If you are new to the area or do not have a church that preaches the Christian Gospel, we are happy to tell you a little bit about what it would mean to be a part of our church family.
1. What We Believe and Teach
a. The Gospel and the Church
b. The Gospel in All of Scripture and Expository Preaching
c. Reformed and Baptist
2. Sunday Morning Worship Service
a. Service Info
b. A Whole-Family Gathering
c. The Lord's Supper and Church Membership
d. The Elements of Our Worship (What to Expect in Our Services)
3. Church Life
a. Membership
b. Family Life
a. The Gospel and The Church
The Good News of Jesus Christ is the only way to be a Christian, and the foundation of all of our life as Christians. It makes us a part of the church and is the foundation of the church.
The Gospel says that all human beings have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. This goes back to our first parents, Adam and Eve, whose sin caused us to live in a state of being God’s enemies - both in our actions and our standing before God. The only way to live as God’s child and enjoy His presence for all eternity was to live a perfect life - something every single one of us has failed to do. There is no way to be saved by God because you are good enough or have done enough. By our own actions, we can only receive what God’s enemies deserve, death and an eternity of punishment.
But God made a way to be saved that depends not on us, but on Himself and His own grace. And this is what He accomplished through God the Son - Jesus Christ. Jesus became a man and lived the perfect life that deserved an eternal life with God. Then, even though He was perfect, He bore the full wrath of God, the punishment of an enemy on a cross. He did that so that, if you trust in Him, you can receive His perfect record. He took what we deserve so that we can have what He deserves, an eternity delighting in the presence of God as a Son. His death broke the curse of death, and three days later He rose from the dead. After many witnesses saw this, he ascended to heaven where He is now, ruling over His people, the church, until all creation is subjected to Him and heaven and earth are remade into a paradise over which God has placed Jesus as king.
So if you repent of your sin, which is living as God’s enemy, and put your trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, calling out to Him for salvation, you will surely be saved, and you can be confident that you will spend all eternity with Him as God’s child.
The church, which means the gathering or assembly, simply means all those who have been gathered out of God’s enemies by faith in Jesus to become God’s people. So the Gospel creates the church. Since God established His people, He has called them to gather together to worship Him and care for one another. That is how the church expresses itself as churches - like ours. We are very confident then, that the Gospel remains the foundation of everything we are and do as a church.
b. The Gospel in All of Scripture and Expository Preaching
The good news of Jesus is the main headline of the Bible, and every historical event, teaching and poem in the Bible participates in this grand historical story of redemption and salvation. Jesus Himself said this was true. This means that whenever we preach the Bible, or teach it with any depth, we will miss what is true if we do not show how every part illuminates and contributes to this good news of Jesus.
As we teach this gospel, we believe it is necessary to proclaim the whole counsel of God from all the Scriptures. This means that the main teaching diet of our church is expository preaching - which means that we open the Bible together, hear what it says and then explain its meaning. We do this primarily by walking through books of the Bible. So our sermon series’ will usually follow books of the Bible.
Our preachers, teachers and leaders desire that everything that we teach and do would be weighed and evaluated based on the perfect truth of Scripture.
c. Reformed and Baptist
The beliefs and teaching of our church could be summarized as Reformed and Baptist. Reformed means our teaching goes back to those truths which men reclaimed at the Reformation. Fundamentally it is expressed by the belief that our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And that this is known by Scripture alone, and all glory goes to God alone.
To be baptist means that we believe that every church is autonomous and free from the control of other churches or larger organizations. This means that the elders (or overseers) of a church are the highest level of authority. We believe that elders and deacons are the only biblically recognized church officers. This also makes church membership important. We believe that each church is visible in its members, which is to say those who have covenanted to one another to rest in the gospel and be built up in it together. Membership in the church is expressed by baptism upon profession of faith, and continually expressed by the taking of the Lord’s Supper.
To understand what we believe and teach more, we would invite you to look at our statements Look under “About” > “What We Believe.” Of note is the Core Confession, which is the summary of the gospel faith which we see as necessary to recognize and receive someone into membership in our church family.
While we believe churches are autonomous, we enjoy a number of voluntary associations with likeminded churches based on shared convictions or goals. You can find those in “About” > “Gospel Partnerships.”
a. Service Info
At the heart of what we do as a church family, is gather once a week on the Lord’s Day to worship God together. We believe that this regular gathering for worship is commanded by God, just as God’s people have been commanded to worship since they were His people.
We gather at 10:30am on Sunday Mornings at 751 Kildare Ave E. Services run until roughly noon, and people are invited to stay after the service to chat.
Except for summers and holidays, we have classes for all ages before the service at 9:30am-10:15am.
If you have a Bible, bring it with you. If you need one, please ask so one can be given to you. We need our Bibles during the service to follow along and to be sure that everything being taught is the word of God; the voice of Jesus our Shepherd.
b. A Whole-Family Gathering
There are many things that we do as members of a church family, but the worship service on the Lord’s Day -the day of the week our Lord was resurrected - is the required gathering of the church. We do not see the worship service as an event that people attend, rather it is a gathering of family members. It is a gift to each family member for our faith in Christ and love of the church family. And so it is something that the Lord says we should not neglect.
This also means that the entire family is welcome in the worship service. This includes our children. We do not have any children’s programming scheduled during the service, and we want our children among our gathered church family. We do not want concern about children’s behaviour or formality to be a barrier to a person’s being a part of our worship services. Families are expected to come as they are.
We do provide a nursery where parents can take their children under age two. They can leave them with a nursery attendant or remain there with their children.
c. The Lord’s Supper and Church Membership
One of the main ways we express that we the worship service is the gathering of a family is by coming around the Lord’s Table together, or communion. This is when we pass around wine (at our church we use individual cups of non-alcoholic juice), and bread (at our church we use gluten free bread), which remind us that the body and blood of Jesus was given for us. Because this is something that we do as members of a family gathered together, we believe that the Lord’s Supper is meant to be taken only by members of churches - that is all the members of our church along with visiting members of other church families which preach the same gospel. Children and non-members are very welcome at our service, but they will view, rather than participate in the supper until they have been baptized and recognized to be a part of God’s church family.
d. The Elements of Our Worship (What to Expect in Our Services)
Just as we gather to worship because God has commanded it, we also believe that all of the elements of our worship service are required by God and that we are only to do what is required by God. This is called the Regulative Principle of Worship. So this is what you can expect as a part of our worship service.
A reading of the gospel and a call to worship
Worship in Song
The Reading of Scripture
Corporate Prayer
The Preaching of the Gospel through the Word
Benediction (Blessings for the Church)
Baptisms and Lord’s Supper
a. Membership
Membership in our family is important. It is how we know whose faith we want to affirm and strengthen, and who we feel a duty to show particular care for as members of our family for whom we are responsible. To say of this church “it is my church” is not simply to say that it is a place that we go, but a family we are a part of. Therefore, we urge you to very quickly inquire about church membership.
b. Family Life
As a gathered family, we recognize that we have a number of obligations to one another. Fellowship in our homes, around the table and the Bible is an essential part of being a part of God’s family. Therefore, come expecting to offer and receive hospitality, and expect us as a church to limit other activities to allow you to make this a priority. Deacons are appointed to oversee and ensure that the church is looking after its family members.
Our church family does enjoy a few organized studies and ministries, which are all meant to participate in God’s design for His church. The main goal in all of these is to give people opportunities to enjoy hospitality while also being trained up by God’s word through teachers the church has trained or verified. You will find these under “Ministries” and “Events.”
For any organized ministries involving children or multiple persons, we have implemented a safety training and necessary screening for all of our volunteers.