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Part II of Distinctives and Objectives
We believe that the highest purpose for the assembling together of the local church is worship. Only secondarily does it unite for teaching, fellowship, ministry, discipleship, observance of the ordinances, etc. although these are all important elements of worship in themselves the church’s existence firstly and primarily is concerned with coming together collectively to praise and worship the Lord God.
We believe that the modern church in the West has by-and-large lost the vision of Jehovah given to us in the Scriptures as a righteous and Holy God, jealous for the praises of His people. Instead, we have substituted a god of our own making; one which benevolently tolerates sin and demands only that we :sacrifice: that small Sunday morning part of our lives when we come to church to be entertained.
Thus, true worship not only ascribes to God His rightful praise as our supreme Lord but also affirms our position and function in His universe as creatures created to enjoy and love him.
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship.
(Romans 12:2)
Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.
(Isaiah 43:7)
Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(1Peter 4:11)
For a complete version of our Distinctives and Objectives see the link on the toolbar above.
Recently Pastor Rob asked me to re-type our church’s Distinctives and Objectives. I am not sure I ever read them before but as I was typing I was blown away at how clearly they communicated our hope in Christ and His purpose of the local church. I love our local body and one of the things that I love the most about our little church is how God’s word is lifted up and given the place it rightly deserves.
Still, as I was typing I was thinking, “why don’t I read this more often and use this gift to equip me to serve this body better? Why isn’t this clear and deliberate purpose of our body easily available to everyone?” Clearly one of the reasons it was not easily available was because I was still in the process of re-typing it. But I could see how easy it would be to re-type this gem, copy it, and place it on the back table…never to be seen again. So in the hope of rescuing this document from back-table-lostness I thought I would publish it here focusing on a different section each week so that we can read it together, think about it, think about it some more, and let it effect what happens in our body each day of the week.
So my friends, here is the introduction to the Distinctives and Objectives of Mount Rose Evangelical Free Church:
As the Word of God teaches the total sovereignty of God upon our lives, our purpose in meeting and continuing our fellowship as a local expression of the Church of Jesus Christ, Mount Rose Evangelical Free Church is committed to worship and glorify God in our corporate and individual lives, nurture spiritual growth and gifts through their exercise within our fellowship and equip its members for service and evangelism.
