One of the mistaken concepts many have is that all Christians and churches should be identical. They assume that “unity” is equivalent to “uniformity. The Apostle Paul points out that our differences do, and will exist between churches and individuals in Christ. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in men (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). We are called to unity in faith and doctrine, and there should be no tolerance for false, heretical doctrine. On issues of style and practice, there should be tolerance. These are areas of personal preference that should be respected. We refer to these as “distinctive.” They represent diversity within the greater Christian unity. the following is a short list of our distinctive’s.
We believe in the expository teaching of the whole Word of God in accordance with Acts 20:20,27; Nehemiah 8:8; and Psalm 138:2.
Therefore our services are structured around the verse-by-verse teaching of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
We believe the book of Acts represents “normal” Christianity. Therefore we seek to pattern our lives and ministry after that modeled by the early church as revealed in the book of Acts 3. We believe in pastoral leadership as the truest Biblical pattern for church government. Therefore, the Elder Board, under the leadership of the Senior Pastor, is primarily responsible for direction and decision making.
We believe that the worship of God should be spiritual. We remain flexible and yielding to the leading of the Holv Spirit to direct our worship.
We believe in balance regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we consider ourselves to be neither charismatic or non-charismatic. We believe all the gifts of the Spirit are available and operational within the church, but should be publicly exercised under the guidelines found in 1 Corinthians 12-14, and with permission of the pastoral leadership.
We believe that our ministry should be simple and sincere. Therefore we seek to imitate this testimony of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity. not with fleshlv wisdom. but by the grace of God, we have behaved in the world, and more abundantly toward you.” 2 Corinthians 1:12
We believe we are only one member of the Body of Christ. Therefore we can rightly be classified as non-denominational. “Denominationalism” is an attempt to draw a line of exclusivity around Christ. No such line can honestly be drawn. We have our distinctive (as the hand is distinct from the foot), and we have our role that may differ from other parts of the body, but we are still only a part. We believe in the sovereignty of God, and mankind’s free will. Therefore we resist the extreme positions of hyper-Calvinism and/or hyper-Armenianism. We feel that both try to force a conclusion that disregards a Biblical balance. The believer in Christ is both secure, and responsible to live a life of faith.
We believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. Doctrinally, we are pre-tribulation, pre-millennial in our interpretation of last day’s prophecy. Consistent with this position, we believe there is no sign or condition which must be fulfilled before Christ’s imminent, visible and bodily return.
We believe that healthy sheep encourage healthy sheep. In keeping with this purpose, we seek to win the lost, disciple the saved, and encourage the faithful. We believe if we take care of our depth, God will take care of our breadth. The purpose of the church is not numerical growth per-say, but spiritual growth. The only strategy we have for our ministry is to “feed the flock of God,’ (John 21:12; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).