OUR DISTINCTIVES

We understand the Bible to be the inspired and inerrant Word of God. We believe in the plenary inspiration of Scripture, meaning every Word of the original text was God-breathed (Matthew 5:17-19). As such it is the sole source and standard for matters of faith and practice for the believer. It is sufficient to meet every spiritual need of the Christian (2 Peter 1:3). The Bible should be understood plainly and literally unless there is reason in a given passage to believe that it was intended to be taken otherwise (e.g. figures of speech, prophetic language, etc.). The meaning of the Scripture can be understood through careful (2 Timothy 2:15) and prayerful (1 John 2:27) study. We believe that it is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Revelation 22:19).

We believe that the Protestant Reformation was a real recovery of the Biblical truth concerning salvation and the role of the Scriptures in the life of the believer and the Church. We firmly embrace the 5 Solas (Latin for “alone”) of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria. We also recognize that the Bible places a strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God. We believe that God has chosen some to salvation before the foundation of the world, while allowing others to remain in their sin. God’s sovereign election is by His choice alone, and is not based on any inherent goodness in man or anything he does of his own merit. (Ephesians 1:3-12; 2:1-10; Romans 3:10-12; 8:28-30; 9:13-24; John 6:37, 44-45; 15:16; 1 John 4:19; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; 1 Peter 1:1-2)

Biblically, the focal point of all church leadership is the elder. An elder is one of a plurality of biblically qualified men who jointly shepherd and oversee a local body of believers. The word translated “elder” is used nearly twenty times in Acts and the epistles in reference to this unique group of leaders who have responsibility for overseeing the people of God. The consistent pattern throughout the New Testament is that each local body of believers is shepherded by a plurality of God-ordained elders. Simply stated, this is the only pattern for church leadership given in the New Testament. Nowhere in Scripture does one find a local assembly ruled by majority opinion or by a single pastor. At Berean Covenant, we are led by a plurality of elders who are equal in position, and whose decisions are made by unanimous consent. (Acts 6:4; 15:6-29; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1-5)

Because we believe in the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture, we practice systematic exposition in our preaching ministry. That means we preach verse-by-verse through sections of the Bible in order to faithfully proclaim “the whole council of God” to his people. (Acts 20:27; Luke 24:27; 2 Timothy 2:15)

Our goal is not to grow as fast as we can. Our goal is to grow as healthy as we can. We are very deliberate in our membership process. Every member of Berean Covenant Church is carefully examined to determine whether or not they truly understand and have experienced biblical conversion. Our goal here is not elitism. We simply wish to avoid giving false assurance to those who are not truly regenerate. (Matthew 7:15-23; Acts 2:41-47; 4:32; 5:11-13; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

We believe the church is the family of God. The church is a body of individual believers who have been grafted into Christ and adopted into God’s family (1 Peter 4:17; 1 Timothy 3:15; John 15; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:19; Galatians 4:1-7). We do not divide the church into sub-groups through age-based ‘ministries’ so the entire family of God can worship, pray, receive instruction, and fellowship together. We worship as a whole and minister to the whole (Acts 2:42-47; Acts 5:12; 1 Corinthians 12:25). We provide childcare for children four years old and under so parents are able to regularly participate in corporate worship (Galatians 5:13). It is also our desire to maintain order and minimize distractions so we may focus solely on the Lord during worship (1 Corinthians 14:40). Some of our Bible study courses involve homework and in-depth study that is designed for a more advanced reading and comprehension level. During these specific study times, we often provide an optional Bible study for children twelve years old and under, led by a teacher approved by the Elders.

Our mission is not to get as many people to “walk the aisle” as possible. We desire to see true conversion. We constantly proclaim and explain the gospel, and take our time with people struggling to understand what it means to follow Christ (Romans 3:23; 5:8; 10:9-14; Ephesians 2:1-10; Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46; 2 Corinthians 13:5, etc). We acknowledge that concepts such as “making a decision for Christ”, the “Sinner’s Prayer”, and invitation hymns are not biblical. We proclaim the gospel call of repentance and faith in Christ alone as the biblical message of salvation. We are especially careful with children and would never manipulate or rush any child (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2).

The New Testament has surprisingly little to say about worship styles, but it speaks clearly about our worship being orderly and for the glory of God, not man. We are to engage in Christ-exalting worship through praying, preaching, Scripture reading, singing, giving, honoring and obeying God (John 4:23-24; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:18-20; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 3:16). The purpose of the music we sing is to engage the mind through sound doctrine, which often includes Scripture set to music. Music should not attempt to make the heavenly more like earth, but to lift man’s thoughts heavenward. All aspects of our worship should be most heavily influenced by engaging the renewed mind with the Word of God and not by elements designed to stir the emotions (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 14:33, 40).

The Church is not a building, but a community of believers. As such, we are to live in fellowship and community with one another. We must do more than just occupy pews near each other on a weekly basis to call ourselves a church (Matthew 18:15-18; Romans 12:3-18; Acts 2:41-47; 4:32-35; 6:1-7; Hebrews 13:17). In accordance with this, we make every attempt to maintain the purity of the church through biblical discipline of sin, so that no member’s conduct would bring disgrace upon the name of our Lord (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; 6:15-20; Galatians 1:6-9; Ephesians 5:11-12; Titus 3:10-11).

God has given clearly defined roles to men and women in the home and in the church (1 Corinthians 16:13-14; 1 Kings 2:1-3; Proverbs 31; 12:4; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Timothy 5:14). While these roles have come under attack in our culture, God’s Word has not changed. We embrace, teach, and celebrate these distinct roles at Berean Covenant Church.

We practice a consistent use of a literal principle of interpretation in regard to the church and Israel. The doctrine that the church has “replaced” Israel and is now the recipient of her promises requires a biblical hermeneutic that “spiritualizes” large passages of Scripture that were intended to be doctrinal or prophetic. It also implies that man can influence the permanence of promises made by the Sovereign Lord. We affirm that God’s promises to Israel are everlasting covenants, and that when the times of the Gentiles are complete, Israel will turn to Christ as their Messiah and Lord. (Romans 9-11; Daniel 9:27; 12:5-7; Genesis 17:1-8; Jeremiah 31:31-37; Ezekiel 36:22-36; Joel 2:28-3:21; Zechariah 13-14)

A large portion of the Bible speaks of events which were future at the time they were written. Of these passages a significant portion refer to future events yet to be fulfilled. These passages are generally understood as referring to the “End Times.” Two of the most significant end-time events yet remaining to be fulfilled are the return of Jesus Christ to the earth (the “Second Coming”) and the establishing of a physical kingdom by Jesus Christ here on earth (the “Millennium”). By premillennial, we understand the ordering of these events to be such that the Second Coming precedes the Millennium. (Matthew 24:3-44; 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 19:11-20:10)