The Scriptures
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17
The Bible’s poems, narratives, stories, accounts, and letters are God’s Truth for our innately skeptical culture. We believe the Bible is God’s authoritative Word to us. It is mysterious and at times, difficult to understand. Many times, the truths seem hidden and require time and energy to uncover. But when the hidden secrets are uncovered, these “life treasures” are more valuable than all the precious stones in the world.
Prayer
Prayer is our awareness of the One to whom we are talking: where He is, what is important to Him, and what is best for us–not just for me. (Matthew 6:5-18)
Prayer is a vital piece of our ministry at Gallery Church. We firmly believe we are incapable of accomplishing anything valuable without God, so our first response is prayer. This conviction has led to a few patterns and practices that we participate in as a church.
First, we try to pause three times each day for prayer in something we like to call our Daily Window. Modeled after Daniel’s example in the Old Testament, we have set aside time each day where we encourage the people of Gallery Church to briefly stop what they are doing and pray. This time is a chance to focus ourselves and remind us that apart from God, we can do nothing, but with Him, all things are possible. (To find our Daily Window for the day, look here; for more information on what our DW is all about, please click here.)
We also set aside time at various points throughout the year for special prayer-based events, retreats, and fasts. These moments of focused attention and effort help to mold and shape our corporate heart and identity together, as well as draw us closer to God as individuals.
Relationships
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
-Matthew 22:37-40
Relationships matter first with God through His son Jesus and then with people. A relationship with Jesus is the only hope for a lost and broken world. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, His response was simple: “LOVE GOD, and LOVE PEOPLE.” We value the image of God in all people. We believe that we were created to live connected with one another: carrying each other’s burdens, sharing our possessions, praying for and confessing our sins to each other, and suffering and celebrating together. It’s in these honest, loving relationships that God transforms us and His Love is brought to full expression through us. The way of Jesus cannot be lived alone. (Acts 2:42-47, 1 John 4:10-12)
Worship
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship. -Romans 12:1
Worship is more than singing and dancing. It is expressed as daily living, experienced corporately and individually. We believe that God wants to bring about a new humanity by redeeming every part of us. We embrace the salvation Jesus offers as the only hope for healing our relationships with God, each other, ourselves, and creation. We believe that all of life is spiritual and that all of our fears, failures, and brokenness can be restored and made whole. We value inner healing because we want to be a new creation that is people-minded, soul-refreshed, emotionally healed, and has a full understanding of our life experiences so that together, we can offer them to God as worship. This offering is our spiritual act of worship.
Authenticity
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
–1 Timothy 4:15-16
We embrace the fact that there are no perfect people. We gain nothing by hiding our real lives from each other, but when we live authentically, we gain credibility from skeptics who are around us. (Colossians 4:2-6, James 5:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-9)