1st Pentecostal Church (1st PC) is a 2nd-mile everyday church. Who is alive in the Spirit, Biblical in Doctrine, and Caring in Relationships.
A second-mile command is found in Matthew 5:41, “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” We take this serious and believe that it is evidenced through excellence.
An everyday church is the first-century church model. From the Acts 3 Account, Peter and John were doing normal daily activity, when a supernatural occurrence happened through their sensitivity and obedience. The result of that daily routine had the outcome of 5,000 people receiving their own Pentecostal experience (Acts 4:4). If the Church (body of believers) will be the Church outside of the church; the Church will grow!
What we do is reach people, teach people, and send people. This is our discipleship strategy. Reaching people through intentional relationships. Creating Apostolic disciples through community and teaching. Sending people to serve their families, friends, and communities – and as they go, they make disciples.
We accomplish our vision by the following seven operating values. The following Operating Values have been developed by the leadership team of 1st Pentecostal Church of Collinsville. These values guide our operations. We believe these to be essential to secure our Apostolic identity both in the present and in the future.
7 Operating Values
If you do not know how it works, you will not know how to fix it if it breaks. Knowing how we do what we do is defined by our 7 operating values:
Zechariah 4:6, “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
The work of the Spirit is our first priority. In prayer, in worship, in teaching and preaching, in relationships –we desire God’s Spirit to move primarily.Spirit and truth are inseparable. Jesus said He was Truth (Jn 14:16). Paul said it is the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). One writer noted that truth without love is murder, but love without truth is hypocrisy (2 Cor. 3:16).
Colossians 2:7, “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
Disciples require discipline. Discipline to daily discipleship will produce sustainable growth with roots that are not soon shaken.
John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
The Church is made up of many members that make up one body. The way we treat people, internally and externally, speak to the health of our local church.
Genesis 1:12, “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
The church has biotic potential; innate to itself, it has built into its DNA the ability to produce after its kind. Therefore our methods of outreach are more natural for all believers in lieu of programmatic. We challenge all born-again believers to be consistent in reaching out. Biblical evangelism is personal, not organizational.
Matthew 3:8, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”
Christian lip-service is an arch enemy of the Church. Christian in title only is insufficient. We must be consistently developing in our fruit production; becoming more like Christ and less like ourselves.
Psalm 145:4, “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
We owe the generations that follow us an archive of testimonies; stories, lives that validate the mighty acts and excellent greatness of God. May the history records of our lives give hope to the ages that follow.
Luke 6:38, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
The character of a person who is not faithful in practicing Biblical stewardship, is questionable (Mal. 3:8). The Biblical blessing of faithful financial stewardship is to generously give and it shall be given back; with what measure you give, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38).