We will not cancel a service due to snow or ice.
For People Who Never Thought They'd Like Church
For over 40 years Russ has been serving God in the Norman area. His God-given vision has been to focus on spiritual authenticity, reaching out to people who need God and doing all of that in a spirit of love, unity and having fun.
His approach has always been "conservative in theology and contemporary in style".
Back in the late 70'S and then the 80'S, since he was the first in Oklahoma to have a contemporary style church (casual dress, rock music, drama sketches, conversational sermons, lots of fun, small groups in homes rather than Sunday School, having the person who had the most influence on leading someone to Christ be the one who baptizes them, reaching people who don't like church and who are far from God, putting the highest priority on the churches' vision rather than it's governance, etc.) it was his solid Biblical foundation for his ministries that enabled people to believe in his God-given vision even when they might not have first understood it or agreed with it.
Here are the unchanging CORE VALUES that have permeated everything he has done and now form the heart of The Seeker Church.
OUR CORE VALUES
Our UPward Values
1. We believe that our highest calling is to love, honor and worship Jesus Christ.
2. We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is His catalyst for transforming lives.
3. We believe that excellent honors God.
4. We believe that full devotion to Christ and His cause is normal for every believer.
Our INward Values
5. We believe that loving and honest relationships should permeate every aspect of church life.
6. We believe that the church should operate as a unified team of servants, with each person making full use of their God-given spiritual gifts.
7. We believe that community happens best in the context of smaller groups.
8. We believe that diversity matters to God and therefore should matter to the church.
Our OUTward Values
9. We believe that unchurched people matter to God and therefore must matter to the church.
10. We believe that the church should be culturally relevant while remaining Biblically pure.
11. We believe that God demonstrates His compassion toward hurting people through our acts of kindness.
12. We believe that mission-minded believers are integral to the implementation of our vision.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
- The Bible is God's unique revelation to people. It is the inspired, infallible Word of God, and the supreme and final authority on all matters upon which it teaches. No other writings are vested with such divine authority.
- There is only one God, creator of heaven and earth, who exists eternally as three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully God yet each personally distinct from the other.
- All people are created in God's image and matter deeply to Him. Central to the message of the Bible is that God loves people, and invites them to live in communion with Himself and in community with each other.
- Apart from Jesus Christ, all people are spiritually lost and, because of sin, deserve the judgment of God. However, God gives salvation and eternal life to anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ and in His sacrifice on his or her behalf. Salvation cannot be earned through personal goodness or human effort. It is a gift that must be received by humble repentance and faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross.
- Jesus Christ, second Person of the Trinity, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless human life, willingly took upon Himself all of our sins, died and rose again bodily, and is at the right hand of the Father as our advocate and mediator. Some day, He will return to consummate history and to fulfill the eternal plan of God.
- The Holy Spirit, third Person of the Trinity, convicts the world of sin and draws people to Christ. He also indwells all believers. He is available to empower them to lead Christ-like lives, and gives them spiritual gifts with which to serve the church and reach out to a lost and needy world.
- Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. At the final judgement unbelievers will be separated from God into condemnation. Believers will be received into God's loving presence and rewarded for their faithfulness to Him in this life.
- Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. At the final judgement unbelievers will be separated from God into condemnation. Believers will be received into God's loving presence and rewarded for their faithfulness to Him in this life.
- All believers are members of the body of Christ, the one true church universal. Spiritual unity is to be expressed among Christians by acceptance and love of one another across ethnic, cultural, socio-economic national, generational, gender, and denominational lines.
- The local church is a congregation of believers who gather for worship, prayer, instruction, encouragement, mutual accountability and community with each other. Through it, believers invest time, energy, and resources to fulfill the Great Commission - reaching lost people and growing them into fully devoted followers of Christ.