Our Covenant:
"Having been brought by Divine Grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to give up ourselves to Him, and having been baptized upon our profession of faith, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, relying on His providential care, wholeheartedly and joyfully renew our covenant with each other.
We will journey together in joyous unity for the purpose of loving all people to Christ and helping them on their journey with God and one another.
We will commit to faithfully gather in celebration worship as the Bible instructs us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
We will discipline ourselves to Christian doctrine by connecting the truth of God’s Word to our daily lives and by devoting ourselves by His grace to reflect the priorities and virtues of His Spirit.
We will endeavor to live in genuine biblical community and to bring up those who may at any time be under our care, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
We will purpose together for the continuance of a faithful missional ministry in this church, as we sustain its worship, ordinances , discipline, doctrines and spiritual virtues. We will contribute our tithes and offerings cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations for the Great Commission Cause.
We will, if we move from this place, as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen."
Our Statement of Faith:
Core Doctrines:
The Nature of Scripture
We believe the Bible is God’s Word and has ultimate authority in our beliefs and actions. We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the infallible Word of God, verbally inspired by God, and without error in the original manuscripts; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried. (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, 2 Peter 1:21, Isaiah 8:20)
The Nature of God
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is YAHWEH (the Lord), the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the three in One; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. (Isaiah 44:6, 1 Samuel 2:2, John 4:24, Psalm 89:14, Psalm 147:5, James 1:17, Revelation 4:8, Numbers 23:19-20, Matthew 28:19, John 1:1, John 10:30, Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 4:4-6, Luke 3:21-22, Galatians 4:4-6, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3, John 15:26)
Creation
We believe God is the creator of all things and is working His divine plan by His sovereign will. We believe that man was created in holiness, under the law of his Maker; but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but choice; being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil; and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse. (Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:31, Hebrews 11:3, Exodus 20:11, Genesis 1:27, Nehemiah 9:6, Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3, Psalm 103:19, Matthew 10:29-30, Deuteronomy 29:29, Genesis 18:25)
Salvation and God's Purposes of Grace
We believe one comes to a right relationship with God by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. He is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior; that election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with that end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. It excludes boasting and promotes humility; and that all true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. (Genesis 3:1-7, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, Romans 5:18-19, Psalm 51:5, Romans 7:18, Isaiah 53:6, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:1-3, Matthew 15:19, Matthew 25:41-46, Ephesians 1:4-8, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Romans 8:29-30, Romans 9:11-12, Romans 10:9-10, Romans 11:5-7, Acts 13:48, Romans 6:23, Galatians 3:13, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, John 1:14, Luke 1:35, Hebrews 7:26-27, John 3:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 1:12, Ephesians 4:22-24, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:22-24, Acts 20:21, Acts 16:30-31)
The Church
We believe the church is the body and bride of Christ, and God’s primary way of advancing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We believe in the local church, consisting of a family of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized by immersion in water after a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work and fellowship, joined together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We see baptism as an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. We believe the Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (Acts 2:41-42, Acts 20:7, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 1:22-23, John 10:16, Ephesians 2:13-22, Hebrews 10:25, 1 Corinthians 5:13, 1 Timothy 3:1, 1 Timothy 3:8, Ephesians 3:21, Acts 20:28, 2 Peter 2:9-10, Galatians 3:28-29, 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 26:26-29, Matthew 28:18-20, Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:27, Acts 8:12-13, Acts 8:35-38, Acts 10:47-48, 1 Peter 2:5, 1 Corinthians 11:23-34, 1 Corinthians 10:16)
Family
We believe that God instituted the family, and assigned it stewardship and responsibility for life. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. (Genesis 2:18, Genesis 2:24, Exodus 20:12, Exodus 20:14, Exodus 20:17, Proverbs 3:12, Proverbs 19:18, Proverbs 29:17, Ephesians 6:1-4, Hebrews 13:4, Colossians 3:21, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Proverbs 22:6, Deuteronomy 4:9, Deuteronomy 6:7, 1 Timothy 5:8, Ephesians 5:21-33)
The Kingdom of God
We believe in God’s general sovereignty over the universe and His particular rule over those who accept Him as Lord. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God's will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age. (Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 3:1-2, Matthew 11:12, Matthew 13, Colossians 1:13-14, John 3:3, John 18:36, Luke 1:32-33, Luke 4:43, Luke 17:20-21, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Colossians 1:13, Hebrews 11:16, Hebrews 12:28, 1 Peter 2:9-10)
The Lord’s Day
We believe the first day of the week is resurrection day, or Christian Sabbath, and is a day to celebrate His rest and rule in our lives. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 1:10, Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, John 20:1, 19, 26, Exodus 20:8-11)
Core Disciplines:
Worship
We celebrate the glory and goodness of God and worship Him for who He is and for what He is doing in our lives. We believe that all humanity was created for the purpose of worship and that the chief end of man is to love God by enjoying Him for all eternity. (Psalm 73:25-26, Psalm 95:1-7, Psalm 100, Matthew 4:10, John 4:24, Romans 12:1)
Bible Study
We study the Bible to know God and to connect His truth with our daily life. We believe the primary way that God reveals His will to us is by the careful study and meditation of scripture. We believe the promises of God recorded in scripture are sufficient for protecting us from the deceit and destructiveness of sinful temptation, and therefore the study of the promises we have in Christ are the most efficient way for us to break free from the bondage and power of sinful idolatry, the source of all of life’s sorrow. (2 Timothy 3:14-17, Hebrews 4:12, Romans 15:4, Romans 16:25-27, 2 Peter 1:20-21)
Community
We fellowship with other Christians in genuine biblical community to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives, to hold one another accountable and to meet each other’s needs as we journey together for the purposes of the Gospel. We believe that we were created to live and thrive within relationship and that it is within the context of Biblical community and the study of His word that we come to a better understanding of the character of Christ and His will and work in our lives. (Acts 2:42-47, Hebrews 10:24-25, Hebrews 3:12-13, Acts 11:29-30, 1 John 1:6-7, 1 Peter 3:8)
Witness
We believe that God has put us on this earth to bring Him glory and to fulfill His cause by loving all people to Christ and by helping them in their journey with God and each other. It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man's spirit by God's Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ. (Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17)
Service
We give our lives away in order to accomplish God’s purpose. (Matthew 20:25-28, Ephesians 4:10-13, Romans 12:1, Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 6:7) We know and use our spiritual gifts to accomplish God’s purposes. (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 4:10)
Prayer
We pray to God to know Him, to lay our requests before Him and to find direction for daily life. We believe that faith is awakened and sustained by God’s Spirit through His Word and prayer. The good fight of faith is fought mainly by meditating on the Scriptures and praying that God would apply them to our souls. (Matthew 6:9-13, Psalm 10:17, Psalm 66:16-20, John 14:13-14, James 5:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 5:14-15)
Stewardship
We give our time, talents and material possessions to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. We believe that the result of Christ at the center of our hearts is the breaking of the bondage of idolatry and selfishness, the natural outcome of which in cheerful generosity. (Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
Fasting
We devote ourselves to the fast as a way to seek the Lord and to recalibrate our priorities and to understand His will. We believe that our most basic need is to deny ourselves and to find God’s purpose for our lives, and that God’s word calls for the fast as a way for focusing our hearts on the unique will of God. (Matthew 6:16, Matthew 9:14-15, Luke 2:37, Acts 9:9, 11, Acts 10:30, Acts 13:2, Acts 14:23, Acts 27:33, I Corinthians 7:5, Psalm 35:13, I Samuel 1:6-8, 17-18, Nehemiah 1:4, Nehemiah 9: 1-3, Joel 2:12, Jonah 3:8, Ezra 8:21)
Core Virtues:
Love
To unconditionally and sacrificially love and forgive others. To know love is to know the Father, for God is love and anything in our lives that does not include His love, is in resistance to His grace. (1 John 4:8-12, John 3:16, Galatians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 13)
Joy
To have inner contentment and purpose in spite of circumstances. (John 15:11, Hebrews 12:2, John 17:13, James 1:2-4)
Peace
To be free from anxiety because things are right with God, others, and ourselves. (Philippians 4:6-7, Psalm 119:165, Romans 5:1, Romans 12:18, Colossians 3:15, Hebrews 12:14)
Patience
To take a long time to overheat and endure patiently under the unavoidable pressures of life. (Proverbs 14:29, Psalm 27:14, Psalm 37:9, Psalm 130:5-8, Colossians 3:12, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:14)
Kindness/Goodness
To choose the right things in our relationships with others. (1 Thessalonians 5:15, Colossians 3:12, Psalm 37:3, Romans 12:9)
Gentleness
To be thoughtful, considerate and calm in dealing with others. (Philippians 4:5, Colossians 3:12, 1 Timothy 6:11, Ephesians 4:2)
Faithfulness
To establish a good name with God and others based on my long term loyalty to the relationship. (Proverbs 3:4-5, 1 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Peter 4:10)
Self Control
To have power, through Christ, to maintain control of myself. (Titus 2:11-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:4, Proverbs 29:11)