The Scriptures | The Living God | Jesus | The Holy Spirit | Creation | Man | Salvation | Christian Living
The Resurrection | Satan's Defeat | The Church | Two Ordinances | Return of Christ
Civil Government | Commitment to Family
Philosophy of Worship Music
We believe that the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the inspired word of God without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His Will for the salvation of men, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
The Living God
We believe that there is only one living and true God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are equal and perfect in every divine attribute, and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Revelation 4:11).
Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe in His sinless life, His miracles, and the truth of His teachings. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, according to the Scriptures. Further, He arose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Father, He is now our High Priest and Advocate (Matthew 1:23; Luke 24:38-39; Philippians 2:5-8, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 9:24; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2).
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus, and to convict men of sin, unrighteousness, and judgment. He regenerates (gives spiritual life in Jesus Christ), sanctifies (empowers for holy living), and indwells every believer. His ministry includes the provision of comfort, guidance, instruction, and enablement for godly living and service. The miraculous signs given during the early days of the Church were for a special time and purpose, and not intended to be a pattern for the present day (John 3:5-7; 16:8-11, 14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:7,13; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 12:12; Hebrews 2:1-4; 9:22).
Creation
We believe in the Genesis account of Creation and that it is to be accepted literally and not figuratively; that man was created directly in God's own image and after His own likeness and did not evolve from any lower form of life; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly and God's established law is that they bring forth only "after their kind”; and that God’s work of creation was completed in six solar (24 hour) days. (Gen. 1:1-2:25; John 1; Heb. 11:3).
Man
We believe that man was created by God in His image. By willful transgression man fell into sin and thereby incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God. All human beings are sinners by nature and choice and under the condemnation of a holy God (Genesis 1:27; 3:1-6; 3:9-23; Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 5:10-19).
Salvation
We believe in salvation by grace through faith: that salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all true believers have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish; that this salvation affects the whole man; that apart from Christ there is no possible salvation. (John 1:12; 3:14; 10: 28, 29; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 2:8, 9; Philippians 1:6; Titus 3:5).
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Christian Living
We believe in righteous living and godly works: not as a means of salvation in any sense, but as its proper evidence and fruit; therefore, as Christians we should obey the Word of our Lord, seek the things which are above, walk as He walked, accept as our solemn responsibility the duty and privileges of bearing the gospel to a lost world; in all these remembering that a victorious and fruitful Christian life is possible only for those who in gratitude for the infinite and underserved mercies of God have presented themselves wholly to Christ. (Romans 12:1, 2; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:16).
The Resurrection
We believe that the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection provide the only basis for the justification and salvation of all who believe. Only those who receive Jesus by faith are born of the Holy Spirit and thus become the children of God, a relationship in which they are eternally secure. The true evidence of this new relationship appears in fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life (John 10:27-30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; 1 John 3:6-7).
Satan's Defeat
We believe that Satan, the prince of this world, is the open and declared enemy of God and man. He has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and he and all his angels will be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Matthew 4:1-11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10).
The Church
We believe that the true church is composed of all such persons, who, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The local church is a congregation of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized by immersion on credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, spiritual training, fellowship, and outreach. All believers should assemble regularly and identify themselves with a local church. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23; Hebrews 10:25).
Two Ordinances
We believe that two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Water baptism by immersion is for those who have accepted Christ as personal Savior and is a testimony of identification with Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is a memorial service, setting forth in sacred and symbolic manner the death of the Lord Jesus Christ; all true believers, and only believers, should share in it (Matthew 3:16; Acts 2:41-42; 1 Corinthians 11:28-32).
Return of Christ
We believe in the personal, premillenial, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. This, our "blessed hope," has a vital bearing on our personal lives and service. There will be a bodily resurrection of all the dead: of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, and of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting, conscious punishment (John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Revelation 20:11-15).
Civil Government
We believe that civil government has been divinely appointed for the good of society. Leaders are to be prayed for, honored, and obeyed, except in things opposed to the Scriptures. We believe in the separation of church and state, with each having definite and distinct spheres of responsibility (Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 13:1,7).
Commitment to Family
We believe that the first institution established by God is the family. We commit ourselves to protect the marriage covenant between a man and woman, and maintain moral purity before and during marriage. Parents assume responsibility for the spiritual instruction and training of their children (Genesis 1:27; 2:18; Malachi 3:13-15; Mark 10:7-9; Ephesians 6:4; Hebrews 13:4).
Philosophy of Worship Music
At Grace Church we are unapologetically committed to Body Life and community…even in our choices of worship music. Unfortunately, in our consumer driven culture, the Church, too, has often allowed individuality to supersede community. Integrity and theology in worship are frequently replaced by preference and convenience. Our music in worship, along with all other aspects of ministry, must not be consumer driven. Worship is God driven. He created, He initiates, He leads, He energizes, and He motivates and is the object of all true worship. And God has created us as a local church to be a Body. He is most glorified when the church, as a body, has unity in the midst of diversity.
Many churches today have very different, distinct worship services – often one is contemporary and the other traditional. The result is the unintentional development of two different churches under one roof. That’s not only unhealthy, it’s unbiblical.
At Grace we are committed to a holistic and comprehensive understanding of the gospel. Since the gospel is the good news that God reconciles us not only to Himself but also to one another, the local church should be breaking down walls, not erecting them. God intends the local church to be demonstrating what community looks like when God's reconciling power is at work. Most churches would agree that any segregation arising from racial or economic bigotry runs contrary to the nature of the gospel and should not be tolerated. But there's another kind of segregation, perhaps more subtle, that many churches today have unapologetically embraced. Following the lead of the advertising world, many churches and worship services target specific age groups to the exclusion of others. They forget that, according to the Bible, the church is an all age community, and instead they organize themselves around distinctives dividing the generations: Busters, Boomers, Millennials, Generations X, Y, and Z. Many churches offer a traditional service for the tribe who prefer older music and a contemporary service for the tribe who prefer newer music. The truth is, however, that if the only type of music you employ in a worship service is old, you inadvertently communicate that God was more active in the past than He is in the present. On the other hand, if the only type of music you employ in a worship service is new, you inadvertently communicate that God is more active in the present than He was in the past. It’s noteworthy, too, that what many consider traditional music, is really not all that traditional and as it relates to Church History, is contemporary. Others, who think that they prefer contemporary music, really prefer music that is decades old and is considered archaic in comparison to today’s contemporary music. And it really becomes confusing when someone prefers a song from the last few decades which traditionalists feel is contemporary and those who love contemporary feel is traditional. At Grace, we believe that there are many styles of music that are appropriate and Christ-honoring (1 Cor. 10:31).
At Grace we believe that the only way to musically communicate God’s timeless activity in the life of the local church is to blend the best of the past with the best of the present. In other words, we must remember in our worship that while “contemporary only” believers operate with their heads fixed forward, never looking over their shoulder at the stock from which they have come, and “traditional only” believers operate with their heads on backwards, romanticizing about the past and always wanting to go back, the local church, in contrast from both extremes, is called upon to be a people with swiveling heads: learning from the past, living in the present, and looking to the future. That's the only way to avoid in worship what C.S. Lewis dubbed “chronological snobbery.”
When we separate people according to something as trivial as musical preferences, we evidence a fundamental failure to comprehend the heart of the gospel. We're not only feeding toxic tribalism; we're also saying the gospel can't successfully bring these two different groups together. It's a declaration of doubt about the unifying power of God's gospel. Generational appeal in worship is an admission that the gospel is powerless to join together what man has separated. And building the church on stylistic preferences or age appeal (whether old, middle-aged or young) is just as contrary to the reconciling effect of the gospel as building it on class, race, or gender distinctions. One of the leading ways the church can testify to God's unifying power before our segregated world is to establish and maintain congregations and worship services that transcend cultural barriers, including age and musical styles.
Blended worship then has as its goal the joining together of the people of God in all their diversity, under one roof and in one service, to glorify God through the offering up of corporate praise. The term “blended” speaks of the artful weaving together of varying musical styles and other elements into a seamless tapestry which honors the Lord without alienating any particular group. The strongest argument which can be marshaled in favor of blended worship (as opposed to offering different types of services, such as "traditional" and "contemporary," or only one specialized type) is a biblical and theological one. It relates to the very nature of the church: worship should rightly be blended because the body of Christ itself is blended (1 Cor. 12). By definition the local church gathers into one living organism people from various backgrounds and walks of life; in fact, unity within the kind of diversity seen in the church is in itself a testimony to the divine nature of the institution (Gal. 3:28; Eph. 4:1, 6) because while by nature "birds of a feather flock together," Christ's body invariably includes an unusual combination of quite disparate individuals, who have in common only their faith in and love for Christ.
And that’s the whole point! In order for corporate worship (one of the most important acts that the church does together) to accurately reflect the nature and the unity of the body, it must include the people of God in all of their diversity, unified in the worship by the common focus of that worship: the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory. This Christ centered focus is the key which allows us to transcend petty, man centered squabbles over musical taste and preference. For if we are united in our commitment to the glorification of our Lord through our worship; we will be blessedly distracted from lesser things which might divide us. It is in our corporate worship of all places, that our unity should be most in evidence. It’s a scandal that worship has too often engendered the most divisiveness among God's people in what has been dubbed “worship wars!”
For true blended worship though to really work, all of God's people must be willing to make concessions relative to their own personal preferences – no one will get just the kind of music he or she likes all of the time, but that becomes an acceptable sacrifice in light of the common good. And even beyond the worth of harmonious corporate worship, the process of making such concessions is in itself a spiritual exercise of inestimable value. It pleases the Lord when we are self-sacrificing and place others’ preferences before our own (Rom. 12:10; Phil. 2:3) and “consider one another as more important than ourselves.”
May we as a Body at Grace determine to focus in our worship on the One who alone is worthy of our worship, and in so doing bring to expression the oneness which all we who have trusted in Christ genuinely share. May we seek to please the Lord with our worship, bringing our humble gifts of praise and esteeming as well as the gifts which others bring, to the end that He might be honored not only by our outward expressions but also by the attitudes of hearts, which are far more important to Him anyway! May our worship reflect the unity within diversity which is the beauty of Christ's body, blending “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19) in a harmonious symphony of praise.
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