God-centred
The great purpose of God’s Church is to glorify him, and this is chiefly why we meet. We want to worship him; adore him; exalt him; and give him all the thanks and praise that is his due. We will not be content with gathering for anything less than this high, holy, and soul-satisfying purpose.
Gospel-Focused
The gospel of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection is the very reason that we are able to worship God. We want to acknowledge it, proclaim it, be reminded of it, celebrate it, and be built up in it, every time we meet. We will not be content if its truths do not permeate our entire service.
Bible Based & Bible Saturated (Truthful)
Scripture defines our faith, it guides our worship, and it equips & empowers our service. For this reason, our meetings must be biblical. God’s Word must govern the manner and content of our worship, and by the working of the Holy Spirit, be our all-sufficient wellspring of life. We will not be content with half-truths, platitudes, and unbiblical teaching.
Faithful, Heartfelt Preaching
God’s word is authoritative and powerful. Those who teach it from our pulpit must – as far as they are able to – faithfully communicate it as such. Their duty is to be a mouthpiece for the whole counsel of God, as it is delivered to us in His written word; teaching it, proclaiming it, and applying it in a manner that is true to its God-intended meaning and sentiment. This is our responsibility unto God, who by His Spirit, can use our efforts as He pleases for the edification of our congregation. We will not be content with any manner of deceit, hypocrisy, pretense, exaggeration, posturing, pampering, or any similarly disgraceful practise in the pulpit.
Earnest, Passionate & Reverent (Good)
The tone of our entire worship service ought to be characterised by deep reverence, heartfelt love, and genuineness. God wants worshippers who come before him in Spirit and truth, with reverence and awe. We are disinterested in offering God anything that is trite, superficial, and irreverent. Our worship must flow from a humble and upright heart.
Undistracting & Excellent (Beautiful)
We want to glorify God by offering him glorious praise, yet in doing so; we do not want people’s attention to be diverted from God himself. We will not be satisfied with any manner or form of clumsiness or cleverness that distracts, and does not aid the congregation in their worship of God.
High Regard For The Sacraments
The sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism are both a sign and a seal of the Gospel to God’s Church. With joy we regularly celebrate them, but not without due reverence. Our elders must strive to administer them in a Gospel-filled and God-exalting way. And our congregation must worthily participate in them. We will not tolerate a shallow, flippant, or careless practice of these high ordinances.
Prayerful
Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” We want prayers to be woven throughout our entire liturgy. Prayers of thanks, praise, adoration, supplication, confession and even lament. The prayers can be written or unplanned, but must be rooted in God’s word.
Congregational Singing
God has commanded Churches to regularly sing; sing unto his glory and for our mutual edification. Our songs must be chosen with appropriate musical style, song composition, and poetic expression, as would assist the singing of the congregation. And chief among all, the lyrical content must be biblically faithful and theologically accurate.
Expectant of God’s Powerful Working Amongst Us
We do not just direct ourselves towards God but we desire that He would also draw near to us, as we earnestly seek him according to the promise of James 4:8. We believe that in our public worship, and through the means of grace, God draws near to us in power, and makes Himself known and felt, for our edification and the salvation of unbelievers in our midst. We will not be content with fabricating God’s presence or power, nor will we tolerate unbiblical mediums of seeking his presence and power.
Historically Informed Yet Contemporary
We want to praise God in a manner that will be an honest expression our personal affections and cultural preferences, but at the same time we want our liturgy to be influenced, as much as is helpful, by our rich Christian and Reformed heritage. For this reason we will make use of songs, prayers, creeds, and confessions from centuries gone-by, if they will be edifying to the church.
Sincere, Christ Centred Fellowship
Our fellowship strives to be a visible demonstration of the unity that we spiritually share with one another in our union with Christ. We want our fellowship with one another to be typified by genuine love, self-sacrificial care, brotherly affection, abounding hospitality, up-building interaction, abhorrence of evil and abounding with prayer. We are not interested in being a congregation segregated by culture, interests, ethnicity, age, or social class, nor are we content with superficiality. We want to be a community that honours and richly enjoys our Christ-bought-unity – even here on earth – as we look forward to that great day when Jesus Christ will be worshipped by the songs of “every tribe and tongue, and people and nation.” (Rev. 5:9).
Christ-Like Leadership & Humble Submission
The Lord Jesus Christ, as the King, Great Shepherd, and Head of His Church has appointed church officers to oversee the care, protection, and growth of His ransomed people. This duty belongs to the office of Elder (i.e. overseer, presbyter, pastor, bishop). Our ministers take their responsibilities very seriously, and likewise the congregation their support of and submission to these authorities (Heb. 13:17).