It is our desire to clearly communicate things that are at the heartbeat of the Elders of GLC. Below are short teachings that were given to give more understanding of the Distinctives given below.
1. Sufficiency of Scripture
We believe that the Scriptures are the final authority in all things. It contains all we need to equip us for a life of faith and service. We seek to daily conform our church and lives to the pattern laid out in the Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Jude 3; Deuteronomy 4:2; Psalm 19:7-11)
2. Expository Preaching
We believe God has ordained the “foolishness of preaching” to be the means by which the Body of Christ is built up and expanded during the Lord’s Day gathering. Expository preaching is the method of walking verse by verse through a book of the Bible and explaining what the text says and means. It is through the method that we are able to present the “whole counsel of God.” This does not mean that we never preach topically, but instead, that the regular pattern of our preaching is expository. (1 Corinthians 1:21; Acts 20:27; Romans 10:17)
3. Biblical Leadership
We believe that God has called a plurality of qualified men as elders to oversee the spiritual direction and deacons to care for the physical well being of the church. (Acts 20:17; Titus 1:5-16; 1 Timothy 2:12-13, 3:3-13; 1 Peter 5:2)
4. Biblical Manhood/Womanhood
We believe that God has given clearly defined roles to men and women in the home and in the church. These defined roles are beautiful in God’s sight and we must reject the cultural influences of our day to distort what God has commanded. (I Corinthians 11:3; 16:13-14; Proverbs 31; Titus 2:1-5; I Timothy 2:11-12; 5:14; Ephesians 5:22-24)
5. Age Integration
We believe in the beauty of God’s design to call the family to worship together in the Lord’s Day service. The reason we worship together on the Lord’s Day is not because of our view of the family and the need to keep the family together: we worship together because of our understanding of the nature of the church as “one body.” (Nehemiah 8; Ephesians 6:1-3)
6. Biblical Community
We believe the local church is a place to practice the “one another” commands of Jesus. These take place on the Lord’s Day gathering but also through the practice of hospitality. We seek to cultivate a spirit of Christian love, rejoicing, and unity. (Acts 2:44-47; 6:1-7; John 13:35; Ephesians 4:1-6; 1 Timothy 5:3-8)
7. Regulative Principle
We seek to conform our worship to what is ordained by God in His sufficient Word. God, in His graciousness, has chosen to reveal to man in His Word that which is pleasing to Him in worship. The only permissible elements of worship are those that are instituted by command, precept, or example or by good and necessary consequence and that whatever is not warranted by scripture is forbidden. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Exodus 20:4-6; Matthew 15:3-9; Deuteronomy 12:32)
8. Biblical Conversion
We believe that salvation is completely a work of God and that the evidence of His work in a person is the expression of repentance, faith, and good works. We constantly proclaim and explain the gospel, and take our time with people struggling to understand what it means to follow Christ. (Ephesians 2:1-10; Acts 2:37-38, 16:14; Ezekiel 36:26; John 3:3-8)
9. Personal Holiness
We believe that our theology must be fleshed out into our lives by seeking to live lives of holiness. God is in the continual process of conforming His children into the image of Jesus. We are not perfect but, by God’s grace, are putting off the deeds of the flesh and putting on the fruit of the Spirit more each day. (1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 2:6; Romans 8:13, 13:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; Hebrews 12:14; Proverbs 30:12)
10. Family Discipleship
While the church is called to make disciples, it is clear that God has given the family as the primary means of discipleship. Children are entrusted to parents for their spiritual growth and this discipleship is to be taking place in every day activities and through the regular gathering of the family for worship in the home. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 78:5-8; Ephesians 6:1-4; Proverbs 1:8)