ABOUT US: Our Seven Goals |
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Our Goals
Goal 1 - Biblical Theo-Centric Worship
“Worship is the church’s and the individual Christians’ highest priority”
John MacArthur
“The end of the creation is that the creation might Glorify God. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory He has displayed? The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted”
Jonathan Edwards
Ex 20:4-6; Deut 12:32; Jer 10:6-7; Mark 12:28-31; Rom 12:1-8
GUIDELINES FOR GRACE COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP (GCF) MUSIC SELECTION (2016)
The music choices at GCF whether played, sung, or recorded should meet these guidelines. It…
***For further study the Elders of GCF would encourage a study of the following resources: “The 107 These” by Steve Camp; “Singing and Making Melody to the Lord” by John Piper; “The Role of Music in Worship” by Clayton Erb and Bill Brandenstein; “Brothers, We are Not Professionals” by John Piper; “Fool’s Gold” by John MacArthur
Note: All following goals are in order to accomplish our first and most important goal of correct worship
Goal 2 - Godly Leadership
Discipline – “Invariably, discipline and order are the universal characteristics of all the outstanding men and women of God. Obviously it is something that is thoroughly scriptural and absolutely essential.”
Martyn Lloyd Jones
Spirit Controlled Character – “For those who are to exercise any office in the church, it is not knowledge and utterance only which are needed; but also, and above all, grace and an unblameable lifestyle.”
R.C. Chapman
1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Cor. 9:29; 1 Cor. 3:10-13; 1 Thes. 2:7-8; Gal. 5:22-26
Goal 3 - Preaching and Teaching the Entire Counsel of Scripture
“God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you that you are embarking on something, which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But fortunately, it works the other way around. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened; one of the reasons why we need no special education to be Christians is that Christianity is an education itself.”
C.S. Lewis
1 Tim. 4:13-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; 2 Tim. 2:7; Mark
8:38; 1 Cor. 1:17-2:5
GCF PREACHING PRINCIPLES (2016)
Scripture unmistakably requires a proclamation focused on God’s Will and mankind’s obligation to obey.
With men wholly committed to God’s Word, the expository method commends itself as preaching that is true to the Bible.
This method presupposes an exegetical process to extract the God-intended meaning of Scripture and an explanation of that meaning in a contemporary understandable way.
Why? Because- “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Let’s make sure we are communicating accurately what He is saying not what we think. So we are to, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” 2Timothy 3:16,17; 4:2
The process of Exegesis involves 1) Observation: what does the passage say? 2) Interpretation: what does the passage mean? 3) Correlation: how does the passage relate to the rest of the Bible? 4) Application: how should this passage affect my life?
Eisegesis, on the other hand, involves 1) Imagination: what idea do I want to present? 2) Exploration: what Scripture passages seems to fit with my idea? And 3) Application: what does my idea mean? Notice that, in eisegesis, there is no examination of the words of the text or their relationship to each other, no cross-referencing with related passages, and no real desire to understand the actual meaning. Scripture serves only as a prop to the interpreter’s idea.
Eisegesis easily lends itself to error, as the would-be interpreter attempts to align the text with his own preconceived notions. Exegesis allows us to agree with the Bible; eisegesis seeks to enforce the Bible to agree with us. This is why the term eisegete is often used in a derogatory fashion.
An individual who practices eisegesis is known as an esiegete. And the one who practices exegesis is known as an exegete.
GCF believes that Biblical preaching’ authority is significantly tarnished by contemporary communicators’ being more concerned with personal relevance than God’s revelation.
GCF also believes that the Biblical essence and apostolic spirit of expository preaching needs to be recaptured in the Church and in the training of men newly committed to “preaching the Word.”
Therefore GCF is committed to the Expository preaching of God’s Word, using the Exegetical method of study and presentation.
PRAYER GUIDE FOR GCF PASTORS/ELDERS (2016)
Pray for the crafting of the message:
Goal 4 - Discipleship
“Effective teachers help each believer to find their own way of benefiting the rest of the church.”
R.C. Sproul
“The church should be discipling and training Christians for ministry. Church members, not just staff, are supposed to be ministering.
….pastor-teachers are given to equip the saints to do the work of ministry.”
John MacArthur
Eph. 4:11-13; 2 Tim. 2:1-2
Goal 5 - Commitment to Families
“Strong families are the church’s backbone. And strong families build strong individuals. We will pay a high price if we don’t make the family a
priority. That means we must help our people develop solid marriages and sturdy families by teaching husbands to love and lead their wives, wives to submit to their husbands, children to obey their parents, and parents not to exasperate their children but to nurture them in the Lord.”
John MacArthur
Eph. 5:25-6:4
STATEMENT ON MARRIAGE, GENDER AND SEXUALITY (2016)
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male and female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen.1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen.2:18-25.) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between one man and one woman who are married to each other. (1Cor.6:18; 7:2-5; Heb.13:4.) We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one women. (1Thess.4:1-8; Ex.20.)
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt.15:18-20; 1Cor.6:9-10.)
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of GCF as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to those in covenant relationship with the GCF body, it is imperative that all persons employed by GCF in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender. (Matt.5:16; Phil.2:14-16; 1Thess.5:22; 1Tim.3:1-7; 4:12.)
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom.10:9-10; 1Cor.6:9-11.)
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Lk.6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of GCF.
We believe that because God has ordained marriage and defined it as the covenant relationship between a man, a woman, and Himself, GCF will only recognize marriages between a biological man and a biological woman. Further, the Elders/Pastors and staff of GCF shall only participate in weddings and solemnize marriages between one man and one woman who meet the Biblical criteria for marriage.
Above statement is an adaptation of “Protecting Your Ministry From Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Lawsuits” Published by “The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission”
Goal 6 - Concern for One Another
“How great victory was that which Jonathan must have gained over himself, when he rejoiced to see David raised above him! He discerned the mind of God in David, and had so learned to delight in God, that he did not see in David one who was to outshine him, but another faithful man raised up for God and for Israel.”
R.C. Chapman
“The church is a family, the House of God.”
R.C. Sproul
Rom. 12:10, 16; 14:13; 15:5,7,14; Gal. 5:13; Eph.4:2,32; 5:21; Phil.2:3; Col. 3:9,13; 1 Thes. 5:11; James 5:16; 1 Pet. 1:22; 4:9,10; 5:5; Heb. 10:24-25
Goal 7 - Outreach
“The lonely, the mournful, the friendless, the tempted, the defected, the despised, the forsaken, the outcast, Christ will wait on each one of them, whatever his case, as though that one were His only charge. By this exact and special oversight of each member of His body, how precious, how lovely, how glorious, does Christ appear!”
R.C. Chapman
“There are three possibilities with the great commission. You can go. You can send. Or you can be disobedient. Ignoring the cause is not a Christian option.”
John Piper
Luke 12:33; 1John 3:17; Gal. 2:10; Acts 5:27-29; 20:35
Goal 1 - Biblical Theo-Centric Worship
“Worship is the church’s and the individual Christians’ highest priority”
John MacArthur
“The end of the creation is that the creation might Glorify God. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory He has displayed? The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted”
Jonathan Edwards
Ex 20:4-6; Deut 12:32; Jer 10:6-7; Mark 12:28-31; Rom 12:1-8
GUIDELINES FOR GRACE COMMUNITY FELLOWSHIP (GCF) MUSIC SELECTION (2016)
The music choices at GCF whether played, sung, or recorded should meet these guidelines. It…
- should focus on God and His glory as opposed to man. (1Cor.10:31)
- should promote a high and exalting view of God. (Col.3:17)
- should be Biblically sound and Biblically saturated. (1Tim.3:16; Eph.5:18)
- should promote unity in the body of Christ. (1Cor.10:23-24)
- should prepare the people for the preaching of the Word. (2Tim.4:1-2)
- should adorn the Gospel of Christ. (Heb.13:7-15)
- should promote hearty, passionate worship. (Eph.5:19)
- should be varied in form: Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Eph.5:19)
- should promote thanksgiving and submission to the Lord. (Eph.5:19-20)
- should be instructive in nature. (Col.3:15-16)
- should promote the use of God given voices and instruments. (Ps.150)
- should be inclusive of every person in the body, enabling a unified one mind and one voice type of praise. (Ps.150:6)
- should not be in the first person as in speaking for God unless the Scripture clearly warrants.
- should be clearly content driven and not style driven. There ought not to be a discord between the style and the content. The content is to be the main focus and the style is to merely magnify the content.
- should be chosen in view of the local Eldership and guidance.
***For further study the Elders of GCF would encourage a study of the following resources: “The 107 These” by Steve Camp; “Singing and Making Melody to the Lord” by John Piper; “The Role of Music in Worship” by Clayton Erb and Bill Brandenstein; “Brothers, We are Not Professionals” by John Piper; “Fool’s Gold” by John MacArthur
Note: All following goals are in order to accomplish our first and most important goal of correct worship
Goal 2 - Godly Leadership
Discipline – “Invariably, discipline and order are the universal characteristics of all the outstanding men and women of God. Obviously it is something that is thoroughly scriptural and absolutely essential.”
Martyn Lloyd Jones
Spirit Controlled Character – “For those who are to exercise any office in the church, it is not knowledge and utterance only which are needed; but also, and above all, grace and an unblameable lifestyle.”
R.C. Chapman
1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Cor. 9:29; 1 Cor. 3:10-13; 1 Thes. 2:7-8; Gal. 5:22-26
Goal 3 - Preaching and Teaching the Entire Counsel of Scripture
“God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you that you are embarking on something, which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But fortunately, it works the other way around. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened; one of the reasons why we need no special education to be Christians is that Christianity is an education itself.”
C.S. Lewis
1 Tim. 4:13-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-2; 2 Pet. 3:15-16; 2 Tim. 2:7; Mark
8:38; 1 Cor. 1:17-2:5
GCF PREACHING PRINCIPLES (2016)
Scripture unmistakably requires a proclamation focused on God’s Will and mankind’s obligation to obey.
With men wholly committed to God’s Word, the expository method commends itself as preaching that is true to the Bible.
This method presupposes an exegetical process to extract the God-intended meaning of Scripture and an explanation of that meaning in a contemporary understandable way.
- Exegesis=Greek exe-“to lead out” Bringing out the meaning of the text using context and original language. [objective]
- Eisegesis=Greek eis “into”- is the process of misinterpretating a text in such a way that it introduces one’s own ideas, reading into the text. [subjective]
Why? Because- “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Let’s make sure we are communicating accurately what He is saying not what we think. So we are to, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” 2Timothy 3:16,17; 4:2
The process of Exegesis involves 1) Observation: what does the passage say? 2) Interpretation: what does the passage mean? 3) Correlation: how does the passage relate to the rest of the Bible? 4) Application: how should this passage affect my life?
Eisegesis, on the other hand, involves 1) Imagination: what idea do I want to present? 2) Exploration: what Scripture passages seems to fit with my idea? And 3) Application: what does my idea mean? Notice that, in eisegesis, there is no examination of the words of the text or their relationship to each other, no cross-referencing with related passages, and no real desire to understand the actual meaning. Scripture serves only as a prop to the interpreter’s idea.
Eisegesis easily lends itself to error, as the would-be interpreter attempts to align the text with his own preconceived notions. Exegesis allows us to agree with the Bible; eisegesis seeks to enforce the Bible to agree with us. This is why the term eisegete is often used in a derogatory fashion.
An individual who practices eisegesis is known as an esiegete. And the one who practices exegesis is known as an exegete.
GCF believes that Biblical preaching’ authority is significantly tarnished by contemporary communicators’ being more concerned with personal relevance than God’s revelation.
GCF also believes that the Biblical essence and apostolic spirit of expository preaching needs to be recaptured in the Church and in the training of men newly committed to “preaching the Word.”
Therefore GCF is committed to the Expository preaching of God’s Word, using the Exegetical method of study and presentation.
PRAYER GUIDE FOR GCF PASTORS/ELDERS (2016)
Pray for the crafting of the message:
- That the message will be an evident part of the pastor’s life.
- For the protection of the pastor’s sermon preparation time.
- For the protection of the pastor’s mind relating to impurity, discouragement etc.
- That the pastor would rightly divide the Word of Truth.
- That the outline and content is distinctly from the text.
- That the pastor would have insight into the needs of the congregation.
- That the pastor would preach the Word not his own opinions.
- That the people will attend services with submissive frame of mind.
- That God will guard against distractions.
- That there would be clarity in the pastor’s vocabulary.
- That God will give the people understanding of the message.
- That the Spirit of God would convict of sin, judgment and righteousness.
- That the Word of God would not return void but run swiftly in the hearts of people.
- That God would open/soften hearts through the message.
- That some would repent of sin and be saved through the message.
- That the people would be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
- That people would search the Scripture daily and see if the thing’s that have been taught are indeed so.
- That the message will not be misunderstood or misrepresented.
- That the message/pastor would not become the point of criticism.
- That the application of the message would be contagious.
- That the people would be taught doctrine and be reproved, corrected and instructed in righteousness.
- That as the people leave they will have a sense of who God is, what He loves, what He hates and what He desires of us.
- That he would be bold and not ashamed or fearful to proclaim the Word.
- That his words would be fitly spoken, gracious, seasoned with salt.
- That he would exemplify the fruit of the Spirit.
- That he would not have a critical spirit.
- That he would have physical, mental and spiritual strength to proclaim the Word.
- That he would have the mind of Christ.
Goal 4 - Discipleship
“Effective teachers help each believer to find their own way of benefiting the rest of the church.”
R.C. Sproul
“The church should be discipling and training Christians for ministry. Church members, not just staff, are supposed to be ministering.
….pastor-teachers are given to equip the saints to do the work of ministry.”
John MacArthur
Eph. 4:11-13; 2 Tim. 2:1-2
Goal 5 - Commitment to Families
“Strong families are the church’s backbone. And strong families build strong individuals. We will pay a high price if we don’t make the family a
priority. That means we must help our people develop solid marriages and sturdy families by teaching husbands to love and lead their wives, wives to submit to their husbands, children to obey their parents, and parents not to exasperate their children but to nurture them in the Lord.”
John MacArthur
Eph. 5:25-6:4
STATEMENT ON MARRIAGE, GENDER AND SEXUALITY (2016)
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male and female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen.1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen.2:18-25.) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between one man and one woman who are married to each other. (1Cor.6:18; 7:2-5; Heb.13:4.) We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one man and one women. (1Thess.4:1-8; Ex.20.)
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt.15:18-20; 1Cor.6:9-10.)
We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of GCF as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to those in covenant relationship with the GCF body, it is imperative that all persons employed by GCF in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender. (Matt.5:16; Phil.2:14-16; 1Thess.5:22; 1Tim.3:1-7; 4:12.)
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom.10:9-10; 1Cor.6:9-11.)
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Lk.6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of GCF.
We believe that because God has ordained marriage and defined it as the covenant relationship between a man, a woman, and Himself, GCF will only recognize marriages between a biological man and a biological woman. Further, the Elders/Pastors and staff of GCF shall only participate in weddings and solemnize marriages between one man and one woman who meet the Biblical criteria for marriage.
Above statement is an adaptation of “Protecting Your Ministry From Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Lawsuits” Published by “The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission”
Goal 6 - Concern for One Another
“How great victory was that which Jonathan must have gained over himself, when he rejoiced to see David raised above him! He discerned the mind of God in David, and had so learned to delight in God, that he did not see in David one who was to outshine him, but another faithful man raised up for God and for Israel.”
R.C. Chapman
“The church is a family, the House of God.”
R.C. Sproul
Rom. 12:10, 16; 14:13; 15:5,7,14; Gal. 5:13; Eph.4:2,32; 5:21; Phil.2:3; Col. 3:9,13; 1 Thes. 5:11; James 5:16; 1 Pet. 1:22; 4:9,10; 5:5; Heb. 10:24-25
Goal 7 - Outreach
“The lonely, the mournful, the friendless, the tempted, the defected, the despised, the forsaken, the outcast, Christ will wait on each one of them, whatever his case, as though that one were His only charge. By this exact and special oversight of each member of His body, how precious, how lovely, how glorious, does Christ appear!”
R.C. Chapman
“There are three possibilities with the great commission. You can go. You can send. Or you can be disobedient. Ignoring the cause is not a Christian option.”
John Piper
Luke 12:33; 1John 3:17; Gal. 2:10; Acts 5:27-29; 20:35