jesus demonstrated, “The greatest shall be the least, and a servant of all.” People are not interruptions to our ministry – they are our ministry. When we think about our role as servant leaders in the church, it is never as a vocation, but rather as a holy calling, to which we demonstrate a lifetime commitment. We will not “lord it over” people, but rather in humility, we will serve and empower them... “The good shepherd lays down His life for people” (John 10:11). We believe in a strong work ethic, while at the same time prioritizing a refreshing Sabbath one day each week. We believe in collaboration, because we know that we are more effective together. No local church can ever hire enough people to meet all the needs, and lead all the ministry... so we cultivate the best resource in the world: our people. The most essential person in our church is a person willing to serve in ministry – so we will recruit, equip, release, and build teams of servant-hearted volunteers to do the work of ministry (Eph. 4). We are consistently guiding people from being in the crowd to being in the cause. This is the way leadership and impact grows exponentially. At The Bay Church, everything gets done through volunteers, so each person in our ministries must learn to recruit, mentor, and develop people – pipelines of disciples actively serving in our ministries. We believe strongly that we are called to give all that we are, and all that we have, to all that Jesus has called us to do and be. We can accomplish much if we don’t care who gets the credit. We will remain flexible and nimble in change. We will be relentless in doing everything in ministry with uncompromising excellence in a manner that glorifies the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ.

Character counts. Living with integrity is vital to becoming a true believer. We must be mindful of how we conduct ourselves in every area of our life, both privately and publicly, safeguarding ourselves by establishing lifestyle boundaries through accountability within the context of a community of believers.

At The Bay Church we desire to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit of God in everything we do, as a faith community and as individuals. As we develop and implement strategies for reaching the 75%, and maturing the 25%, we will need the help of the Holy Spirit, whose empowerment we must have to be the church in the 21st century.

At The Bay Church, we are faith-filled, future-focused, risk-takers! The key to God-honoring leadership is to live with God-sized goals. It is too easy to be ruled by: What can’t be done... What we can’t afford... What we don’t have time for... What we are afraid we’ll be criticized for. In Bay Church culture, we are more concerned about missing opportunities for Kingdom impact than in making mistakes. To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing. Jesus reminds, “With God all things are possible.” Unless we are attempting something at which we may fail, we are not living by faith!

The one true God of the Bible is the creator and ruler of the universe, and the savior of all humankind. He has eternally existed in what Christian theologians have historically termed as three “Persons”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (“Trinity”). This three-in-one, one-in-three community within the Godhead is a mystery, yet clearly based in the Word of God. For further study, see: Genesis 1:1, 26-27; Genesis 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2.

Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, come in person to our world, a visitation promised and yearned for throughout history. The word “Christ” is the translation of a Hebrew word meaning “King”. This is why Jesus and the Kingdom of God are intrinsically bound together; He is the King of the Kingdom. In His first-century life in the Roman territory of Palestine, He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed many miracles of healing (both physically and spiritually), and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people, for all time. Three days after dying on the cross, God raised Him from the dead (“Resurrection”), powerfully demonstrating that Jesus is indeed Israel’s great King, and the Savior of the world, fully God and fully man, and that through His achievement sin’s dark power has been forever broken and death itself will die. After resurrecting and appearing to His disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven. He will return again one day to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. For further study, see: Exodus 12; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:22-23; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 4:14-15.

The Holy Spirit is God, co-equal with the Father and the Son. He is present in the world to make human beings aware of their need for Jesus. He lives in every believer from the moment of salvation, and provides them with power for living, the understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift(s) to serve in ministry. The Bible also teaches a “baptism in the Holy Spirit”, whose purpose is empowering a believer for evangelism. As Christ-followers, we seek to live under the daily loving and holy guidance of the Holy Spirit. For further study, see: John 14:17, 16:7-13; Acts 1:8, 2:1-4; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18; Galatians 5:25.

The Bible is the Word of God. It was physically written by human authors at specific times and places under the supernatural inspiration (a word meaning “breathe-into”) of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of guidance for Christian belief and behavior. Read with appropriate sensitivity to its historical and linguistic context, the Old Testament and New Testament offer truth without any mixture of error. Following are several passages that support our beliefs about the Bible. Psalm 12:6, 19:7-11, 119:9-16, 105, 160; Proverbs 30:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21.

Human beings are the culmination of God’s creative genius, “fearfully and wonderfully made... in His image” (Psalm 139:14). Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by a condition of disobedience toward God called “sin”, which compromises the innocence and goodness of humans, bringing physical and spiritual death. Fundamentally a separation from God and His holiness, sin is a cause of much suffering in life, and stands in need of a divinely-initiated reconciliation and healing. For further study, see: Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6, 59:1-2; Romans 3:23.

Salvation is God’s free gift which we must receive, by simple faith, to enter into relationship with Him. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or religious effort. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ, Alone, as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. Eternal life begins when a person, by repentance and faith, receives Christ as Savior and Lord. The evidence of this new relationship with Christ is an emerging lifestyle of full devotion to Him. The way we articulate this process at The Bay Church is: we belong, we believe, we behave, we become. For further study, see: Luke 22-24; John 1:12, 14:6; Romans 5:1, 6:23; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; 1 John 5:13. Further, the Bible also teaches that divine healing from physical illness and suffering is a beautiful Biblical promise. The world we inhabit is not closed off to God’s intervention... God, the creator of the physical world, is able to intervene in our lives today. For further study, see: Genesis 1; Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16-17; James 5:14-16.

The church is the family of God, the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, a people tasked with the great commandment and the great commission, and each Christ-follower is an integral part. There are two sacraments of the church, water baptism and communion, both of which remind us of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. God’s mission for His church, as taught in the Bible, is reflected in our purpose and values. We are forever committed to loving God and loving people. For further study, see: Matthew 22:36-40, 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 4:11-16.

Human beings were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally with God in the new heavens and new earth, enjoying the resurrection and transformation of our body, or eternally separated from God in hell. Additionally, the Bible indicates that several events will occur in this period of the end times: Jesus will return (or “reappear”) to reign on the earth, referred to as the second coming of Christ; the church will be raptured to welcome His return (“rapture” is a term meaning “caught up”); there will be a final judgment of both the saved and the lost, in which God restores universal peace and justice, and reigns forever afterwards with His saints. Some aspects of God’s future plans remain mysterious, as we currently “see but dimly, as in a mirror” (I Corinthians 13:12). What the Bible does allow us to see clearly assures us that God’s love and faithfulness to humanity and the earth will never end. For further study, see: John 3:16; Romans 6:23, 8:17-18; 1 Corinthians 2:7-9; 15:51-52; 2 Corinthians 5:10