Pillars of Ministry
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, and that this righteousness is the only righteousness that justifies and that faith that is true faith is evidenced by works. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Revelation 14:6-7)
Expository Preaching - 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 the primary emphasis 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 Peter 1:22-2:3).
Fervent Prayer - Every aspect of the church’s life and ministry ought to be under girded with fervent, passionate 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 truth content and spiritual depth. Elements of worship include prayer, praise, Scripture reading and exposition, and music (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).
Loving Community - We will cultivate unity and community in the family of God (with a special sensitivity to widows, the fatherless, and single parents) through mentoring relationships, financial support 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 - Properly administered in a spirit of obedience and humility, church discipline 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 Peter 3:15).
Church Planting - We rejoice in God’s plan to be a blessing to the nations. We will make intentional efforts to reach the world for Christ by praying, giving, going and planting. (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 13-14, 16-21).
The Regulative Principle - Our lives together and our worship is to be in general accordance with the regulative principle, meaning that everything we do must be clearly grounded in scripture. This can take the form of clear scriptural commands, or the appropriate implications of particular passages of scripture.
This is another way of saying that Christ has authority over His church through the Word of God (Matt 16:18; Romans 1:16; 10:17.) The regulative principle assumes the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture which states that scripture is all we need for doctrine, life and practice.