These statements express the basic principles of South Bay Church that are at the core of who we are. South Bay places great value in these guiding principles. We list them for you to read and to better understand our church. They are not listed in any order of priority, for they are of equal value and importance to us.
SBC believes in Prayer.
Since scripture teaches that all of God’s work is "not by might nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord” it is essential that we understand that the church moves forward and makes spiritual progress on its knees. One of the parts of the original call of South Bay Church is that it becomes a “house of prayer for all people”. One of the strategies we will adopt is the development of lighthouses of prayer. We want to encourage all of our members and attendees to be lighthouses of prayer and love in their neighborhoods. We want our members to pray for and care for their neighbors. This is because God’s first and foremost call on our church is intercession. Prayer is not a preparation for the work it is the work!
SBC believes in the Holy Spirit.
We recognize fully His person and work, We believe that all believers have the Spirit but not all are “filled with the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is a person. He was sent by Jesus Christ after His resurrection and ascension to empower the church to live godly and work powerfully. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is not a peripheral issue but central to the Christian life. While we do not believe that any one gift is evidence of the filling work of the Spirit we do believe that all the gifts are present in the Body of Christ today. The gifts are essential for Christian ministry. If we are to be culturally relevant we must even more so be a people of the Spirit.
SBC believes that the church is built best by utilizing healthy care groups.
We believe real life change happens in the small group. As churches grow more and more money is spent on staff and buildings. By developing a system of caring evangelistic cells great amounts of money can be saved on educational space by having group meetings in the homes. Not only that but a far smaller staff can handle the load because the pastoral care is shared by the laity. It is much more than a sharing of the load though. It is empowering lay men and women to do the work of Christ We believe the best care possible and the best relationships possible come through the care group system.
SBC believes that the lost are important to God.
People matter to God; it is that simple! People are what it is about. The church exists for the people not vice versa. We must always remember this. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He did not come to create structures and build edifices. These are well and good in their place but people are what matter to God. The church must find creative ways to reach out in culturally relevant ways through prayer evangelism, servant evangelism, and relational evangelism.
SBC believes the church should be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure.
Paul said, “I become all things to all men that I might win some.” This means we must reach people with a strategy that fits the third millenium in which we live. Many churches are using ministry strategies that worked very well in the 1950’s but are not effective today. We are to read the culture and reach it where it is. The church no longer plays with a home field advantage like it once did. We are living in a post-Christian generation. It would be nice if we still enjoyed “home field advantage but we do not.” Our worship services should reflect a cultural relevance and strong seeker sensitivity. The worship services should be true celebration worship in Spirit and truth. They must also not be exclusive in their speech and style. Exclusive in the sense that non-Christians have no idea what is going on.
SBC believes in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus came preaching, “behold the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus taught that the kingdom was both here, at hand, and coming. This means everything we do is about God and His kingdom and not “our church”. We are building His Kingdom and not ours. We expand His Kingdom through evangelism and spiritual warfare. We have the immense privilege of sharing Christ with a lost and dying world and at the same time taking back territory, which once belonged to the enemy. It does not help to ignore the evil one, Satan. Jesus said we must “bind the strong man”. Salvation in its fullest sense means deliverance from the power of sin and Satan and freedom through the glorious Savior. Jesus came to set us fully free. A great part of our ministry is aiding believers in becoming “totally free”.
SBC believes in the laity.
God has called the pastoral staff of the church to be the administers and the members to be the ministers. This means that all are called to be ministers at SBC. We do not have two classes of Christians. There is only one and they are all called servants of Jesus. This means that anyone can do the work of Christ in SBC and be trained to do it. God wants every believer to be very serious about spiritual growth and maturity. SBC will develop a system to help the believer achieve this growth.
SBC believes in excellence.
We believe that doing things well both honors God and inspires people. People are used to seeing things done with excellence in every area of their lives. They give their time and allegiance to companies and institutions which model excellence. God is greatly honored when we do things well. As one pastor from California said once, “the day of amateur night at the church must be over.” Amen
SBC believes in the family.
The institution of the family is a priority with God and must be for His church. We believe we can demonstrate this by creating strong families for Christ. We also believe we can supplement the teaching of parents with a strong Children’s ministry. Though it is the parent’s primary responsibility to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord it is our responsibility as a church to help them. We can do this by creating strong childrens and youth ministries. SBC also believes that the marriage bond is sacred. The church must do all it can to strengthen this bond and not be a cause of weakening it by over burdening members with meaningless activity.
