Our Distinctives

God has been revealed fully and finally in Jesus Christ, He is the image of the invisible God. We value exalting Jesus Christ in all that we do. We desire to magnify the glory of person of Christ and the glorious sufficiency of His work of salvation.

We know God by knowing Scripture. We obey God by obeying Scripture. We cannot worship, love, or serve God rightly apart from Scripture; therefore, we need the Bible. We desire all we do as a local church to be saturated with the Word of God. – whether preaching God’s Word, singing God’s Word, praying God’s Word, or fellowshipping around God’s Word. God’s Word is sufficient for all we need for life and godliness.

Our main strategy for expository preaching is to preach verse by verse through the books of the Bible. This approach leads us to Biblical truths that otherwise we would be tempted to ignore - over time leading the local church into the whole counsel God.

The early church did this at every official meeting, but by the close of the Apostolic age had settled on every Lord’s Day. We follow this command, not simply as tradition, but with a joyful desire to keep Christ’s saving work on the cross as central to our meeting together and to our lives. This regular remembrance has profound meaning for us as we worship Him in thanksgiving and praise, privately repent of our sins, and pursue holy living. All for His glory and honor.

We value a plurality of elders in leadership because we believe this to be the New Testament pattern of church government. We adhere to the Scriptural qualifications for elders as laid out in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and we understand biblical elders to be those whose life and doctrine are submitted to the authority of God’s Word. Therefore, our elders rule by teaching, preaching, and applying the Scriptures. The deacons assist the elders in their leadership as executive assistants and are also Scripturally qualified men.

The church (which finds expression in the various local churches) is variously described as a building, a family, and a body. Each member of the church is valuable and has a role to play in the life of the church. Ministry is not reserved for a select few, but is the domain of all believers. We encourage everyone to exercise their Spirit given gifts for the benefit of others and the glory of God.

We desire every member to grow into maturity in Christ, and we seek to encourage, embolden, and equip every member to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We believe that God has given all Christians the privilege of being His ambassadors to a lost world. We desire to be used of God to spread the message of reconciliation to the ends of the earth. This includes a commitment to equip and send qualified gospel laborers to the nations, specifically planting churches among the unreached.

We value building up strong marriages and families, where God’s Word is taught and lived out. We also value equipping fathers to
carry out their responsibility to lead their wives and bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. We value families worshipping together both at home and with the church on Sundays.