Statement of Faith

The Scriptures

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original texts and fully accurate in all matters. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the primary source for, and the final authority in, all matters of faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).

God

God is a spiritual being who exists eternally as a Trinity of three distinct persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each of whom is fully divine, yet there is only one God (Deut. 6:4; Mt. 28:19; Jn. 4:24; 10:30; 2 Cor. 13:14). He is the perfect and perfectly good Creator and Sovereign of the universe (Gen. 1-2; Ps. 24:1-2; 115:3).

Jesus Christ

The eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, became incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, and is fully God and fully human. Having lived a sinless life, he died on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for man's sins and was bodily resurrected three days later. He is currently seated in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, where He makes intercession for His children. He will one day return to defeat Satan and judge the living and the dead (Jn. 1:1-18; 1 Cor. 15:1-5; Col. 1:13-20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 1:1-9; Heb. 7:25; Rev. 20:11-15).

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. His activity in the believer's life includes regeneration, conviction of sin, indwelling, baptism, sealing, sanctifying, and empowering (Jn. 3:3-7; 16:8; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:12; 6:19; 12:13; Eph. 4:30; Titus 3:5).

Man

Man is created male and female in the image of God and therefore possesses inherent dignity and worth. Because of Adam's disobedience every person is born condemned, corrupted, accursed, and alienated from the holy God. Consequently, man can do nothing to merit or contribute to his salvation but rather must receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith in Christ's completed work (Gen. 1:27; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-10).

Salvation

The basis of salvation is Christ's perfect life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection. The means of receiving this salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Jn. 3:16; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Rom. 3:21-31; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Eph. 1:4-5; 2:8-9). Eternal salvation is assured for all who are in Christ (Jn. 10:27-30; Rom. 8:28-39; Jude 24). The believer's assurance of salvation is based upon the internal witness of the Spirit and the external testimony of a transformed life (Rom. 8:16-17; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; 5:11-13).

Sanctification

Salvation results in positional, progressive, an ultimate sanctification (Jn. 17:15-17; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 5:26-27; Phil. 2:12-13 1 Jn. 3:2). Every believer is called and enabled to live a godly life and is given one or more spiritual gifts for the edification of the body and the proclamation of the gospel (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12, 14; Eph. 4; 1 Pet. 4).

The Church

The Church is the body and bride of Christ and is comprised of all true believers. Christ created His Church to glorify God by making disciples of all nations. Membership in the universal Church is enjoyed and expressed through full participation in the local assembly (1 Cor. 12:4-13, 27; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:24-30; Heb. 10:24-25).

Ordinances

The Bible sets forth two ordinances, the Lord's Supper and water baptism. The Lord's Supper is to be observed regularly in remembrance of Christ's atoning death, in celebration of His communion with His Church, and in anticipation of His return. Baptism is obligatory for every believer and a prerequisite for local church membership. Baptism is not essential for salvation but rather accompanies conversion as a sign of the believer's salvation and consecration, his identification with the death and resurrection of Christ, and his entrance into the Body of Christ (Mt. 28:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

The Eternal State

The blessed hope and joyful expectation of the Church is to live forever with her God. Christ will return and bodily raise to life those who have died, judge the living and the dead, and righteously consign every soul to either eternal bliss or eternal condemnation (Dan. 12:2; Mt. 24:29-30; 25:31-46; Jn. 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:42-49; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 20:11-15; Rev. 21-22).

Membership Commitment

Having surrendered my life to Christ,

having been baptized as a believer,

and having affirmed the GBC statement of faith,

I desire to unite with the GBC family.

By God’s grace, I will gladly share the Christian life

with my brothers and sisters at Grace,

gather regularly with the Body for worship,

submit to leaders as they submit to Christ,

and support the mission of the

church with my time, treasure, and talents

Church Distinctives

  • A Reformed view of man and salvation, including the total depravity of man, the sovereign grace of God in salvation, and the eternal security of all who are truly saved.

  • We are committed to preaching sequentially through whole books of the Bible as the main diet of the church. We seek, by God’s help, to rightfully submit the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text.

  • There are two church offices according to Scripture: elders and deacons.

    Elders are to be godly, qualified men who lead as teachers and shepherds of the church. They are devoted to teaching, prayer, and the ministry of the Word.

    Deacons, on the other hand, are servants of the church, focusing on practical needs to help protect the unity of the whole body.

  • A complementarian view of gender roles, affirming that God creates men and women equal in value and dignity but distinct in their roles within the church and family.

  • We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Trinity. This is an act of obedience and a public declaration of faith. We understand this to be a prerequisite of church membership and the Lord’s Supper, in which the members of the church regularly commemorate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus together.

  • We believe that the church is a fundamentally an assembly of people, and therefore, to divide these people across multiple services or campuses is to make each its own church. Therefore, we are committed to only having one assembly so we can meaningfully live out all that is outlined in our Church Committment.

  • We believe that the fundamental call and duty of the church is, as individuals is to be disciples, and as a corporate body is to make disciples. When we gather as a body, we seek to do that together which we could not do on our own—to be an embassy for Christ that is in the business of making disciples.

Ministries We Appreciate