Convictions of Grace Church

Confident in God’s Word

We believe in the sufficiency and authority of God’s word, the Bible, as the ultimate measure of our faith and practice as a church. We trust that the Spirit-powered preaching of the Scriptures will, by God’s grace, make us more like Christ. (Isaiah 40:8, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 3:16, 4:1–2)

Gospel Centered

The proclamation of the gospel, the good news of the person and work of Jesus Christ—his life, death, and resurrection—will be our constant aim. We are amazed by the grace of God, who welcomes the undeserving into fellowship with himself forever. (John 3:16–17, 1 Corinthians 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Timothy 1:15)

Missional and Evangelistic

We are a church that longs to see others come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Rather than being inwardly focused, our prayer is that God will use us to bring others into the family of God by means of their trusting in the Lord Jesus. (Matthew 28:18–20, Acts 1:8)

Ministering to Children and Youth

Children’s and youth ministries must remain a vital part of church ministry. The earlier in life a person comes into the Kingdom, the greater the spiritual benefits will be—to the child, the church, the nation, and the world at large. (Psalm 78:5–7, 2 Timothy 1:5–7)

Developing Relationships and Community

The church is not an institution, but a household of faith. It is not a gathering where we remain aloof from others or seek anonymity, but a family living life together as brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

What does this look like? Not only do we celebrate our joys together, we also mourn our losses together. We seek out one another for counsel and help in our lives. We desire to build one another up into the likeness of Christ.

The body of Christ is collaborative. It is not a professionalized institution where the staff do the work and the congregation consumes. Each part has a function and by doing its share, edifies the whole body. (1 Corinthians 12:12–27)

Celebratory

We will be a family of faith that celebrates what God is doing in our midst. We will make it a point to rejoice in God and in his great work in our lives. (Psalm 122:1, Isaiah 63:7, Habakkuk 3:17–18)

Open and Welcoming

We will be a household of faith that holds Jesus at the center. While recognizing the importance of secondary and tertiary matters, we lean towards liberty. We are a people who seek the welfare of others before our own. We feel the freedom to dress up or dress down. We feel the freedom to voice our opinions without judgment from others, while remembering to tremble before God’s Word. (Isaiah 66:2, 2 Corinthians 3:17, 2 Timothy 2:14)

Holy

We rejoice in the spiritual power God provides so that we can be holy, as he is holy. We rejoice in the marital love between a man and a woman that reflects the love of Christ and his Church; in the wisdom of God seen in his reservation of sexual intimacy to that relationship; and in the gift of singleness. We rejoice that God created man and woman to be equal in dignity and personhood, and to be complementary to one another in love and support within the home and the church. (Genesis 1:27, 2:24, 1 Corinthians 7:7, 1 Peter 1:15–16)

Liturgical

We believe that liturgy in our Sunday gatherings (traditional elements such as set prayers, responses, and the ancient creeds) points us to the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. We are not liturgical because we believe that liturgy has any special efficacy in and of itself, but because our liturgy declares the gospel in time-honored ways. We believe that both the form and content are important for communicating the gospel to those who participate in our Sunday gatherings. (Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 14:6–12)