Our Vision
God-Centered — aiming to glorify God, living life “coram Deo” (before the face of God) with a sense of his majesty and glory, and aiming to enjoy God — to delight in Him, desire Him, find Him to be our joy and our strength.
Cross-Centered – We want to preach Christ and Him crucified, since this is at the heart of our faith: the substitutionary, atoning death of Jesus of Nazareth, for our sins. The cross is not only the ground of our salvation, it is also transformative for our daily lives. In the words of the great 19th century Scottish pastor, Horatius Bonar, “If we would be holy, we must get to the cross and dwell there.”
Bible-Saturated — we want to be immersed in the rich food of God’s inerrant, infallible, authoritative Word: meditating on it, feasting on it, and being sanctified by it. The pastor’s calling is to faithfully preach and teach God’s Word, week in and week out, section by section, book by book, so that God’s people grow in grace and are equipped for every good work.
Missional — not a private club, but as those commissioned to take the gospel to the nations, joyfully serving the Lord by engaging in missions, evangelism, and mercy ministry. Pursuing self-sacrificial love as the most “relevant” bridge to the culture, the most powerful way to commend the faith to a lost world. We want to be a people known for selfless, persevering love, so that the saints will be built up and the peoples of the nations brought to worship the true and living God.
Reformed & Confessional – we are committed to historic Reformed & Presbyterian beliefs on such matters as justification by faith alone, the sovereign grace of God in the salvation of sinners, and the importance of living to the glory of God. We believe in a connectional, presbyterian form of church government. Our doctrine is summed up in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Westminster Larger & Shorter Catechisms.
Sacramental – we have a high view of the sacraments as real means of grace. In the Lord’s Supper, we believe that Christ is spiritually present in a real way, feeding us and strengthening us to live faithfully as his people. We believe that baptism is not primarily an individual’s declaration of faith, but more a matter of God Himself placing His name and promises on that person’s life, claiming that person as His own.
Liturgical – in Scripture, when God’s people gather to renew their covenant with Him, there tends to be a consistent pattern of events that take place. That pattern, not surprisingly, has come to be reflected in historic Protestant liturgies. The Lord calls us into his presence, we confess our sin and are cleansed by the blood of Christ; we are then consecrated by the Word of God; we enjoy communion with God in the Lord’s Supper, and the service ends with God commissioning us in the benediction. Our vision of the ideal worship service is one that is conducted with the utmost care and reverence, worthy of God in his majesty and holiness, but also one that is very expressive, so that we are fully engaged and there is warmth and joy and hearts that are glad to sing praises to God for the way that He has drawn near to us in Jesus.
