Doctrinal Distinctives
Reformed Theology – We believe that Scripture reveals the all-glorious triune God as the source and end of all things (Rom 11:36). That he works all things according to His sovereign will (Eph 1:11) and that at the centre of God’s purpose in the world is the exaltation of his glory through the redemption of sinners (John 17:1-26). Therefore we believe that God sovereignly chooses men and women to be saved in order to show hs immeasurable grace and glory (Eph 1:3-6, Rom 9:11). God’s sovereign grace in salvation humbles us, fills up with gratitude and compels is to worship Him and share the message of His grace to all people.
Gospel-centred Doctrine and preaching – We believe that the Gospel – the good news of God’s salvation in and through Jesus Christ is the pinnacle of His redemptive acts (Eph 1:9-12), the centre of the message of the Bible (Luke 24:44-47) and the unique and essential message for our faith, life and witness (1 Cor 15:3-11) We are committed to preaching the gospel, singing the gospel, praying the gospel, and building our churches upon the gospel (2 Tim 4:2; Col 3:16; Matt 16:18). Our ultimate hope in all that we do is not our plans and labours, but the perfect life, substitutionary death, victorious resurrection, and glorious ascension of Jesus Christ.
Continuationist Pneumatology – With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, God’s purpose to dwell among His people entered a new era (Exo 33:14–16; Lev 26:12; John 14:16–17; Acts 2:14–21). We believe the Holy Spirit desires to continually fill each believer with increased power for Christian life and witness, including the giving of His supernatural gifts for the building up of the church and for various works of ministry in the world (Acts 1:8; Gal 5:16–18; 1 Cor 12:4–7). We are eager to pursue God’s active presence in all its breadth, that Christ may be magnified in our lives, in the church, and among the nations (Psalm 105:4; 1 Cor 14:1; Eph 2:22).
Complementarian Leadership in the Home and in the Church – We believe it was God’s glorious plan to create men and women in His image, giving them equal dignity and value in His sight, while appointing differing and complementary roles for them within the home and the church (Gen 1:26–28; Eph 5:22–33; 1 Tim 2:8–15). Because these roles give different expressions to God’s image in humanity, they should be valued and pursued in joy and faith. As the redeemed community of God, the church has a unique opportunity and responsibility to celebrate this complementarity, to contend for it against cultural hostility, and to protect it from sinful distortions.
Elder-led – Jesus Christ reigns as head over His church, and He gives to His church elders (or pastors) to govern and lead local churches under His authority (Col 1:18; Eph 4:11; Titus 1:5). We believe that men, qualified by both character and gifting, are to serve as elders, shepherding God’s people as under-shepherds of Christ (1 Tim 2:12; 3:1–7; 1 Pet 5:1–3). A church’s health is to a great degree dependent on the health of its elders, and so our aim is to strengthen the current elders in our churches while identifying and training new ones (Acts 20:28; 2 Tim 2:2).
Church Planting, Outreach, and Global Mission – Our gospel-centrality entails not only treasuring the gospel personally but sharing it passionately. The risen Christ commissioned His church to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18–20). We believe that commission falls to us and to all believers and that it is fulfilled in a primary way through church planting, whereby the gospel is proclaimed and converts are formed into communities of disciples (Acts 2:21–47; 14:23). We are eager to pursue this mission, relying fully on the Holy Spirit, to see the gospel proclaimed and churches planted throughout the world, that God may be glorified among every tribe, language, people, and nation (Rev 7:9–12).
United in Fellowship, Mission, and Governance – We believe that the unity for which Jesus prayed among His people should find concrete expression among believers and churches. Indeed, the New Testament testifies to a vibrant interdependence among churches in the first century (John 17:20–21; Acts 16:4–5; 1 Cor 11:16; Gal 2:7–10).
We seek to express a similar interdependence through our common fellowship, mission, and governance. Our fellowship extends beyond our affiliations; we are committed to working with other Gospel-centred church fellowships. Our goal is applying the gospel together in relationships that foster mutual encouragement, care, and a glad pursuit of Christlikeness.
The above points are based upon Sovereign Grace’s seven shared values.
Believer’s Baptism – We believe that baptism is an act of obedience to Jesus Christ following salvation in and through Jesus Christ (Matt 28:19; Mark 16:16). Baptism is an outward testimony of the inward change salvation through Christ brings. It demonstrates that we are dead to self and raised to new life in Him. We believe that all thouse who profess faith in Jesus Christ should take this step of obediece regardless of whether they were sprinkled as a child or not.
Creation – We believe that God speaks clearly through His Word (the perspicuity of Scripture) and that He does not have difficulty making Himself known. We therefore accept the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 as true, literal and historical accounts of the creation and not needing any extra-biblical arbiters to understand them. We understand the text to be clear as Jesus Christ Himself did (Mark 10:5-9) of whom Scripture reveals He is the one through whom all things were made (John 1:10, Col 1:16; Rev 4:11) and for (Col 1:16)
As an affiliate church of FIEC, we have adopted and affirm the FIEC statements on Gospel Unity, Women in Ministry and Same Sex Marriage.