Truth – We operate under the knowledge that there exists the truth of God, and that His truth surpasses every worldly opinion of the day. There are truths in this world that do not change and are unalterable. These truths are based on the Word of God recorded in the Bible. We are faced every day with lies and partial truths. How do we know what is truth when our culture, the people in our lives, and even our own reasoning may bring us things that ‘seem’ like truth? God’s Word is truth. 

In fact, the Bible says we have the mind of Christ, and some are gifted with prophetic messages to give glory to God as we edify each other. If we disagree with God’s Word, we are the ones who need correction. We face our own selves to search for anything in us that may not align with God’s truth. We value God’s truth above our own pride. See Psalms 139:23-24; Job 13:23, 2 Corinthians 13:5

Futhermore, we make a decision not to argue about these truths and are willing to defend them with our lives. We also submit our own flesh to these truths. When we have a disagreement, we look to the Bible and to prayer. God will unify us. Until God unifies us, we can wait to make decisions.

Worship – Every part of our lives is an act of worship if it is submitted to the will of God. We say “Let our whole being be worship to You. Let our choices be worship. Let our actions be worship. Let our words be worship. Let all that we do praise Your name and point to You as King, Lord, God and Father.” 

In fact, we acknowledge that even the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands. That said, we also spend time in direct praise and worship to the Lord. Through thanksgiving and praise we enter His gates and the walls of His house are our salvation. Worship time precedes hearing from the Lord correctly and softens our hearts, removing pride. 

Prayer is an essential part of worship. We place an emphasis on “listening” prayer, where we know God has reminders, guidance, instructions, corrections, and encouragements for us. Prayer is the center of our decision-life. Hearing God allows us to align with His plan and His will for our lives, and that obedience puts us in right standing with Him. Truth and worship give us freedom.

Passion – God is the source of passion. He shares His passions with us. Our passions also help us identify the assignments given to us by Him. Work, play, career, and vocation can all be done with passion. God does not appreciate or approve of the lukewarm. Our faith should be impassioned as well. We believe with passion, we share the Good News with passion, and we work with passion towards making disciples to the ends of the Earth.

We set about our work as if doing all things for the Lord which means we find the meaning in our tasks, even the mundane, to complete them with passion.

Living with passion requires rest. The Lord takes time to rest and celebrate His work, and sets the rhythms for us to do the same. Celebrating accomplishments, seasons, milestones, and giving testimony to God’s works, restores hope, and keeps us motivated for the current and future assignments with Him. It also increases our faithfulness to Him and His projects.

We make every effort to find reasons to celebrate, and incorporate the restful rhythms God prescribes for a healthy life. This makes room for joy to enter in, and avoids burnout.

Excellence – The quality of work we do is excellent. When others look at what we have done we want them to see Jesus’ handiwork. Excellence is the product of passion. The standard of excellence permeates our choices.

To do things with excellence, we are diligent, do things with integrity, finish the last percent, look ahead to anticipate obstacles and brainstorm how to overcome them, learn from past mistakes, and when things aren’t going smoothly, we seek God for supernatural help, reasons, and solutions.

What’s more, is that excellence demands spiritual growth. We say, “We never want to become stagnant or bored in our relationship with You. We know we will never make it to perfection on this earth and we want to continue reaching toward Your best for us. You have put gifts and potential in each of us. Let us commit to help each other grow.” 

Community – A community is a group of people who cohabitate together in an ecosystem where everyone’s skills are leveraged and highlighted, and their weaknesses are covered by another’s strengths. God has called us to develop a community where: 

• Our environment is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and we regularly expect and nurture His full expression of gifts
• Children receive spiritual and academic education, training, and mentorship, where they can develop and learn how to have relationship
• Moms are called up to their full potential, discovering and using their gifts, provided friendships and belonging… and time with other adults 
• Dads are an integral part of the homeschool journey. We know dads are the head of the home and we honor their position by maintaining space for them to lead in their own gifts. We encourage them to take that active role.
• We minister to any unsaved as God leads us, and love them well.
• We create spaces, places, and resources for families to work, play, and grow which are safe, edifying, and honor the Lord.

Christ designed us to need others and work together within one body together. Diversity and input is what makes us better, more interesting, more godly, and more complete. In fact, nurturing a strong community with the shared DNA of Christ is a large majority of our outward effort. 

To have a successful community, we focus on the Paul-Timothy / Ruth-Naomi / Mentor-Mentee model that Christ gave us, and take a humble attitude of continual growth and learning, realizing at any moment we have more to learn. We uphold the Golden Rule to treat others how we want to be treated, and proceed by giving grace to each other assuming the best intentions from others. Simultaneously if we see a problem, we are able to speak truth into their lives in a loving way, looking for evidence of sharpening, fruit, and sanctification.

We say, “We are first servants of You, Lord God. We follow Your leading, and we serve because of You. We give our life because You gave Your life for us. We serve the people in Equip, because You put them under our care and our leadership. You hold us accountable,  You stretch us, and You call us up to more.”