OUR DISTINCTIVES

God-Honoring Worship

True worship comes only from a heart that has been illuminated by God’s Word. Where the Word of God is absent, there can be no true worship of God. For this reason, we believe that worship is restricted to the divine means by which God has promised to communicate His Word to us – the preaching of God’s Word, the singing of God’s Word, praying God’s Word, seeing God’s Word in the ordinances, and fellowshipping around God’s Word.

Expository, Christ-Centered Preaching

The most important function of the local church is the faithful proclamation of God’s Word. Christ-centered preaching is the explanation and application of the Scriptures. The Word of God changes lives; therefore, it is our goal to faithfully and accurately discover the intended historical, contextual, and theological meaning of Scripture to bring out the timeless truths so that we may submit to them and apply them to our lives.

 Congregational Singing

We believe the lyrics of our worship songs should be focused primarily upon the exaltation of Christ and the explicit Gospel. While there is an appropriate way to express our emotions of gratitude toward and love of God in song, we desire to place the emphasis of our singing on the life and work of Jesus Christ. We also place an emphasis on congregational singing rather than on a performance- or entertainment-based form of worship.

 Reformed Baptist Theology

We hold to historic Baptist distinctives. We believe baptism is for believers only and is by immersion. We believe the Holy Scriptures to be both inerrant and sufficient and consider them our only necessary rule of faith and practice. We hold to the autonomy of the local church, regenerate church membership and observe only two church ordinances: baptism and communion.

  As Reformed believers we have a very high view of God and believe Him to be sovereign in all things – including salvation. We embrace the historical doctrines of the Protestant Reformation commonly referred to as the “Five Solas.” We believe men are saved by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), in Christ alone (solus Christus), according to Scripture alone (sola scriptura), for the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).

 Family-Friendly Ministry

We seek to promote family unity by encouraging and equipping our families to worship together at home and at church on Sundays. We believe corporate worship should be a major part of our children’s lives. We believe children are a blessing from God and are thankful for them, and we do not view their sometimes obvious presence during worship as a distraction.

 Active Church Membership

We encourage and expect our members to utilize their spiritual gifts for the mutual edification of the body within the context of the local church.

 Biblical Leadership

We are committed to church leadership by a plurality of elders whose lives and doctrine are submitted to the authority of God’s Word, and to deacons who carefully and lovingly look after the practical needs of the congregation. While major logistical decisions are introduced to the congregation for the purpose of seeking counsel and a desire for agreement, we do not make decisions based upon a popular vote. Instead, we seek to be led by the Spirit through the wisdom and counsel of our elders and the harmonious agreement of the congregation.

 Mission Mindedness

We encourage and equip our members to be mission minded. Every Christian is called to be a missionary. But we believe that mission work begins in the home with family worship and flows out of a life that is committed to Christ. Therefore, we purposefully seek to prepare our members for family worship, personal evangelism, and international missions.