All of Christ.

Worship is essential for God’s people, not optional.  It is the joyful and potent focus of every week's beginning.  We practice a "covenant renewal" form of worship in which: God calls us, cleanses us, consecrates us by His word, collects our gifts, communes with us, and commissions us.

We believe that God feeds His whole family in communion.  So, every week we invite each baptized member, regardless of chronological age, to partake of the bread and wine.  Rather than being entertained as a passive spectator, each member is called upon to worship the true and living God as an active participant.  We kneel together for confession and raise our hands corporately at appropriate times during worship.  The elders encourage attendance and participation in every church gathering, but corporate Lord’s Day worship is an essential covenantal tenet of Church life that our Lord has commanded us not to neglect (Heb 10:25). In gathering together for worship at the beginning of the week, we give to Him the first fruits of our time and attention, and He equips us to go forth into the week as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (Rom 12:1).

We hold an optimistic view of the future and believe that the world is being changed over time by the faithful preaching of the Gospel of Christ and His discipling of the nations through the work of His people (Mt 6:10, 28:18-19).

We believe in the necessity of church discipline, especially positive, ongoing discipline by elders (shepherding), as well as negative discipline, as it becomes necessary, including excommunication, both of which are required by Scripture for the health, peace, and purity of the Church.  The Christian Faith is not just a worldview; it is a way of life.  Personal Godliness is essential as a response to the Gospel.  Discipline may be exercised not only for open immorality, but also for indifference to Christ and His Church (Mt 18:15-18, 1 Cor 5, Col 3:16, Titus 2).

Scripture has a covenantal structure.  The mark of belonging to God, whether circumcision or baptism, is given to the household, not only professing adults.  We include children in the sacraments and hold them accountable for the tremendous privileges they enjoy as Christians.  We believe baptism is effective as a means of God's grace, but not an automatic guarantee of final salvation (Gen 17:7).

Scripture charges men with the responsibility for leading their families. In addition to assuming sacrificial responsibility in their homes, men are required by Scripture to do so in the church as well.  Therefore, leadership of the church is restricted to men in obedience to God’s Word.  We encourage women's ministry and cherish the gifts God has given our wives and sisters, without which the household and the Church could not thrive (Deut 6:6-7, Eph 5:21-6:4, 1 Tim 2:12, 1 Cor 14:34-35).

We believe our living faith produces a culture among God’s people.  Beyond what has already been said above, our church culture has a pronounced emphasis on fellowship, feasting, and singing, out of which many other blessings flow.  We are called to stir one another up to love and good deeds, which is only possible if we spend time together, come to know one another, and look out for the interests of one another (Heb 10:24, Phil 2:4). Just as we see in the early Church, we enjoy and are nourished by the good gifts of food and drink with grateful hearts to the Lord by making a regular practice of breaking bread together at the Lord’s table, in weekly fellowship meals after worship services, and in one another’s homes (Acts 2:46-47).  As a people who delight in our God, we raise our voices together to praise God, by whom we were fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139:1-2).  Our people sing out in corporate worship singing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and often pass out sheet music and sing during fellowship gatherings in members’ homes.  Together, we say “Come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh, let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” (Ps 95:1-2).