Emphasizing theology and passion, light and heat, Spirit and truth, we desire to be a people devoted to the Scriptures, and committed to live for the glory of God.
Theological labels carry huge amounts of luggage that need to be unpacked, so we tend to shun them if we don’t have a change to explain them. But for those needing such labels we are:
-
• A non-charismatic church, although we are not afraid of the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches that the Spirit is vital to our walk with Christ, and that the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) is to be engaged by the power of the Spirit’s illumination, and then to be obeyed in that same power. However, the Spirit does not draw attention to Himself, but rather directs all men to Christ.
-
• A reformed church, meaning that our doctrine of salvation is God-centered, not man-centered; monergistic and not synergistic. We affirm and teach the five “solas” of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Sola Fide (Faith Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone).
-
•An Elder-ruled church, which means that we believe that the primary shepherding of the Church is to come through men who are adequately trained and approved by the local church to lead, feed, protect and care for God’s sheep. Deacons, the ministers of the needs of the church, are important, but do not function in the New Testament church in the same way as elders. Although the Pastor is the lead elder of the church, he is not the sole elder. The local church should be led by a plurality of elders in a loving and caring way.
-
•A baptist church, meaning we hold to credo or believers baptist and reject infant baptism as unbiblical.
-
•A dispensational church, meaning that we understand that there is a clear distinction between God’s people Israel, and the Bride of Christ, the Church. We hold to a literal, historical, and grammatical hermeneutic (rules of interpreting the Bible)--and because of this (among other things) we understand the Scriptures to teach that Christ will return in the clouds to rapture His Church (pretribulational rapture), a seven-year tribulation after which Christ will physically return, and a literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth.
-
•A family church, meaning that we firmly believe that although the local church is to assist in the equipping of young people in the faith, this responsibility is primarily given by God to parents. Because of this, we encourage parents to bring there children with them to worship and to teach them to serve alongside of them in their ministries.