Our Vision
- Walk humbly while depending on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, strength, power, peace, and victory over sin
- Discover and use their gifts to give glory to God by serving others
- Understand and demonstrate healthy and wholesome relationships by “doing life together” in a covenantal, God honoring way
- Make themselves available to be used by God to impact their sphere of influence
- Increasingly become more effective witnesses for Christ
- Live a life that demonstrates Jesus and His love for the world in practical ways such as: meeting the needs of the poor, challenging injustice, visiting the sick, caring for the widowed, orphaned, jailed & reaching the unsaved
- Participate and support outward ministry – both short and long term – to share the Gospel, partner in church planting, and supporting fellow believers and churches.
Our Values
We Value Almighty God
We really love Him and want to offer our lives in constant worship to Him. We don’t want to just “know about” Him – we want to “know” Him and wholeheartedly serve Him. That being said: we are Christians – Christ followers. Jesus is our Lord and King and Savior. He is God!
John 1:1, Colossians 1:16-18, Revelation 19:11-16
We Value God’s Word – The Bible
We will not add anything to it or subtract anything from it just to suit our preferences. The Bible is God’s handbook for us as believers. It applies to all of life’s circumstances and is the final authority for all matters in faith and practice.
Deuteronomy 4:2, II Timothy 3:15-17
We Value Each Other
We strive for health and wholeness in our relationships by speaking words of life, exercising Godly confrontation, and walking in constant forgiveness. We believe the church should be a healing community and a safe place. Therefore, we are friends first; before, during and after working together.
Matthew 18:15-17, 22:37-40, John 13:34-35
We Value The Ministry And Giftings In Each Believer
We know that God has called all believers to use their gifts to serve God by serving others. We will equip and release believers to fulfill God’s purpose in their life. Each person has special gifts or talents that are needed for the good of the rest of the body so we all do our part in service and ministry.
Exodus 19:6, I Peter 2:9, 4:10-11, Romans 12:4-5, Matthew 16:24-25, 19:29-30, Mark 8:34-35
We Value The Church – Christ’s Body And Bride
The New Testament pattern shows us that Jesus is the Head of the Church. We also see in scripture that a team of elders (pastors) is the highest human authority leading the local church. At the same time we will actively maintain a close partnership with an outside team of seasoned men and women of God and invite them in to bring truth, correction and accountability. This is neither a denomination nor total independence on the local church’s part – it is simply the pattern we see in God’s Word. We (the church) will walk in humility, honesty, purity, integrity, while living in genuine freedom without legalism or excesses.
Colossians 1:18, I Peter 5:1-3, Acts 20,
Philippians 4:10-20, Titus 1:5, Galatians 5:1 & 13
We Value Being A Family
Westside is not an organization. We are friends who value close, covenantal relationships made of real people who are not just a name on an impersonal organizational chart. We all are valued members of the family: children, teens, singles, marrieds, etc. We value appreciating and honoring each other.
Isaiah 61:1-3, Romans 12:10, II Corinthians 12:5-10,
Ephesians 3:15, Revelation 22:1-6
We Value An Outward Focus
Each believer has unique gifts or talents that are needed for the good of those in their sphere of influence. Westside Church provides ongoing training to equip each person to minister where God has placed them. We place high value in seeing authentic New Testament Churches planted everywhere. We partner with New Covenant Ministries International to help keep our focus on the Great Commission which we believe includes preparing ourselves to go as well.
Genesis 12:3, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:18-20
What We Believe
- The Bible is the Word of God; fully inspired and without error. It is the supreme and final authority for all matters of Christian life and belief.
- There is one true and living God, who eternally exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who are equal in every divine perfection and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in all the work of the Godhead.
- Man was created by God in His own image, but, through his sin, incurred physical and spiritual death. As a result, all people are separated from God by their sin, lost, and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.
- The Gospel is the good news of God’s saving actions towards sinners through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, took on human nature, lived a sinless life, and died a substitutionary death for sinners.
- Salvation is a free gift that comes only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus Christ and His death on their behalf receives forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life
- The Holy Spirit works progressively to transform genuine believers more and more into the image of Christ. His work is carried on in our hearts through such appointed means as the study of Scripture, prayer, worship, and fellowship with other believers. The Holy Spirit empowers believers for Christian witness and service. He also gives gifts for the building up of the body of Christ, the church.
- The universal Church, composed of genuine followers of Christ, exists to worship, serve, and glorify God. All members of the universal Church are to be vitally committed members of a local church, where they receive pastoral care and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service
- Jesus Christ will return to the earth, personally and visibly, to establish His kingdom. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost—the saved to endless joy, living and reigning with Christ, and the lost to endless punishment away from the benevolent presence of God.
Partnership in the Gospel
Our Relationship with New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI)
In Philippians 1:5 Paul commends the Philippian church for the “partnership in the gospel” which he enjoyed with them. We see that local churches in the New Testament were working in partnership with apostolic men to advance the Kingdom of God together. In the same way, we at Westside Church are involved in a committed relational partnership with a team of apostolically-minded men and women named “New Covenant Ministries International.” (Definition of apostolic: authentic New Testament Christianity) New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI) is a team of trans-local ministries who are committed to discipling the nations by planting churches in every country, city, town and village of the world. As an integral part of this, members of the team will also bring complimentary ministry into existing churches in order to bring maturity and to “equip the saints” to fulfill the ministry of the church.
At Westside we invite members of the NCMI team into the church on a regular basis to supplement the ministries of the local leadership and to speak freely into all matters of the life of the church. Team members are involved in helping us with doctrinal difficulties, disciplinary issues that may arise, major directional changes as well as with practical matters. While the local eldership remains the highest human authority in the life of the church (NCMI has no executive rights), the involvement of outside team members brings a sense of accountability, security and stability. It also helps a whole lot to be in relationship with experienced ministries who can bring years of wisdom into situations when the local leadership needs their input. Through our partnership with NCMI, all of us at Westside have immediate access to international mission opportunities all over the world. These opportunities include evangelistic outreach, leadership training as well as other practical relief projects, building projects, etc. For more information on NCMI check out their website @ ncmi.net