2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
The word of God is sufficient. It is sufficient for faith. It is sufficient for practice. The word of God ought to define what a church believes and what a church does, because it alone is the voice of God, given to thoroughly equip us for every good work.
With that in mind, we hereby commit ourselves to the following principles and practices:
The Centrality of the Gospel
All activities and messages of the church have their source in the gospel of Christ, that sinners are justified by faith alone, that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers by God’s decree alone, that this righteousness is the only righteousness that justifies, and that genuine faith is evidenced by works (1 Cor 15:1-4; Rev 14:6-7).
Expository Preaching
We believe that a steady diet of expositional preaching is the most effective way to build up the body of Christ. Preaching and teaching through books of the Bible will be a key discipleship method of this ministry (Deut 6:4-9; Ezra 7:10; Neh 8:1-12; Matt 4:4; 1 Tim 4:13; 2 Tim 3:14-4:5; Titus 1:3, 9; Heb 4:12; 1 Pet 1:22-2:3).
Fervent Prayer
Every aspect of the church’s life and ministry ought to be under-girded with regular, fervent prayer. Elements of a godly prayer life (individually and corporately) include: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession (Neh 1; Psalm 51; Matt 6:5-15; Luke 19:46; Phil 1:3-11; Col 1:3-12; James 5:13-18).
Authentic Worship
Authentic worship of the living God is marked by biblical truth, personal and corporate genuineness and spiritual depth. Elements of worship include prayer, singing, Scripture reading, preaching, and the Lord’s supper (Psalm 24, 33, 42, 95; Isa 6:1-8; Matt 4:10; John 4:24; Rom 12:1-2; Heb 13:15; Rev 4-5; 1 Cor 11:23-34).
Loving Community
We will cultivate Christian love, rejoicing, unity and community in the family of God through mentoring relationships, benevolence and biblical instruction (Acts 2:44-47; 6:1-7; Eph 4:1-16; 1 Tim 5:3-8; 2 Tim 2:2; Titus 2:3-5; James 1:27).
Church Discipline
We will exercise biblical church discipline administered in a spirit of obedience and humility and believe that this practice protects the purity of the church and offers restoration to the wayward (Prov 28:13; Matt 5:23-24; 18:15-20; 1 Cor 5:6-8; 11:17-34; Gal 6:1-5; Eph 5:25-27).
Personal Evangelism
We will equip and send the church into the community to bring the message of the cross to our own households, neighborhoods, workplaces and the world (Matt 28:19-20; John 20:31; Acts 4:12; Rom 10:14-15; 1 Pet 3:15).
Church Planting
We will make intentional efforts to reach the world for Christ by praying, giving, going and planting as we rejoice in God’s plan to be a blessing to the nations (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 13-14, 16-21).
The Sufficiency of Scripture
We will honor Scripture as sufficient for life and godliness, consulting it for all things. We will use it for reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness to speak into the lives of those in the congregation (2 Tim 3:16-4:5).
The Regulative Principle
We will regulate church life by Scripture alone, recognizing that God has instituted in the Scriptures everything He requires for worship in the Church and that everything else is prohibited. Therefore, the only permissible elements of worship are those that are instituted by command, precept, or example or by good and necessary consequence and that whatever is not warranted by scripture is forbidden. This is another way of saying that Christ has authority over His church through the Word of God (Matt 16:18; Rom 1:16; 10:17).