OUR BELIEFS
Our Standards
The Holy Scriptures
The ultimate foundation for our beliefs is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which we believe to be the infallible and inerrant Word of God. We want everything we think, say, and do to be rooted in what God has revealed in Scripture. Consequently, we embrace the teachings of historic, orthodox Christianity: the Trinity, the deity and humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his substitutionary death on the cross and bodily resurrection, the doctrines of free and sovereign grace, and salvation by grace through faith, as examples.
The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms
We are also a confessional church. We believe that an accurate and comprehensive summary of the teaching of the Bible can be found in The Westminster Confession of Faith. Along with the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, these documents constitute the official doctrinal statement of the Church.
Our Message
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
We proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to sinful, broken people – and that’s all of us. The word “gospel” is a Greek word that means “good news.” The Bible’s good news teaches us the answer to life’s most important question: “How can a person be made right with God?” Unfortunately, there is also bad news – you and I are born in sin and enslaved to sin by nature, justly deserving the wrath and judgment of a holy God. There is nothing we can do to fix this desperate situation. No amount of religious activity, good works or trying harder to be a “decent” person will make us acceptable to God. The gospel is not a message of what we must do. It is not good advice. It is good news! The gospel is a message of what God has done for us.
God graciously sent His Son Jesus to earth to save helpless sinners. Jesus redeemed us by living the sinless and obedient life that we couldn’t, and bearing the punishment for sins that we deserve. On the cross, Jesus endured the wrath and judgment of God for us, and after paying for our sins, he died. On the third day, He rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will soon come again to judge the world. Jesus offers to us complete forgiveness of our sins and a right standing with God, if we simply place our faith in Him. This is the good news that we joyfully preach – Jesus Christ crucified for sinners!
Our Ministry Commitments
Consecutive Bible Preaching
The Word of God preached is central in our worship, and we pray each Lord’s Day, for God’s voice, not man’s to be heard. (2 Timothy 4:1-2). We believe that the Gospel is the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” (Romans 1:16), and we unashamedly preach the Gospel in the conviction that both non-Christians and Christians need to hear the Good News regularly. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of Scripture from beginning to end, both in the Old and New Testaments, therefore we need a steady diet in both. Generally, our morning service features a New Testament sermon series, and in the evening we preach through Old Testament books of the Bible. Christ is preached from both (Luke 24:27, 44). Our typical approach to preaching each Lord’s Day is to consecutively work through books of the Bible, giving attention to each verse, striving to carefully explain the meaning of the text and prayerfully apply our lives.
Biblical, God-Centered Worship
The Bible tells us how we are to worship – only as God commands. We are not free to worship him according to our own sinful imaginations or varied preferences. Scripture regulates worship in terms of a “pattern” of worship that has been given to God’s people from ancient times (Hebrews 8:1-6). Our worship features the basic elements prescribed in the Bible (Acts 2:42). We open with God’s greeting and call to worship, followed by the congregation’s response to God in song and a prayer for God’s blessing on the Day. We then confess our faith and our sins, followed by God’s assurance of pardon. We respond to God’s pardon again in song and in prayer, the giving of tithes, and a doxology. This leads to God’s word both read and preached, and is followed by another time of singing. Twice a month, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper as the climax of the service. The final word of the service belongs to God, who blesses his Church through the benediction. Our worship seeks to constantly focus on God, and is done for his glory. (John 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 14:33-40)
Sabbath-Keeping Through Honoring the Lord’s Day
Robert M. M’Cheyne once said: “A well-spent sabbath we feel to be a day of heaven upon earth… we love to rise early on that morning, and to sit up late, that we may have a long day with God.” The people of God in every age have kept the Sabbath holy through dedicating one day in seven entirely to worship, godly fellowship and works of mercy and necessity (Exodus 20:8-10). The Author of Hebrews tells us that “there remains a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9). We observe this Sabbath-keeping every Sunday, on the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10), as the new covenant fulfillment day of the Sabbath in light of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. On it, God calls us to put aside our ordinary works and recreation, and joyfully observe the whole day, not just a half day of morning worship only. Richard Baxter said: “What fitter day to ascend to heaven, than that on which He arose from earth, and fully triumphed over death and hell. Use your Sabbaths as steps to glory, till you have passed them all, and are there arrived.” (Mark 2:27-28)
Inclusive Psalmody and Biblical Hymnody
Sadly the Psalms have fallen into disfavor in many churches. They have been largely abandoned and replaced by modern praise songs and choruses. This is lamentable. On the other hand, some Reformed Christians hold to “Exclusive Psalmody” which is the view that only the Psalms are to be sung in worship. We love the Psalms and give them a prominent place in our worship, and are committed to singing from the whole Psalter. Our worship services also include hymns (both old and new) that are biblical, reverent, and theologically rich. Our singing to God in worship is simply corporate prayer set to music. Therefore, in keeping with our liberty to pray using our own words, we sing our prayers using both the very words of Scripture in the Psalms, and time-tested and approved hymns. (Colossians 3:16)
Covenant Life and Culture
“Covenant” is the biblical view of the relational context by which God ordinarily reveals himself and his saving grace to sinners (Genesis 17:1-14). God calls redeemed sinners to live with him in a covenant relationship by committing himself to faithfully love and save a people, and in turn calling his people to faithfully love and serve him. Marriage is an example of this kind of relationship. God’s covenant community consists of professing believers and their children. Our children are declared to be “holy” (1 Corinthians 7:14), and rightful recipients of God’s gracious covenant promises (Acts 2:38-39). The children of believers are, therefore recognized as members of the Church and little disciples of Christ from birth. We baptize our children in recognition of the covenant relationship into which they have been born. In light of these realities, we seek to nurture our children’s souls by teaching and modeling godly, loving, trusting, obedient lives. We encourage parents to diligently instruct our kids in family worship, and on the Lord’s Day, to keep little children in worship as much as possible. We strive, by the help of the Holy Spirit to raise our children in such a way that they will, by God’s grace, grow into the faithful people God has called them to be. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
Seeking Growth Through ‘The Means of Grace’
While we pray that God would grow our church in numbers, we are far more interested in spiritual growth. Scripture gives us a vision and a model of how the Church should seek for both kinds of growth. In Acts 2:42-47 we see the Apostles’ ‘philosophy’ of ministry and its effects. In that text, God reveals that the Church must prioritize corporate worship on the Lord’s Day, and a ‘devotion’ to the ‘means of grace’ (preaching, teaching, the sacramental meal, prayer, and spiritual fellowship). The following verses describe the effect of Church’s dedication to the Lord’s Day worship. They grow spiritually, and are radically changed and matured by Christ’s grace. They begin doing evangelism, discipleship, hospitality, generous acts of mercy, and an attitude of praise. The dramatic result of the Church’s gospel-empowered culture is the conversion of the lost and the numeric growth of the Church. We believe that a worshiping Church produces a witnessing Church and will in time become, as the Lord allows, a growing Church.
Biblical Church Government
We are convinced that church government is not a matter of indifference or preference. Scripture teaches neither a church ruled by the congregation, nor by a single pastor. Both errors lead to a multitude of avoidable sins and errors. In short, our practice, Presbyterianism, which comes from the Greek word for elder (presbuteros), requires each church to be led by a plurality of godly, qualified, well-trained, and humble pastors called elders. The minister is a fellow elder, and together, the elder board is called the “session.” Each session is accountable to a higher court consisting of the ministers and elders of a regional church court called the “presbytery.” Any hard cases that cannot be resolved in the local church can be appealed to the presbytery. A third and still higher church court to which both the session and the presbytery is accountable is called the General Assembly. This is the highest court in the denomination, and is responsible to settle all cases which are brought to it from the lower courts. The form of Government God requires helps keep both leaders and congregation members accountable, and protects both from abuse. While there is no perfect church court, we do believe that churches that employ God’s form of church government will have the most peaceful and pure expressions of the Visible Church. (Ephesians 4:8-13; Hebrews 13:17)
