At Heartland, worshiping God is our highest priority, because our lives are unavoidably shaped by who or what we worship. We believe that when the church gathers to worship, there’s a lot more going on than just a group of people singing songs together. In worship, we experience God together. We believe that God is present with His people, and in worship we are actually with Him. As we express thanks, adoration, love, commitment, and devotion to Him, we are “drawing near” to God, and we believe that God is also drawing near to us (James 4:8; Hebrews 4:16, 10:22).

We believe that God is alive and well, and we believe He communicates with us today. So we practice listening to God as well as speaking and singing to Him. We value conversational worship, where we respond to God’s voice and move with the rhythms of God’s Spirit. Most of the time this conversation is expressed in song, but we’ve also seen it painted, danced, enacted, and declared.

But the experience of God extends far beyond our gatherings. God inhabits the air around us, and indeed dwells within us, and He is constantly present and at work in the world. We believe that wherever we go, God is already there. We don’t leave God’s presence when we leave a gathering. We want our experience of God to expand, to encompass, and drench every aspect of our lives – so that in every conversation, every task, every relationship, and every moment we are conscious of and listening to the presence of God with us.

At some time in the future, God will complete His mission of renewing creation, of “making all things new.” Then will be fulfilled what the ancient Scripture says:

“Behold the dwelling place of God is with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

When we gather to worship, experience the presence of God together as His people, and learn to become aware of His presence with us every day, we are declaring and enacting God’s future in the present. As we experience God in small and big ways in our everyday lives and our larger gatherings, we are experiencing a little bit of our glorious future ahead of time.

Heartland values healing hurts wherever they are found, because the kingdom of God is about restoring people to wholeness of body and soul. This value is rooted in a clear-eyed vision of the pain and brokenness in our lives because of sin. We want to see our lives healed and made whole, fully alive as God intended us to be.

We pray for healing because it was a major component of Jesus’ ministry, and it was a major part of what He taught his disciples to do the first few times He sent them out: “Tell them the kingdom is here. Heal the sick, raise the dead, touch those with leprosy, cast out demons” (Matt 10:7-8). Healing was and continues to be a significant sign of the coming of the kingdom of God. So as we pray “Let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” we recognize that the manifestation of God’s kingdom will include people’s lives being healed and restored.

Not everyone is healed when we pray. This is because there is an element of mystery to the coming of the kingdom. It’s here but it’s not yet here fully. It’s already but it’s not yet. It came and still comes in an unexpected way, and we don’t have all the answers. But more people get healed when we pray than when we don’t pray. So we pray – we ask God to heal, to expand His kingdom on earth, and to bring wholeness of body and soul to everyone. We exercise the authority of God to bring healing to broken hearts, health to broken bodies, and wholeness to broken lives.

At Heartland, we have a strong emphasis on equipping people to step into their destiny. We want to see people grow into doing the things God has gifted and called them to do, because we believe everyone has a deep, God-given desire to make a real difference in people’s lives, to do good work, and to bless others in their labor. We devote time, energy, and resource into helping people discover God’s distinct calling and gifting on their lives, launching them into their destiny, and encouraging them along the way.

We believe that every Christian is an ambassador of the kingdom wherever they are, and that most Christians are called to express the kingdom in the marketplace, in their normal jobs. You don’t have to become a professional church worker to be a passionate Christian fulfilling God’s destiny for your life. We believe God has called us to live out the kingdom in our homes, families, schools, and jobs, and that as we pray “Let your kingdom come … on earth as it is in heaven” we are also partnering with God to make that a reality in our spheres of influence.

Embracing destiny means we take God’s calling seriously, and that each member of the body of Christ has a part to play in transforming our world.

At Heartland, we value the throwing and attending of parties. We are learning to recognize the value of people getting together, eating and drinking and playing and laughing together – often for no particular reason! Part of the full, “abundant life” that Jesus gives His students is the simple act of enjoyment: enjoying creation, enjoying one another, enjoying good food and drink, enjoying the young and old among us, and enjoying God in the context of a party. Actually enjoying and celebrating life is a way of saying “thank you” to God for His gift of life.

This value of enjoying and celebrating life is based on the practices of Jesus Himself.  When Jesus promised His students the same kind of joy he had within Himself, they didn’t wince, because they knew from being with Him that He was a genuinely happy, pleasant person. After all, His first miracle was to extend a wedding party by making more wine (John 2:1-11)!

And when we look forward to when God will renew and restore creation and humanity, we don’t see an endless church service. Instead we see all of life redeemed and transformed, made “as it should be.” All our daily activities, all our working, playing, eating, drinking, talking, singing, listening, partying and praying will be gathered up in celebration of all that God is and has done. We bring a bit of that future into the present when we throw a party and take time to celebrate and enjoy life right here and now.

Heartland Church values learning, growing and being fruitful in the Spirit. We believe that to say yes to God is to say yes to the ongoing teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus and teaches us the things of God (John 14:26). As we listen and obey, we are transformed in character and conduct to be like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we obey, we mature and demonstrate the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Growing this way, not only as individuals but also as a family at Heartland, requires ongoing instruction and application. We value small groups and classes as ways to reach this goal of maturing disciples.

To learn is to grow. To learn is to change. As we commit to see life from the perspective of the Bible and the Bible from the perspective of life, we are challenged to change old ways of thinking and embrace the truth of God’s Word. We highly value the Word of God in our life, and together we find ways to get into the Word until the Word gets into us. We don’t want to just study Scripture for information, but for revelation and transformation. As we receive revelation and embrace change, we become more like Jesus.

As we study and apply the Word of God, we endeavor to be raised to the standard of Scripture in our experience, not lower Scripture to our limited experiences. We don’t want our lives as Christ’s disciples to be defined by culture or political correctness, but with God’s help we desire to allow the Bible to define all of life including our culture.

We value the message of the Kingdom of God and are progressing in living out our lives as members of the Kingdom of God. The message of the Kingdom is good news and a radical invitation to change not only our own lives, but also the lives over which each of us have influence.

We invite you to come grow up in Christ and be a maturing disciple as a valued member of with the Heartland family.