Upper Room Fire Prayer Membership Covenant

Upper Room Fire Prayer COVENANT

Ministry Covenants

he Bible nowhere gives believers a specific copy of what a local church covenant should look like. However, the Bible does describe the relationships between people in local churches as covenantal. Christians are commanded to care for one another, participate in ministry together, confess sin to one another, submit to the leadership of their local pastor/elders, etc. Pastors are called to care for the flock entrusted to their care, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to expect God to hold them accountable to this holy calling, etc. It is for this reason that many churches throughout the history of Christianity have written local church covenants.

This covenant seeks to briefly explain the expectations given to the pastor/elders and to the membership of Upper Room Fire Prayer. (We use the term “pastor” to mean pastor and elder as we see those terms as interchangeable in scripture.)

Pastors Covenant Responsibilities at Upper Room Fire Prayer

We the pastors of Upper Room Fire Prayer covenant :

  • To have pastors and deacons that meet the qualifications described in the Scriptures (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
  • To continually and prayerfully seek God’s guidance for Upper Room Fire Prayer, and to steward the resources entrusted to the church to the best of our abilities (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
  • To care for the church and seek her growth in grace, truth, and love (Matthew 28:16-20; Ephesians 4:15-16 Colossians 1:28; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
  • To provide teaching and counsel from the entirety of Scripture (Acts 20:27-28; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 2:1).
  • To equip the members of the church for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16).
  • To be on guard against false teachers and false teachings (Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:28-31; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 John 4:1).
  • To lovingly exercise church discipline when necessary, for the glory of God, for the good of the one disciplined, and for the health of the church as a whole (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).
  • To set an example by joining the members in fulfilling the obligations of church membership stated below (Philippians 3:17; 1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7-8; 1 Peter 5:3).

Un-churched People

We are not seeking to be a church that simply gathers up Christians from churches. Rather it is our goal, desire and plan to actively engage the un-churched people in San Francisco Bay Area so they may hear the claims of the gospel and respond by grace through faith.

Global Missions

God has called His people to join Him on mission. Hence, we seek to be a missional church engaged in the purposes of God. Our mission will be evidenced as our people are engaged on mission in their daily lives. It will be expressed through our global missions emphasis where from the beginning we will adopt to reach an unreached people group globally. Also, our strategy will be to plant one church a year.

Service

Jesus came in Luke 4:18-19 to serve the hurting and we believe as Christians we join Jesus on His mission manifested in His service to people who are hurting by serving in the community and around the world.

Relevant Worship

We are unapologetic God has called us to gather people together to worship Him. We recognize that we live in a unique place and time in history and our church services will reflect excellence, relevance –all around our God-centered passion.

Authentic Community

Christian life is best lived with others on a journey. Hence, we value and participate in small groups as a central function of our church. We are not a church with small groups, but a church of small groups.

Effective Discipleship

We believe in the central importance of disciple making because Jesus puts it central to the Great Commission. In the Great Commission, Jesus says to make disciples to all nations. We believe that will require an active and ongoing commitment to deeper spiritual maturity among our people – that includes knowledge and action in their everyday lives.