Our Priorities
1. Worship
Worship is an expression of our hearts toward God as shown through song and praise. One of the Hebrew words for worship means “to turn toward to kiss.” God created man to worship Him, and He wants us to intimately give ourselves over to Him in our worship. As we do that, we are drawn into His presence and experience His touch in our lives.
Most of the songs that we sing are written by people in the Vineyard and the emphasis of them is to sing to God and not about God. As we do that, we are drawn into an ever-increasing intimacy with God our Father.
2. The Bible
We believe that the Bible is the written Word of God Himself, and that it is absolutely reliable for all matters pertaining to life. We view the Bible as the “plumbline” by which we gauge our lives, and believe that God, through His Word, has given us the tools necessary to deal with any situation that may arise. We do not choose to get involved in endless debate about things in the Bible which are not vital for salvation or for living a Christian life. Instead, we choose to obey the clear teachings of the Bible available to us in a variety of translations.
3. Training (Equipping, teaching, discipleship)
Our desire is to not only know the Word of God, but to also do the Word of God. The Greek word for "disciple" is "matheteuo," which means “to learn to do” not “to learn to know”. James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”(NASB) Our overall vision for Vineyard North Phoenix comes from Ephesians 4:11-13, and is to equip the Saints for works of service. Therefore, teaching the Bible in a simple and practical way is important to us. Very often our teachings will be followed up with the exhortation, “Now let's go do it!”
4. Small Groups (Fellowship)
Fellowship with other believers on a regular basis is essential to our walk with the Lord. We want to help facilitate relationships between people so that they will build intimate relationships with others in the Body. We don’t believe that these intimate relationships can be adequately nurtured in a once or twice per week church setting. Therefore, we have small groups which meet together in different homes through out the Valley during the week. We also have Celebrate Recovery groups that meet at the church on Thursday nights.
These groups provide an opportunity to become better acquainted with one another, worship the Lord together, and pray for each other's needs.
There are small group flyers in the lucite holders in the west hallway of the foyer showing where and when all the different kinds of groups meet. Some groups allow children while others do not. (This will all be explained on the flyers.) Being in a group is of the utmost importance to your growth in Christ and is a major value here at the Vineyard. If you feel that God is calling you to be a part of this church, please get involved with a small group.
A variety of other specialty small groups are also available. These flyers are also in the lucite holders in the west hallway of the foyer.
5. Ministry
Ministering to others is another priority for us. Jesus Christ commanded us, as the church, to do the very works He did (John 14:12). We seek to do that by reaching out to those who are in need or are hurting.
The “ministry” was not meant for a few professionals. Jesus meant for every Christian, from the first day he’s born again, to be involved with ministering to others. Therefore, we encourage all those who are committed to VCNP to begin participating in the different ministry opportunities we have. That includes everything from serving the poor and underprivileged in our community, to praying for the sick, to feeding the hungry, and every thing in between.
In order for people to become effective in ministering to others, they need to be trained. We offer various training classes, conferences and seminars throughout the year for training in different areas of service. This training includes: praying for the sick, ministering to the demonized, ministering to hurting marriages, ministering to the children, ministering to the homeless, and many others.
6. Sending (Evangelism and Missions)
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (I Timothy 1:15). He accomplishes that salvation through the witness of His people. There are about 179 million unchurched people in the United States right now. That means that an enormous mission field exists for churches like the Vineyard here in the United States. We believe that God has called us to be a large church in the Phoenix area with the ability to impact this city for Christ. In addition, we aim to renew, refresh and enable existing churches by sending trained personnel out on short-term ministry trips and we aim to build the Church of Jesus Christ by sending trained personnel to plant churches around the world.