What to Expect?

What kind of a church is Sovereign Grace Fellowship? What is Reformed Baptist? These are good questions. But before we get to them, let’s begin with the basics.

First of all, we are a church, the body of Christ. Which means that Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, and so while denominations are important, they are secondary and not primary. The primary issue is that the gospel is being preached; that the whole counsel of the Bible is being preached and taught; that the authority and sufficiency of Scripture is not being undermined or usurped. It’s essential if the church is to be healthy and viable.

Now returning to the questions of denominations and secondary or tertiary issues, again these are important issues, because they affect the “how” we do church. For example, we (SGF) only baptize professing believers. That is how we practice (mode) the ordinance of baptism.

In being reformed, we hold to a confession, that is we teach that the doctrines we hold to are succinctly laid down in a document called the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. Is it perfect. No. Is it flawless. No. Is it the inerrant for Word of God. No. It is indeed very similar to the Westminster Confession of Faith that the Presbyterians hold to, which is why there is much unity amongst us. We hold that these doctrines are Scriptural but that the confession itself is not Scripture. In other words, the truth that the confession espouses can be found in the Bible, and that the Bible is the breathed out word of God, but the actual confession itself is not the inspired word of God.

So does everyone here have to believe the confession? No. To become a member? No. But we do want everyone to be aware that this is what the church elders hold to and will be teaching.

As far as services, we have a family service atmosphere where all are welcome to worship together. We do have a nursery/ cry room available. But we do encourage families to worship together. A little noise from the audience doesn’t bother the pastor is the slightest. Our singing is congregational singing with mostly hymns. We partake of the Lord’s Supper weekly, offering both wine and juice. As for attire, dress up or dress down, we are not your judge. But our purpose is to worship, magnify and glorify the King of kings and Lord of lords.

So what to expect? We’re a small church in the country, seeking to follow the Lord Jesus faithfully. We aren’t looking for crowds, for the next quick growth scheme, or the next greatest this or that. We’re looking to go out into the field and harvest. We know the laborers are few. But Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2) Maybe you’re one who’s ready to get to work. Maybe you’re ready to start being fed the word of God on a regular basis. Maybe you’re ready to grow and answer the call God has on your life.

But first, count the cost. You see the crowds were following Jesus because they liked what they were seeing. They liked what he was doing for them. Maybe they liked hearing his stories, his teachings, his parables, his wisdom, or how he seemed to always outsmart the religious leaders, and maybe they thought that was always such a treat. But you see Jesus was not interested in crowds following him. He came for his followers, true followers, true disciples, those who would answer his call to follow, to come. “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-33) With Jesus it really does come down to, are you all in?

Isaac Watts wrote the hymn we sing, and I’ve been thinking about here lately especially as we move closer to Easter, When I Survey the Cross, and the last verse especially the last line captures the essence of what I’m trying to describe.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

This is the kind of church we want to be… for Jesus and for you. The kind of church that says, we’re all in. Let’s go!