Distinctives
TRUTH that transforms lives
COMMUNITY that displays Christ
PRAYER that cries 'Your Kingdom Come!'
WORSHIP that is God-centered
MISSION that seeks to show mercy/proclaim truth to spiritually and physically needy people
In the 16th century God performed a work in Europe that changed the entire world. We refer to it today as the Protestant Reformation. While we admittedly do not hold to all of the teachings of the reformers we strongly affirm the 5 Solas of the Protestant Reformation:
Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)
We believe that the Bible is God breathed and that it is our sole authority for faith and practice. Scriptures are not under the authority of the church, or tradition, but the church is under the authority of the scripture. Our doctrine is received only from God’s completed revelation to man.
Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
We believe that salvation is all of grace. The only thing man contributes in his salvation is his sin. Salvation is of the Lord and it is by His unmerited favor that man is redeemed.
Solo Fide (Faith Alone)
Our salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, with no admixture of works. Faith is what connects man to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is through faith alone that man is declared righteous by God the Father.
Solus Christus (Christ Alone)
Faith must have an object and the object of saving faith is Jesus Christ. To be saved a man’s faith must be in Christ alone and in His finished work on the cross where He bore the wrath of God for our sins and in His victorious resurrection verified His work. Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man and His righteousness is the only righteousness God will accept. Faith must be in Christ alone.
Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)
We are created for God’s glory and whatever we do, whether eating, drinking or whatever it may be, should be for the glory of God. In God’s grace man has no room to boast. Salvation is of the Lord and because of this God alone gets the glory for delivering sinners from wrath.
Our Mission: Making disciples of Jesus Christ in Western North Carolina and to the ends of the earth.
-EXPOSITORY PREACHING
Everything we do must start here. People must be fed the Word of God in order for it to have an effect on their mind, their heart, and their life. This comes through the event and the practice of preaching. We are not talking sermonettes for Christianettes. Preaching should be the priority in the church and is to be held in high esteem. What God has to say to man is more important than anything else we do when we come together as a church. Furthermore, not just any approach to preaching will do. God’s people need preaching that communicates His revealed truth. In expository preaching the preacher must give the people what the Lord has proclaimed and not his own opinions or preferences. Therefore when the preacher takes a congregation through books of the Bible, the congregation gets the text as it was written, has the purpose of the text explained to them, and they actually learn the Bible. This is also beneficial to the preacher because as he presents the text in an expository fashion he submits himself to God’s Word and is forced to interact with the scripture text in ways that he might not otherwise and therefore he too learns from the text rather than trying to make the text say what he wants it to say.
-BIBLICAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP
The New Testament pattern for church leadership is as follows 1) Pastors/Elders 2) Deacons 3)Congregation. The men who are to lead the church are pastors (pastor and elder are interchangeable terms) who meet the qualifications of 1Timothy 3. These men are given the responsibility of shepherding the flock of God. They are servants but they are overseeing servants.
-ACCOUNTABILITY AND MEANINGFUL MEMBERSHIP
We believe that membership in the local church should mean something. Membership in a biblical church is reserved for repentant sinners who have professed Christ as Savior and follow His command to be baptized. Those joining the church should be able to agree with the church’s doctrinal position. This is for the health of new members and established members of the church. Church members are to be accountable to one another. We are to give, we are to love, we are to learn and submit and we are to assemble on a regular basis. The members of a local church are accountable to one another and should be willing, if occasion requires, to rebuke in love and or submit to the discipline of the church. As a church we should pray that God would help us to have both the courage and love to hold one another accountable for our own good and God’s glory.
-COMMITMENT TO MISSIONS & A BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF EVANGELISM
Christ commissioned the church to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. The church should have a global view concerning the gospel and Christ’s kingdom. Therefore it should be involved in sending and supporting missionaries. Likewise, evangelism should overflow in the members daily lives. It should be a way of life. God is the One who must save, but we are the means that He uses to bring sinners to repentance. We understand that our responsibility is not to save souls but to give the saving message, knowing that God must grant repentance. Our Biblical soteriology should in no way hinder our evangelism or dull a passion for it, knowing rather that Christ will gather His sheep to Himself and that around His throne will be those He redeemed from every tribe, language, people and nation. Our passion and confidence in evangelism should increase because we know missions is a plan that cannot fail.
-GOD CENTERED GOSPEL AND WORSHIP
We must never turn away from the message of the gospel to a message of self-improvement and success. It is our conviction that the gospel shatters self-esteem. The gospel pulls the rug of self-reliance out from under our feet and causes us to cast ourselves upon the mercy of God. The cross was not designed to make much of man but to reveal man’s corruption. In love, God offered up His own Son to reconcile the world to Himself, which does not show the worth of man but the depravity of man.
A watered down gospel leads to watered down worship. A man-centered gospel produces man-centered worship. When God’s people understand their own inability and radical hostility toward God, it will cause us to see our need for His grace and better appreciate His love/mercy through the cross. We believe that worship is to be weighty and not centered around the sinner but the Savior. If the gospel remains God-centered then He will be glorified and man will be abased. Self-righteousness and self-reliance will fall to the wayside as we cling wholly and only to the cross of Christ where our righteousness alone can be found.
-REPRODUCTION
Our hope is to see people have a passion for God’s glory and the souls of men. Therefore our desire is to make disciples who will be willing to forsake the temporal things of this world, as necessary, to do kingdom work and proclaim the gospel to those who haven’t heard it. In addition, we desire to see believers who are burdened to see purity in the American church through God-centered church planting and revitalization. Furthermore we know that God has given us a promise that He will go with us as we carry the gospel and we pray that many will go for the glory of God.