The Principles Behind Our Mission
Covenantal Reformed
We believe that God relates with man in history through covenants, culminating in the New Covenant foretold in Jeremiah 31 and inaugurated by Jesus’ words at the Last Supper before his crucifixion fulfilled its requirements. Within the covenant promises of God to save His own, we are called to respond in faith for salvation, followed by responsive obedience for sanctification having already received justification by grace. Christ’s church is therefore under the New Covenant of Grace to believe and to obey bringing life. In contrast, the unbelieving world remains under the judgment of the Covenant of Works in its refusal to submit to the New Covenant of Grace which offers salvation.
We are reformed in worshipping a sovereign God who has made us His own, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, giving us new life that cannot be taken away, so that we might be made more and more into the likeness of our Savior until completed in the state of our glorification. We are confirmed in this truth by the Bible as enlightened by the Spirit. The Westminster Confession of Faith exemplifies man’s most competent and systematic understanding of the Bible. Regardless, we are always seeking to reform our understanding and application of Biblical truth to live as faithful servants in today’s world.
Truth Seeking – – I Thess. 5:21 “But test everything; hold fast what is good.”
We are pursuing the truth of God’s Word revealed in the Bible as well as the truth of God’s design of all creation. We hold that truth exists in the spiritual and the physical realms in which we live. We also hold that truth can be known at least in part. We hold fast to the truth we discover but hold our interpretation of that truth humbly such that we can be corrected when demonstrated to be mistaken.
Whole life under whole Bible – Colossians 3:23, I Cor. 10:31
We believe that God intended for the truth found in His Word to extend to all areas of life such that ultimately all things done by God’s children individually or collectively reflects upon God and stands under the command to glorify God in all we do (Colossians 3:23 and I Corinthians 10:31). There is no secular area of life that can stand outside the responsibility of this sacred command. We live simultaneously in spiritual and physical realities which are both subject to God’s rule.
Body of Christ over Institution of Church – Ephesians 1:22-23
We believe that the gathered body of believers comprising a local church body demands a higher priority than the formal institution which is properly organized to support their worship. Such institutional organization is good and proper until an emphasis on the institution’s self-preservation eclipses its role of supporting the actual body of believers. The true body of the church is at risk of harm when attention turns to supporting the institution’s continued existence over the well-being of the body of Christ itself.
Pro-Family under covenant – Gen.12, Genesis 15, Acts 2:39
We believe that each person must stand before God’s judgment based on their own faith in Christ alone, yet God not only worked through covenantal family lines in Genesis 12 and 15 for Abraham’s descendants but also continues to work through covenantal family lines as in Acts 2:39 under the New Covenant. Therefore, we draw renewed attention to the role of the family in the perpetuation of the church body through family duties (Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6). Due to this role of the Christian family in the church’s growth and health, the church as a whole should support and defend the Biblical view of family from contemporary culture’s attempts to redefine it or to eradicate it.
Pro-Unity in Truth- Ephesians 4:4
We believe in gathering the body of Christ around the truth of God’s Word for God’s glory and His children’s blessing rather than around the truth of man for the sake of mankind. Unity around humanity’s fictions destroys, while unity around God’s truth brings life.
Stewardship of the gift of life I Timothy 4:8, I Corinthians 6:19-20
God created us and gave us life with the responsibility to care for our physical and spiritual natures. We are stewards of creation and therefore must answer for how we care for our physical and spiritual health. Fulfilling the responsibilities of this stewardship requires knowledge of how to care for both natures and diligent application of this knowledge for the sake of God’s glory.
Summary
In these principles, we find whole person health for a whole life within a whole community. We can know “Doc-sy”/Doxy or truth, apply it in “Prac-sy”/Praxy of daily life, respond rightly with our “Heads and Hearts”, not only individually before God, but also collectively in “Gathering” as His body.
