Worship is what shapes the rest of our lives.

Worship is a time when God meets and interacts with His people.  As the most foundational, formative, and enjoyable corporate event between God and His people, it contains interpersonal aspects that model all relationships (i.e. between fellow believers, within believing households). 
The communion meal to which He invites us every Lord’s Day is the greatest indication of the fellowship and delight there is between God and His people.  When His adopted children gather around His communion table, the covenant with Him is reaffirmed and enjoyed.

The Means of Grace are the key to Christian growth.

The means of grace are the ordinary means God has given His people for their spiritual growth and development.  These means are the Scriptures, the sacraments, and prayer.  While some of these “means” can be individually experienced, they are most effective in the believer’s life in the corporate setting with God’s people.  When Christians are assembled together the word of God is most accurately handled, the sacraments most sensibly experienced, the love God promises to believers most clearly evident and prayer for other members of the Family most meaningfully offered.  
The means of grace are experienced corporately at New Life Presbyterian Church during the worship service, prayer meeting, adult Sunday school, and at our in-home cell group meetings.  Invariably, those who consistently attend these events are the ones who experience the  greatest growth in their Christian lives. 

Believers must be committed to their local church.

The chief glory of the people of God is not their individual walks with God but their corporate identity as God’s people and as members of Christ’s Body.  A person’s commitment to His universal Body is shown by their love and commitment to the closest earthly representation of that Body, Christ’s people in the local church.    
The people of God in the local church are to function as the entire Body of Christ would.  The relationships among them are to reflect those of the Trinity, Itself.  Thus, our fellow members in our local church should become some of our closest friends. Our love and commitment to them should mirror our love and commitment to God. 

Prayer is critical to the life of God's people.

 Prayer is communing with God with respect to His ways and work.  It is one of the clearest indications of a close walk with God and is critical not only for godly individual growth but for the development of true corporate unity to develop.  Every worship service a pastoral prayer is offered for the people of God by one of their elders.  In addition we have a bi-weekly corporate prayer meeting Sunday evenings where God’s people come together to share each others burdens (Gal. 6:1).

The effects of the gospel enable us to love God's people.

The Gospel is the message of God’s gracious entrance into the lives of His people delivering them from sin by faith, filling them with His Spirit, and preparing them for intimate knowledge and communion with Him as His Body for all eternity.  The ramifications of being delivered from sin are staggering.  The Gospel frees His people from performance-based relational thinking involving fear and uncertainty, and brings them into love-based relating with Christ and His people.   
As understanding of their new relationship with Christ grows, greater confidence of His acceptance grows; greater boldness in the various situations of life grows; greater love for Him grows, along with greater concentration on knowing Christ versus simply doing what one is supposed to, and greater confidence that one is truly enjoyed by God rather than always feeling like a disappoint to Him. 
The Gospel enables the Lord’s people to be interested in others, because they know that God is taking care of their own needs.  His people can then function as God intended as the blessors of this world rather than worry about getting all they can for themselves.

God spreads His kingdom through families.

The family is a God-ordained institution consisting of one man and one woman.  God joined them together for the purpose of subduing the earth and reining over it for His glory.  The man (like Christ as the church’s husband) is to be the one who sets the purpose and direction of his house and the woman (like Christ’s bride, the Church) is to be in submission to her husband to further all his godly endeavors and expand his rule and blessing to this world.  One of the greatest ways this is accomplished is through the act of childbearing, which is a most wonderful and unique glory of women.  
The children of believers are to be viewed as part of the church and are given the sign of baptism in faith that as the parents are faithful to teach them the ways of God and demonstrate the beauty and joy of His ways, God will bring them to repentance and faith, confirming their personal conversion and inclusion as His people.  
Of course, those who have no children for whatever reason can do great things for God and have an incredible effect for the kingdom limited only by God Himself.  The apostle Paul is a wonderful example of this glorious fact. 

Christian young people are to be primarily shaped by their parents.

Ideally, the young people of any church should be far more influenced by their parents than anyone else.  However, as the culture around us continues to degenerate, the bond between parents and their children is weakening substantially.  Our goal is to work with the head of their house, the father if possible, and assist him in understanding the great position of influence he has with his children (see our men’s ministry brochure).  As a relationship deepens between them, he will be able to teach his children the truths of the faith and to enjoy them more than ever.  
One job that church has is to provide its young people with instruction that is both pertinent and high quality.  The church also bears responsibility to provide ministry opportunities for our youth.