The Vineyard Oceanside has a strong sense of purpose for being together and for meeting in the North County area. Everything we do and say comes out of this "reason for being." Our understanding about why we are here can be summarized in the following statements concerning our Vision, Mission and Values.

The Vineyard is called to be an evangelistic family of believers; filled with the presence of God, the Word of the Lord, and the Power of the Holy Spirit; bringing hope, healing and new life to those in Northern San Diego County.

Evangelistic: The Body of Christ, the church, is responsible to continue Jesus' ministry on the earth. That ministry is focused upon the activities related to bringing the good news of God's kingdom, through words and deeds, to those who do not yet know his mercy and salvation.

Family of believers: The church is a family. We meet together as a network of loving relationships in Christ. We function as a community, caring for one another, supporting and strengthening one another, and provoking one another to "love and good works," as the bible instructs us.

The presence of God: We are not committed to empty slogans or esoteric ideals. The God of the Bible, who was present with his people, is with us today. We expect and rely upon His manifest presence in our meetings and in our personal lives. He is with us as we worship and when we minister his compassion and power to others. His presence is our life and our salvation, and this is what we have to offer those outside of Christ.

The Word of the Lord: As Jesus said, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God," so we are aware of our need for the continued impact of God's Word in our lives. We seek his voice in the written scriptures, in anointed biblical preaching and teaching, and in spirit-inspired utterances.

The Power of the Holy Spirit: We know that the power and might of man can not accomplish the works of God. We give place for the power of the Holy Spirit in our meetings and our ministries so that God can work as he wills in and through us. We expect to see in operation today all of the works of the Spirit that are recorded in the scriptures.

Life, healing and hope: We expect our God to touch the lives of those who come into the sphere of our influence as a church with transforming power. Those who are lost will experience the transforming life of Jesus and the new birth. Those who have been left broken and shattered from the effects of sin will experience His healing and restoration. And those who have lost hope will be renewed with an unshakable and eternal hope in the grace of God.

Our mission is to reach the unchurched with the Gospel and the compassion of God, to equip them for life, ministry, and leadership, and to mobilize them to do the works of the Kingdom.

To Reach the unchurched: Our main target are those people who are not now living in a vital relationship with God in a healthy, nurturing fellowship of believers, the church. The unchurched includes those who have not yet yielded their lives to Christ as well as those who "believe, but don't belong." We are happy to receive those that the Father leads to our fellowship who have had extensive history and background as members of Christian communities of believers elsewhere, but our focus is not on gathering up people from other churches—it is to gather in the harvest.

What we offer the unchurched person is what we have received from Jesus:

The Gospel of Christ: Jesus gave us a unique message, which the New Testament calls the gospel. It is the good news that men and women can come back to God, freely forgiven and warmly welcomed, and that he will cleanse, heal and restore them to himself and to their place in his good purposes.

The Compassion of Christ: But Jesus didn't give us mere words. He also gave us power. As he was moved with compassion and healed the sick and set them free from demonic abuse, so we offer the same compassionate power of God today to those whom we reach in Jesus' name.

To Equip them: Once we have reached and received those who were outside the love and fellowship of God's people, our mission is to help them to enter into the full rights and privileges of God's children. That means helping them to learn how to live life as Jesus lived, to minister the compassion and power of God as Jesus did, and to exercise leadership in the lives of others as Jesus did when he lived among mankind in Israel.

To Mobilize them: Finally, our mission is to help those who have been reached and equipped to find their place in the on going work of God's Kingdom in our world today.

As Jesus told his disciples, the harvest is ready, but the workers are few-our mission is to raise up every believer as a productive participant in this global gathering of people to God that Jesus initiated in the first century.

As Nehemiah worked with the remnant of Jews still living in and around the ruined city of Jerusalem rebuilding its fortifications, our mission is to help every person find their own unique "part of the wall" that God is building. Every person is vital and every member of the Body of Christ has a purpose and a function. Our mission is to help each one find it and enter into it.

Pursuers of God - We seek God in our lives and in our gatherings and wait expectantly in his presence. To us (and according to the Bible) God is not "way out there somewhere," but right here with us. It is his pleasure and desire to be with his people. Our desire and pleasure is to be with him! Experiencing God's presence really makes life an exciting adventure!

The Bible - As evangelical Christians, the Bible is our final authority. We look to the scriptures first and foremost for guidance and direction to understand how to live this new life we have been given in Jesus.

Unity - We seek to bless and encourage the whole Church. We believe that while there are many denominations, church associations and movements, there is still only one people of God-ultimately there is only one church to God. We, therefore, determine to love the whole thing (even the parts that don't do things exactly like we do, or don't think about everything exactly like we do—who says we've got everything right?).

Compassion and Mercy - We extend acceptance and help to those in need. The church by definition is a group of people who have been rescued from the influence of Satan and the world system he controls (in other words, we are a bunch of wounded, hurting people in the process of getting our lives put back together by God). So, we seek to be patient, accepting and loving with all the broken, wounded and hurting people God brings to our family. You don't have to be perfect to be part of this church.

Equipping - We seek to train, equip and support every believer for their unique and vital part in God's work. Nothing is more fulfilling that to feel that you are really contributing significantly to something that is vital and worthwhile.

Relationship - We are a family where each member cares for other members. It is, therefore, a priority that we learn how to love and relate to others in ways that are wholesome, healthy and good.

Family - We are a family and we believe that a Christian community must embrace and support entire families. We are here to help each other, and we are determined to be faithful and loyal to these relationships.

Generosity - We are stewards of God's resources (he actually owns everything we have and use) and we seek to channel them toward God's work.

Simplicity - We avoid behavior that draws attention away from God to ourselves.

Risk-taking - Our church is a safe place to grow and take risks as you learn in life.

Getting Settled

• Come on in: You can get a bulletin informing you of the latest news and current events, peruse the info table, introduce yourself to someone, get a cup of coffee and make yourself at home.

The Agenda

• Children's classes: We usually have the kids in worship together with the adults in the main sanctuary. They then (usually) leave after worship is over and go to one of the Sunday school classes that we provide for all of the elementary school aged children.
• Worship: We spend 25-30 minutes singing contemporary worship songs. We project the lyrics to help you join in. Even if you don't feel that you sing all that well, don't worry, a lot of us don't either. The good thing is, our Father loves to hear his kids sing to him, with whatever voice they have to sing!
• Communion: Periodically, we will have a communion service (some people call this the Lord's Table) as part of our worship time. We welcome anyone who names Jesus as their Lord and Savior to share in this time of worship and remembrance with us.

Announcements and Offering

• A Practical Message: Some practical teaching from the Bible is presented. Our aim is to consider the implications of the Bible for our own lives—if it's truth, we want to learn how to apply it.

Response

• Ministry: After the message there will be time to respond, either by having someone pray with you or by talking to one of our leaders or a friend. You won't, however, be pressured by anyone to do anything you aren't comfortable doing. We are interested in helping each person draw closer to God and to receive from him what he wants to give them.

There is much more to our church than Sunday services. We are a community of real people who know a real God. Knowing God means knowing each other, and knowing each other means having many opportunities to connect with each other for support, encouragement, and, most of all, to help those in need outside our church whenever possible. We invite you to explore these many ways for connecting with other people and with God in the life of our church family.