Church Covenant

Sovereign Grace Fellowship Church Covenant

Section 1: Introductory Statement

God has graciously entered into a New Covenant with His people through the work of Jesus Christ, whose obedience and blood infallibly secure all of its benefits for them. By making us members of the one body of Christ, the New Covenant lays upon us responsibilities, not only to God, but also to each other. In this covenant God writes His law upon our hearts and causes us to walk in His ways. Thus, both our desire and ability to obey spring from the work of Jesus Christ. Christ purchased for us the Holy Spirit, by whose gift of faith we obey, not to establish our own righteousness before God but to express our gratitude for grace. What follows is a summary of that which we consider to be our new covenant obligations toward God and one another. (Jer. 31:31-34; 32:40; Matt. 26:26-28; Rom. 12:4-5; 1Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 4:25; Heb. 8:6-13; 10:16-17; 13:20-21)

Section 2: Our Covenant Commitments
 

Having been led by the grace of God to repent of our sins and to believe on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and having confessed our faith through baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we now, by the grace of God, do joyfully and solemnly enter into holy covenant with one another as members of Sovereign Grace Fellowship.

a) We pledge to worship only the one, true and living God, who has revealed Himself in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We will proclaim His glory in the world and have no other gods before Him. We pledge to worship God in the way that He prescribes, only through the mediation of His Son, Jesus Christ, excluding from our worship whatever He has not prescribed and faithfully practicing the ordinances of the new covenant.

b)  We pledge, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge and holiness and encouragement, to promote its prosperity and spirituality and to sustain its worship, ordinances, disciplines and doctrines as set forth in the 1689 London Baptist Confession. We pledge to give it a sacred pre-eminence over all institutions of human origin, including civic groups, clubs and lodges and to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor and the spread of the gospel though all nations.

c)  We pledge to submit ourselves to the spiritual oversight and biblical authority of the elders of this church. We further pledge to support the officers and leadership of this church with our prayers and with our cooperation as they seek to lead and administer the ministries of the church. We further pledge to submit ourselves to the biblical discipline of this church and to participate in the discipline of other members, as necessary for their benefit and the testimony of Christ’s church.

d)  We resolve to practice personal and family worship, to bring up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, and to seek the salvation of our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances. We resolve, furthermore, to order our homes by biblical principles, as wives, willingly submitting to husbands and, as husbands, tenderly loving our wives as Christ loved the church.

e)  We resolve to pursue holiness in our personal lives, earnestly seeking, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to avoid all uncleanness in thought, act and speech and to order our conduct according to the Word of God. We pledge to avoid all drunkenness and the use of illegal drugs. We furthermore resolve to walk circumspectly in the world, to be just and faithful in our dealings and to maintain a consistent Christian witness in the world. We will seek to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, avoiding backbiting, tattling and excessive anger.

f)  We pledge to cease from our own works on the Lord’s Day, except for works of compassion and/or necessity. We will sanctify the day by careful attendance of public worship, fellowship with one another, acts of mercy and by engaging in personal devotion and domestic religion.

g)  We pledge to watch over one another in brotherly love, to remember each other in prayer, to aid each other in sickness and distress, to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech, to be slow to take offense but always ready for reconciliation and, mindful of the rules of our Savior, to secure it without delay.

h)  We pledge, moreover, that if we remove from this place, we will, as soon as possible, endeavor to unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of our doctrinal statement as found in God’s Word.