Values and Beliefs

Our Beliefs

What does Jacob’s Well believe about Scripture?
We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that men were inspired by the Spirit to write every word of Scripture and it is therefore without error.  We believe that scripture is the absolute final authority on all matters of doctrine.

What does Jacob’s Well believe about God?
We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity Who is the Son of God, Who became flesh to reveal God to man and become the Savior of the lost world.

What does Jacob’s Well believe about mankind?
We believe that man was created in the image of God to have fellowship with Him, but became alienated from that relationship through willful sinful disobedience.  As a result of this initial rebellion, every soul is born with a will that is hopelessly permeated by with a default focus and reliance on self and is relentlessly bent to reject our need for God and therefore is totally incapable of coming back into a right relationship with God by his own effort.

What does Jacob’s Well believe about salvation?
We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sins; therefore salvation only occurs when a person places their faith solely in the grace offered to us by God in the resurrected Christ as the sufficient payment for their sin.

What does Jacob’s Well believe about the Christian life?
We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for self. By obedience to the Word and daily yielding to the Spirit, every believer matures and becomes conformed to the image of Christ.

What does Jacob’s Well believe about the church?
We believe that the church is the body of Christ of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The members are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving Him and by making Him known to a lost world.  The church is physically experienced by believers throughout the world in this age in local, visible, autonomous communities of faith often referred to a “local” churches.

Our DNA

Truth
We believe that God is absolute and is the source of all truth and reality. We believe that God has chosen to reveal Himself indirectly through His creation and directly through His Son, His perfect Word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We believe that His Word, properly interpreted, is the ultimate authority of truth in all matters. We believe that the extent to which one understands and submits to God’s truth on any matter sets them free to experience God’s better way in that area of their lives.

Love
We believe that God is the ultimate source of all love. We believe that God’s love flows through Christ, His creation and all who love. We believe that biblical love is the most compelling evidence of God. We believe that apart from love our knowledge, actions and convictions are rendered completely useless in God’s eyes.  We believe that the extent to which one embodies the qualities of true biblical love they are free to experience God’s better way.

Grace
We believe that God is the ultimate source of all grace. Just as God’s grace is essential for genuine salvation, it is essential for genuine transformation. God’s grace comes to us through every breath He enables us to take, through creation and through others all as enabled by the Holy Spirit.  Apart from God’s grace we are powerless to experience God’s initial granting of salvation as well as the subsequent moment-by-moment life-transformation enabled as we continuously seek to sync our will to His.  We believe that the extent to which one submits to God His Spirit empowers and transforms them and those around them.

Community
We believe that life transformation happens best within the context of authentic community with God and others. One-on-one mentorship, small groups and church-wide worship opportunities provide environments that are most conductive to spiritual transformation. We believe the most effective ministry and discipleship happens within the context of teams functioning together according to their S.H.A.P.E (Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Ability, Personality, Experience).

Authenticity
We believe that authenticity builds trust. Therefore, Jacob’s Well must ensure that authenticity is promoted and practiced in everything it does.

Passion – Excellence
Our God is a passionate God. Creation is evidence of both His passion and excellence. Passion with excellence honors God and inspires people.

Influence
Jesus lived a life of unmistakable influence. Jesus clearly demonstrated and called His people to a life of love and service to others, including complete strangers. We believe this “social component” of Jesus’ life and ministry should be an integral part of every local church.

Relevance
When teaching on any topic, Jesus set a pattern of utilizing methods that captured his audience’s attention and explained the deepest of teachings in ways that they could understand. From stories to object lessons, Jesus taught us to teach on relevant topics in relevant ways.

Simple Church
Life is hectic enough – the church should help us prioritize and focus our lives. That requires our church to lead in establishing a focused vision and structure. Though there were many facets to Jesus’ message and ministry we believe one good way to simplify His mission is to lead the world to God’s truths in God’s love with God’s grace. As a “simple church” we believe this simple, focused summary should serve as the basic structure of every ministry Jacob’s Well undertakes. It also requires us to be careful to only engage in ministry initiatives that match this focused vision.

Transformation
We believe how much a person knows is not nearly as important as how that person lives and influences the lives of those around them. We believe every ministry initiative that Jacob’s Well undertakes should have transformation as its goal – the transformation of heart and lives. Additionally, the transformation of our community and world will be the goal of every ministry we undertake.

Everything is Spiritual
God Himself is present everywhere all the time. His presence even extends into the hearts of all those who have surrendered their hearts to Him. Therefore, our identity and responsibility as followers of God is a 24/7 reality that should shape every area of one’s life. Our work life, family life, recreational life, etc… together, every area of life makes up the spiritual life that we live. We believe that every area of life is to be surrendered to Him to be empowered by Him and serve as a form of worship for Him.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality