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Friday, May 09, 2008 |
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What are our distinctives?
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Worship:
The Divine Service of Covenant Renewal is the centerpiece
of who we are and what we do. Worship focuses upon the Triune
God of grace for we recognize that on the Lord's Day we come
into the Father's presence in union with Jesus Christ by the
power of the Holy Spirit to receive God's gifts of forgiveness,
instruction, and communion. Worship is participational as
we respond to these gifts with thanksgiving, offerings and
praise. Worship is guided by Scripture, expositional in its
teaching, sensitive to the liturgical tradition of the Reformation
and engaging and intelligible to people today.
Discipleship:
As the body of Christ we are to mature and grow up into Him
who is the Head, that is Christ. We are to be transformed
by the renewing of our minds through the ministry of the Word
of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. This mandate of discipleship
is commanded in Scripture, initiated in baptism, and fulfilled
through godly and incisive instruction. We recognize that
one of our greatest responsibilities is the nurture of our
children in the faith. As a church we take seriously our membership
vows to assist each other in this endeavor by providing an
integrated and systematic program of instruction for all ages.
This instruction is to be both rooted in Scripture and catechetical.
Community:
We understand the value of fellowship in creating a true sense
of community at Christ Church. We understand that our relational
unity is demonstrative of the unity of our triune God and
our love for one another analogues the mutual submission and
love found in the Holy Trinity. We seek to promote community
through hospitality with the goal of building significant
and meaningful friendships. We organize regular church-wide
fellowship gatherings as well as specific fellowship opportunities
for the men, women, and children of Christ Church. We also
seek to use times of fellowship and hospitality as a means
of welcoming and bringing in visitors and new members.
Evangelism:
It is our purpose as a church to reach our neighbors and communities
with the Good News of God's grace. We do this through a form
of worship that expresses the gospel itself. We also do this
through Christ centered, grace focused preaching. We minister
to our community through service and mercy, building bridges
for evangelism. Through education, we strive to equip our
members for evangelism that they may "always be prepared
to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason
for the hope that we have." (I
Peter 3:15)
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