Distinctives of New Covenant Bible Church
1. Our main purpose is to glorify God.
Everything that God does, He does to make His name great (Romans 11:36; Isaiah 48:11). Since God’s own glory and fame is His aim in everything He does, it is our primary aim as well. Our main priority as a church is to bring God glory in all that we do (1 Cor. 10:13).
2. The Bible is our authority in everything we do.
The Bible is infallible and inerrant: it cannot err because God is the author, and it is free from error in the original manuscripts (Psalm 12:6, 19:7-9). The Bible is also sufficient: God’s written Word contains all the truth that we need for salvation, spiritual growth, and ministry as a church (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is our final authority: it has the final say in what we believe and how we live. Because of these truths, we make the verse by verse teaching of the Bible a priority in our Sunday morning service (2 Timothy 4:2). Verse by verse teaching, or “expository” preaching, involves the public reading, explanation, and application of the Bible (1 Timothy 4:13).
3. God is sovereign in man’s salvation.
God is the absolute sovereign of our universe, and everything that occurs happens according to His sovereign purpose (Ephesians 1:11; Job 42:1). This includes our salvation: salvation is God’s work alone (Jonah 2:9). God planned salvation before the universe began and elected certain undeserving sinners to eternal life (Ephesians 1:4-5). God also sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to save those sinners by His righteous life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection. Jesus Christ is the exclusive way of salvation and receives all who, by His free and sovereign grace, repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation (John 14:6; Romans 10:13). Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). The sovereignty of God in salvation does not negate the responsibility of man to repent and believe, or the responsibility to share the gospel. In fact, God’s sovereignty is a significant motive for sharing the gospel.
4. We emphasize the ordinary means of grace.
The Bible describes several simple elements of church ministry in Acts 2:42: teaching God’s Word, fellowship among believers, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. Our goal at New Covenant is to practice this same uncomplicated approach. A Sunday morning at New Covenant will always contain prayer, the teaching of God’s Word, and fellowship among believers. The Lord’s Supper is observed every month, and we practice believer’s baptism when the need arises. Because God’s Word is sufficient and describes the way we should minister as a church, we do not need to invent new methods or adopt new means.
5. We practice God-centered worship.
Our aim in worship is to please God, not ourselves. This means that we are committed to worship that is defined by and consistent with the way that the Bible defines worship. Our singing as a congregation is a blend of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). And while we may use modern instruments with our singing, our goal is to worship with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28-29). Bible-centered teaching and God-centered prayer are also considered essential parts of our worship times.
6. We are led by shepherd leaders.
Our aim at New Covenant is leadership defined by and consistent with the way the Bible describes leadership, not the way our culture describes leadership. The New Testament consistently refers to leaders in the church as elders, a group of men who meet the Bible’s qualifications, who teach God’s Word, and who provide spiritual care for God’s people, similar to the way that a shepherd cares for his flock of sheep (Acts 14:23, 20:17-28; 1 Timothy 1:3:1-7; 1 Peter 5:1-3) .
7. We promote fellowship as members of God’s family.
When God saves someone He makes that person a member of His spiritual body, the Church (1 Corinthians 12:13). In the New Testament the church gathered on a regular basis for instruction, prayer, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and fellowship (Acts 2:42). It functioned as a “one another” community where its members shared in a life of love to God and each other (Romans 12:5). This biblical pattern is our goal at New Covenant: to love each other as a church family under the authority and accountability of elders. This relationship is reinforced through church membership (Hebrews 13:17).
