CULTURE GUIDE

Culture is always being created.  Culture is a combination of our words, thoughts, actions and beliefs.  If we are not intentional about creating culture it will happen regardless.  If we are intentional with what we say, how we act, and what we choose to believe we will build a culture that will help us accomplish our mission and execute our strategy in a way that maximizes our effectiveness as followers of Jesus.  The stakes are simply too high to have an accidental culture.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Peter Drucker 




WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Our Vision

Our vision is to carry the mission of Jesus to every neighborhood, starting in San Marcos. 

(Our vision is a picture of where we are going.  In the future we see every neighborhood included in the kingdom of Jesus.  It’s not about a certain part of town or even a specific part of the world.  It’s about seeing the mission of Jesus reach anyone and everyone). 


HOW DO WE GET THERE?

Our Mission

Our mission is to lead anyone and everyone into a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

(Our mission is all about how we accomplish the vision that God has given us as his church.  Everything hinges on the last thing Jesus told his disciples. Our mission statement is a 21st century rewording of the great commission - go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-18).





HOW WILL BE BEHAVE?

Our Values

Our values dictate how we behave.  There are three kinds of values we mention:  core values, sustainable attributes, and aspirational values.  Core values are essential to who we are, sustainable attributes are like “permission to play” values that you’ll need to maintain an effective ministry at The Hills.  Aspirational values are things we haven’t reached yet, but we plan on getting there soon. 

Core Values

Core values represent who we are at our core as a church. We must embody these core values to ourselves, our families, our communities, and the world.

We expand the kingdom of Jesus- We aren’t just building a church or expanding our brand of Christianity, we are expanding the kingdom of Jesus.  This is why we will always be looking for ways to plant more churches, partner with organizations that are making a kingdom impact, and raise and release disciple-makers to go all across the globe as we accomplish the mission together of leading anyone and everyone into a life-changing relationship with Jesus. Luke 17:20-37, Luke 10:19, Matt 28:16-18

No One is Disqualified from being used by God - Because God has shown immeasurable grace to us, we will lead with grace in every relationship and circumstance. This means that we will be quick to listen, absent from condemnation, and limitless in forgiveness and love. God only uses broken people, and we are going to be the first to admit that in our brokenness God is working in amazing ways. We will see potential in any and every person.  As God brings the furthest person from him, and we trust that he will transform every life. Romans 1:16, Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 3:23-24

We fight for Relationship - When Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples he had just modeled three years spending every day together building relationships with them. Jesus made disciples through building meaningful relationships, and we are committed to following his example. That’s why we will always be striving to lead through relationship rather than by position or authority. Gal 6:1-2, Romans 12:10, John 13:34-35

We do the most generous thing- Our God is unreasonably generous, so we will lead the way in unbridled generosity. This means that we will leverage our resources in such a way that looks after anyone who needs help. This also means that we will resolve to live with a healthy amount of margin. Generosity will also permeate our schedules, welcoming interruptions, because to Jesus people will always be more important than any task or assignment. Psalm 41:1-3, Proverbs 11:24-25, Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 21:1-4, John 3:16

We are willing to risk being known - Being fake is an unproductive waste of time. We will create a place where people can ask tough questions, be honest about their doubt, and be open about what they are going through without fear of judgment. We will also value authenticity over perfection during our gathering times. This means that there will be a healthy tension to manage between excellence and authenticity. This also means that while we take the gospel very seriously, we will never take ourselves too seriously. We will not be afraid to laugh at ourselves. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9. 2 Cor 8:8, 1 Pe 1:22-23

Sustainable Attributes


Sustainable attributes are key character qualities that help us stay on track to be able to win long term as a team.  They are different from core values, but very important.

Love is our motivation- Love is the foundation of our ministry. And for us, love is more than a feeling or commitment. Love always requires action. In following Jesus, we must constantly be asking, “What does love require?”. 1 Cor 13:1-13, John 13:35

Work Hard & Have Fun- Our team has an edge, a grit that motivates us to work hard.  You may work harder than you ever have as part of The Hills, but we promise we will play just as hard.  We will choose to go above and beyond as we work together to go all-in following Jesus, but we will have a blast every step of the way expanding the kingdom of Jesus.  We will even have fun just for fun’s sake sometimes. We believe that both working hard and having fun are fast tracks to building relationships, and we are all about relationships!

Self-Awareness - Being able to understand who you are and how you come across to other people is a key skill that you’ll need as part of the team.  You will want to ask questions to people about how you come across to others and learn more about yourself so that you’ll be most effective in your leadership.  This includes being teachable and letting people speak into your life regularly.  This also requires humility and empathy to truly accomplish a high level of self-awareness.

Honor - We want to honor those who have gone before us, those who are carrying the mission alongside us, and our church and community leaders.  Honor highlights the good and learns from the bad. Honor is the reason we won’t talk bad about other churches.  It’s the reason we sing hymns as well as new songs, because we want to honor those who have gone before us as well as the next generation. While respect must be earned, honor is freely given.  We will outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10) and we will honor those in places of authority in our community, our nation and our world (1 Peter 2:17).

Aspirational Values

Aspirational Values are qualities that we are still building in the team.  They are a place we are aiming to become as a church.

We pray big prayers full of Faith - We never want to assume that God will do less than blow our minds.  He will do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), so we will pray big prayers full of faith and trust in his power to go beyond our expectations. Lk 11:5-13

Jesus is for anyone and everyone - We will be a church that reflects the diversity of Heaven.  May our church have many ethnicities, many languages spoken, and many perspectives helping at every level of leadership.  We will be diverse in the way we include all nationalities, both men and women, and every generation. Intentional pursuit of diversity including other nationalities is not showing favoritism.  Gal 3:28, Rom 2:11, Acts 17:26-27, 1 Cor 9:19-23&33


WHAT WE BELIEVE

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” ― St. Augustine

Essentials

You Belong:  

Some organizations have a way of operating that requires a person to believe certain things and behave a certain way before ever having an opportunity to belong.  Jesus was just the opposite.  He took those who were seen as outcasts (marginalized, oppressed, minority groups, even his enemies) and gave them a place to belong.  That’s our goal:  to create a place where you belong before you’re ever required to believe or behave a certain way. Mark 2:13-17

The Gospel (Good News):  

The Kingdom of Heaven has come through Jesus to restore relationship with humanity. He is the Christ, The King, God’s one and only Son.   Every person has been separated from God by rebelling against God’s design, resulting in sin.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried and resurrected on the third day.  Jesus paid the consequences of sin through his death.  In his love and by his grace, God our Father saves everyone who repents of their sin, believes in Him and follows Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus brings restoration to our relationships and to our communities.  When King Jesus returns on the last day for his Church all who have been restored and followed him will enter into the eternal Kingdom of God. That is where every wrong will be made right. There will be no more tears or sadness. Jesus will make all things new. 

GOING DEEPER 

All leaders at The Hills are in unity about the following theological and cultural convictions as well as with the strategy of relational discipleship described below through the seven essentials of relational discipleship.

 "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." -Max DePree

THEOLOGICAL CONVICTIONS

  • The Scriptures: We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that men were moved by the Spirit of God to write the very words of Scripture. Therefore, we believe the Bible is without error. https://www.namb.net/apologetics-blog/the-inerrancy-of-the-bible/

  • God: We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity (the Son of God) who became flesh to reveal God to humanity and to become the Savior of the lost world.

  • Humanity: Every life has meaning, value and purpose because it was created in the image of God.  He created humanity to have a relationship with himself, but through our decisions to disobey his commands each person has separated himself/herself from their heavenly father. As a result, people are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts.

  • Salvation: We believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, God freely offers salvation to those who place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin.

  • The Christian Life: We believe all Christians will increasingly live for Christ and not for themselves. By obedience to the Word of God and daily yielding to the Spirit of God, every believer has the potential to mature and be conformed to the image of Christ.

  • The Church: We believe that the church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving him and by making him known to the lost world.

  • Baptism: We believe that water baptism by immersion is the first act of obedience which follows salvation.  The act of water baptism is not part of the salvation experience, it is an outward symbol to show everyone that God has given a person new life in Christ.

  • Communion (The Lord’s Supper):  We are committed to regularly remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for his church by taking the elements (juice and bread) together to follow the example Jesus set to memorialize his death and look forward to his return.

CULTURAL CONVICTIONS (Specific to The Hills)

  • Fun: We will unapologetically have fun together.  We believe that church and fun are words that should go together.  Sometimes we may even do something just because it’s fun. We will take the gospel and reaching the world for Jesus seriously, but we will not take ourselves too seriously.

  • Spiritual Gifts:  We purposefully will not take a stand for either cessationism (view that certain spiritual gifts have ceased) or make the main point of our church operating in the charismatic gifts of the spirit (speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing).  If someone seeks to use the charismatic gifts we will simply ask that they be used according to the guidelines set forth in scripture.  We will not make the charismatic gifts or cessationism the central part of our ministry and we will not condemn them. 

  • Calvinism vs Arminianism: We will not make Calvinism or Arminianism central in our conversations.  We will openly preach that both God is sovereign and man has a will to choose as he desires.

  • Sexuality: We will welcome and love people regardless of sexuality.  Just like any other sin, we will ask individuals engaged in sexual activity outside the confines of marriage (as ordained by God between one man and one woman) to repent and turn to Jesus.  But we refuse to preach against one sin more than any other.  Our hope is that through relational discipleship those conversations can be navigated with both measureless grace and uncompromising truth. 

  • Alcohol & Drugs: We will seek to obey the laws of the land as long as they do not contradict scripture.  We will also do our best to help those trapped in addiction, whether it is to alcohol, drugs (prescription or illegal), pornography, or anything else that takes the place of Jesus as the most important thing in life. We will not be legalistic in our approach to alcohol.  Our gatherings will be free from alcohol to avoid accidentally causing a brother or sister who is an alcoholic to stumble.

  • Preaching: We will preach expositional sermons (meaning the text determines the point of the sermon), sometimes preaching through a book, but also spending time in prayer we will seek the Lord’s guidance to preach according to what the congregation needs.  There will be Sundays when the felt needs of the community and congregation are more geared towards practical help with life and other weeks will be geared more towards more abstract spiritual truth, but we believe even these messages will end up affecting everyday life in the long run.

  • Racial Reconciliation: We will build a culture of “anyone and everyone” including every race and nationality.  We will lead from a place of empathy, listening to our brothers and sisters, sharing stories from their perspective and calling out racism for the sin that it is.  We will fight to reverse segregation and bring people who look different together in order to give a more accurate representation of what Heaven will look like. 

  • Abortion: We believe that life begins at conception. It is tragic any time a baby’s life is lost.  While abortion is legal, we will mourn with every lost life.  As leaders we will never counsel someone to get an abortion or do anything to devalue the life of any human being. We also believe that any woman who has an abortion is still able to be fully forgiven and live a life free from the guilt or shame of this sin.  (Psalm 139:13-16)

BE A DISCIPLE FIRST


In assuming any leadership role with The Hills you should be able to evidence a healthy spiritual walk through a history of faithfully following Jesus, being changed by Jesus and being committed to the mission of Jesus (Matthew 4:19). Furthermore a truly healthy disciple should have a desire for and be seeking opportunities to sacrificially invest and develop new disciples. 

We believe the above description is best tangibly defined by following these 7 essentials (Stay the Course by Brandon Guindon):

Abide in ChristAnything that God wants to do through you, he first wants to do it in your own life.  The word abide simply means to remain.  Jesus uses it as the primary command in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  This means that we will expect you to have a relationship with Jesus that is personal.  You can’t survive physically with just one meal per week, and likewise to thrive spiritually you must be able to read the Bible for yourself and grow in your relationship with God.  As you learn the rhythm of reading the Bible and asking God to use it to change your life you will discover that the things he is teaching you aren’t just for you, they’re for others too.  The goal is that your leadership and your ministry will be born out of quiet time spent with the Lord.  In that way you’ll never be leading from an empty cup, but one that is overflowing.

Reach the LostMost churches see it as the job of the pastor or only the super spiritual to lead lost people to find and follow Jesus, but we will empower anyone to lead people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus.  This means that you are praying for lost friends, sharing the gospel with them, and living out the gospel in front of them.  As you invite lost people into your life you will find that, just like Jesus promised, “the harvest is plentiful.” (Luke 10:2).  This is why any disciple-maker is able to baptize someone who gives their life to Jesus.  This is why we care so much about inviting new people to group.  This is why the church must grow, because every one of us has been given the great commission from Jesus in Matthew 28:18, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Connect the Unconnected There will always be people who prefer to stay on the fringes of involvement.  As a growing church we will always expect it, but we will also be intentional about helping people connect to Jesus, to meaningful relationships, to groups and to opportunities to serve.  Your job as a leader is to always be on the lookout for these people who are on the fringes just waiting for an invitation to jump in and be part of The Hills.  Often the first connection they need to make is to you.  Rather than simply passing them off to someone else, start with the mentality that God brought you to connect with them for a reason.  Maybe they can join your group, serve on your team, and  more than that become your friend.  We will always lean into the power of “take someone with you.”  This is exactly what Jesus did.  He invited his followers on a journey.  It included community, serving and more important than anything else meaningful relationships.  This is why one of our core values is, “fight for relationship.”

Chase the Strays This seems like it might be one of the more uncomfortable of the seven essentials of being a disciple-maker, but once you start doing it people will thank you.  When we choose to chase someone who’s straying we are being like Jesus.  He said in Matthew 18:12-13, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.”  These are the stories that we celebrate.  And you get to be part of chasing the people who will come back to Jesus, to the church, and to their calling and purpose.  That’s why we ask you to call the people who missed group, check in on the people on your team who you missed seeing, and reach out to that person even when they seem like they may not want you to.

Shepherd toward Spiritual MaturityAs a leader you get to have a part in helping anyone and everyone experience a growing relationship with Jesus.  Every person begins their journey spiritually dead, but once they are given new life in Christ they become a spiritual infant.  From there each person goes through a stage of development that we call spiritual childhood.  Unfortunately, most believers never make it to spiritual adulthood.  But a young adult is an exciting time in the life of a believer where he or she starts to think about others, serving and caring about making a difference in the world, but the most spiritually mature person is more than simply caring, they are a spiritual parent.  This is our hope for every follower of Jesus at The Hills.  Our expectation is that as you interact with people you can assess where they are in their spiritual journey and help shepherd them into spiritual parenthood.  

Raise and Release LeadersOur expectation for you as a leader at The Hills is that you’re always empowering people to lead at every level.  We want you to be giving away roles in your group, giving away serving opportunities, and releasing capable leaders to go lead new ministries, new groups, and even to go plant new churches and be missionaries wherever they live.

Function as a TeamThe biggest threat to accomplishing the mission Jesus has given to us is disunity.  That is why we will fight for unity at every level.  As a leader at The Hills the expectation is that you will fight for unity, believing the best about people, and outdoing one another in showing honor.  This means you will pursue conflict resolution one on one, and if that doesn’t work you will follow the rest of the guidelines in Matthew 18 for church discipline.