Biblical Character

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Lifestyle Agreement

Motion Church welcomes everyone regardless of gender, color or national or ethnic origins to attend and participate in community, and in all our activities. We also encourage each individual to be aware and align with our mission and values. At Motion Church we encourage all to lead and live lives in alignment with historical biblical tenants of faith, values, our philosophical views, and accountability to biblical governance. It’s for this reason, that our goal and our responsibility as Pastors and church leadership, in part is to help people of our church grow in faith and conformity to biblical precepts and teachings (Eph 4:11-16).

We all enter into faith in different circumstances and situations, and in some way or another discover areas of our life that are non-conforming to the life and character of Jesus. It is expected by God that our response when these instances occur, is that we will change and conform to our lives appropriately (2 Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 1:9-11, 1 Peter 2:1-3).

The Bible teaches that we all go through a process of transformation, whereby we are increasingly conformed in our thoughts and behavior to reflect Jesus Christ as outlined in historically accepted biblical teachings. This is not optional for Christ followers, it is a mandate to all of us (Romans 8:29, 12:2).

The Bible also teaches that Jesus is Lord over our lives, and as Christians we yield our lives to the Lordship and leadership of Jesus. In so doing we align our life and desires for the purpose of Jesus being displayed and glorified in our lives. Through this process we become an effective “witness” for Him, as we joyfully live, and often differently, from the culture. We are being transformed into a new person rather than conformed to the culture we have been delivered out of (Matthew 7:21, John 20:28, Acts 2:36, Romans 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Peter 2:9).

This creates challenges for every one of us as the Holy Spirit reveals areas of our lives to yield. This awareness of non-conforming areas can happen through preaching on the weekend, in time of prayer, during worship, in conversations with other believers, through reading the Bible, in a community group, through teaching podcasts, and more (John 16:13).

As Christians the Holy Spirit influences and informs our conscience and produces a dissonance in your heart that what your doing is not really what you ought to be doing. This assurance and encouragement about how we ought to live calls us up to a higher way, a Godly or biblical way of living (Romans 7:14-25, John 16:8).

For these reasons, it is important as you decide to engage with us in serving and/or leading in the church, that your life be aligned with, or you are in the process of actively, consciously being conformed to the will of God.

None of us are without fault or flaws before God, that is not what this is about. What it means is that rather than holding tightly to character traits, behavior, attitudes or other circumstances you may find yourself in that are not aligned with God’s express will, you choose the path of growth and transformation (John 15:15, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 2:6-7,  1 Timothy 4:15, 1 Peter 2:2, 2 Peter 3:18).

There are many examples of areas we see in our lives and in our culture that conflict with biblical precepts and the life of Jesus. Here are a few examples:

·        Gossip about people

·        Foul or course language

·        Abuse of substances

·        Physical abuse of others

·        Anger that results in intimidation or harm to others

·        Greed or cheating

·        Marriage and sexuality. Please read the following church doctrinal statement regarding marriage and related sexuality issues:

We believe that God has established marriage as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman and that all intimate sexual activity outside the marriage relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise, is immoral and therefore sin (Gen. 2:24-25; Ex. 20:14, 17, 22:19; Lev. 18:22-23, 20:13, 15-16; Matt. 19:4-6, 9; Rom. 1:18-31; I Cor. 6:9-10, 15-20; I Tim. 1:8-11; Jude 7). We believe that God created the human race male and female and that all conduct with the intent to adopt a gender other than one’s birth gender is immoral and therefore sin. (Gen. 1:27; Deut. 22:5).

Motion Church does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, national or ethnic origin in administration of its values or any of its philosophical views. We accept leaders of any gender, race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to everyone who attends this church.

If you have questions about any part of this document, we invite you reach out to us and have a conversation with a Pastor.