– We value prayer as the first work of the ministry at Maranatha (Acts 6:4). We believe in the significance of a thoughtful, reflective pastoral prayer, where we seek the Lord’s direction for the leading of our church, for world missions, and for the healing of specific individuals. We have a Wednesday evening prayer meeting, most of which is spent in Spirit-empowered prayer.
– We value expository preaching as the central feature of our worship services. We use this method for both Sunday morning and Sunday evening services, usually preaching from a book of the other Testament on Sunday night. Our intention is to allow the Scriptures to dictate the message that we preach. In other words, we carefully preach through whole books of the Bible at a time, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. This way we make sure to preach from the whole counsel of God. Therefore, our preaching is also centered on Christ as the Bible focuses on His work of redemption.
– We value God-honoring worship as the means for us to submit corporately to His Lordship and to praise and glorify Him in unity. We worship the Lord in reverence and sincerity, and with thoughtful reflection. We enjoy a vital connection to historic church orthodoxy, and the substance of the sacred old hymns of the faith. In other words, our worship services are designed according to what many would call the “traditional” style. However, it is not our intention to adhere to a particular style. We would rather choose to be faithful and authentic to a more majestic, God-glorifying vision of the church.
– We value the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We practice “believers” baptism for those of appropriate age who have made a sincere, public profession of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior by way of repentance and faith, and whose life gives testimony to their new birth. We participate in the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper regularly during our worship service on the first Sunday morning of every month.
– We value missions, as it is in the DNA of our church and denominational affiliation. We partner with the ministry and work of foreign missionaries who are engaged in bringing the gospel message to many of the “unreached” nations. However, we actively support and encourage both international and domestic missions ventures. From time to time we have missionaries give reports to the church, and we pursue opportunities to take short-term trips. Every year, in the early Spring, our church hosts a Missions Conference which particularly emphasizes the blessings and needs of world and home missions.
– We value Biblical theology as the essential doctrines of the Christian faith are taught and cherished. We are both conservative in our interpretation of the Scriptures and evangelical in our approach to conversion. It is our desire to contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3) that we have been entrusted to guard from error and to deliver purely to others.
– We value healing by the power of Jesus Christ. We carefully desire to apply the teachings of Scripture in regard to anointing and praying over individuals for healing (James 5:13-16). From time to time, we may have the elders anoint and pray over an individual for healing at the conclusion of one of our services.
– We value the gospel and the proper, Biblical understanding and proclamation thereof. We preach and teach the Scriptural gospel message which includes an emphasis on God’s holiness and His standard of perfect morality, man’s sinfulness and willful rebellion against God, Christ’s righteousness and atoning, substitutionary sacrifice for His elect, and our need for salvation by embracing Christ as Savior by repenting of sin and placing our faith in Him.
– We value evangelism, both by public proclamation and personal profession. The proper preaching of God’s Word is evangelistic, calling for those who would to place their faith in Christ, but we also emphasize the necessity of our personal evangelism which shares the love of Christ through relationships that we have established.
– We value discipleship as a Biblical process of Christian maturity and growth. We strive to live in obedience to God’s will as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (II Peter 3:18). We believe that Christian discipleship is a process that happens intentionally, and with the help of more mature believers, over the remainder of one’s lifetime.
– We value church discipline, and we desire to exercise it carefully and appropriately according to God’s Word. As a community of believers, we are accountable to one another in Christ. It is our responsibility to lovingly encourage, edify, admonish, and correct each other to pursue lives of holiness according to God’s will. Therefore, we will practice the principles of discipline given in Matthew 18 and other places in Scripture.
– We value the family as the primary institution of belonging in our society. God ordained for the eternal union of one man to one woman in marriage. He also designed for families to produce children as the blessed heirs to inherit God’s wonderful creation. He ordained for these children to learn God’s principles within the intimacy of their own faithful families. Therefore, we encourage families to have regular times of worship and instruction within their own homes.