Our Distinctives

Liturgy means "public service," which has come to commonly refer to the order of how a Lord's Day Service is run. Every church has an order or structure (written or otherwise) of how the service flows from one thing to the next. Some are more complex than others, and we certainly understand that to many modern Evangelicals, the way we worship is foreign and even too Roman Catholic. (See our FAQ section on this exact point) However, a participatory liturgical service was a recapturing of historic Christianity during the Protestant Reformation against the observational form of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. We certainly want to be participants in this historical connection. But, we do not subscribe to a mere adoption of liturgies for their historic value. We hold firmly to the Regulative Principle of Worship. We believe that the Scriptures are clear that God is to be worshipped in good order, and that the good order ought to be shaped by the Scriptures themselves. This pattern you will see below. 

When we refer to Lord's Day Worship as “Covenant renewal,” we do not mean that the Covenant God has made with us itself has an expiration date on it, like a lease or milk. The New Covenant with God is eternal and does not expire. Rather we mean that Covenant is a relationship, therefore it is designed to grow and flourish. Just as a meal renews the body, so also the worship of God renews Covenant with Him; reinvigurating and rejuvenating us. 

In the Old Testament, there were three distinct kinds of sacrifices—the Guilt Offering, the Ascension Offering (often translated as whole burnt offering), and the Peace Offering. The Guilt Offering was intended to address a particular sin on the part of the worshipper. The Ascension Offering was an offering of entire dedication, and the whole sacrificed animal ascended to God in the column of smoke as an offering to Him. The Peace Offering, the worshipper was privileged to partake of the offering, as a covenant meal. When ever those three offerings are mentioned together in the Old Testament, they are listed in that order, which makes good sense. You deal with the guilt first, you dedicate all to God, and then you have communion with God. All of these offerings are mirrored in the New Testament as well, finding their "yes, and amen," in Jesus who is the sure fulfillment of the whole sacrifical system of the Old Covenant. Because of what Scripture teaches us about worship, we believe Covenant Renewal Worship follows this structure. So this is why our Lord's day Services, once God's Call is invoked, contain these three elements: Confession of our sins (where we also receive the Assurance of Pardon), Consecration (dedication) of ourselves to God through His Word, and then Communion, where we eat a meal with God and one another at His Table. Once that is all done, we receive God's Commission to go out into a lost world that needs to hear about Jesus Christ, being salt and light wherever He sends us. 

We teach and believe that relationship with God is not private, isolated piety, but with a particular people through Covenants which structures every sphere of life. It is a joyful, structured, generational way of life under the gracious rule of King Jesus. 

The Household is the basic Covenantal unit. Husbands are the Covenantal heads of their households, who lead and instruct their households in being faithful to God and His Word. Therefore, we seek to encourage and respect the authority of the husband/father as covenantal head over his family. Parents work toward raising Coveant heirs who bear the signs and seals of God's Covenant. Furthermore, we believe families should act as a unit within the local church. Therfore, we believe heads of households should vote on behalf of their families when the Elders call for a vote. 

The visible, local church is a Covenant Community: a family of families bound together in Christ and under His authority. For this reason, we renew Covenant every Lord's Day by reminding ourselves of the works of God and His Promises in Word and the Sacraments. The entrance into the Covenant people is by baptism, whether infants of believing parents or new believers. We also believe that all baptized members, when they are physically able, ought to participate in the Covenant Meal, where we commune with God and one another, re-affirming our vows respectively. 

Because Jesus is King of Kings, we labour to disciple our nation (and all nations), seeking His Lordship on culture, law, and public life through multi-generational Covenant Faithfulness. 

We believe God has made two genders/sexes - men and women - who are equal in worth and value as Image Bearers of God, but not in their roles and duties. We believe men are made to protect the vulnerable (chiefly, their family), and to provide for their family. (Spiritual needs, phyical needs, etc.) This means living for them, as well as being willing to die for them. They are also given the responsiblity to lead at home (primarily), at church, and the State. They are to love and lead their wives as Christ loves the Church, in a gentle and understanding way.

We also believe that women are primarily to be the administrators of their home, to be their husband's help-mate, submitting and obeying his lawful rule, to beautify and make useful the raw resources he brings home, to nurture and train up the next generation: their children. 

We reject all forms of feminism, both overt and covert, believing that it is a destructive idealogy to society with its primary attack on the family. 

From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture is concerned with the Cosmic Redemption of Creation. Man as God’s creature is being recreated into the image of Christ (2 Cor 5:17). As such, we believe in the inseparable bond between the original Dominion Mandate given at Creation (Gen 1:26–28) and the Great Commission given moments before Christ’s Ascension (Matt 28:18–20). We believe that the power of the Gospel brings all aspects of our fallen, sin-corrupted lives under the rule of King Jesus as He exercises His authority over all things, whether things in heaven or on earth. By His Holy Spirit and through His people, Christ is slowly and steadily, but surely and unstoppably, liberating everything in His good world from the slavery of sin, corruption, and death and setting it right again under His holy rule. As ambassadors of Christ's, the Church is commanded to disciple entire nations by baptizing and teaching the families that make up those nations to obey everything our Lord has taught us in His Word, as it pertains to every sphere of life—whether in the home, church, or civil society—and leading by example as we do so. We are meant to faithfully do all this, trusting in Him who promised to be with us by His Spirit until the very end of time, who ensures that our labours are not in vain but that they will, rather, be a resounding success in the end, to the everlasting praise and glory of His name alone.

There is not one square inch in the entire universe that is not Christ's. (Matt. 28:18ff; Col. 1:16-18) Therefore, we believe that Scripture teaches that God has made spheres of government, each given responsibilities, mandates, and limits given them by God: namely, Households, the Church, and the State. Therefore, no single sphere may absorb or dominate the responsiblities or mandates of another. For example, the State is called to put down wickedness and uphold righteousness, as depicted in their symbol of "sword." But, it ought not intrude in raising children, which is a duty given to parents, nor intrude in determining how churches ought to worship. Further, these only work in proper submission to God, not seeking to usurp authority from Him as well. Therefore, we believe, teach, and exhort that all peoples must live in accordance to their proper calling, in their respective spheres, according to the authority of Christ.