Our Distinctives
Calvary Grace Church is a gathered assembly of believers in Jesus Christ marked by the following distinctives of conviction and practice:
We are Evangelical
As people of the evangel, that is, the gospel, we are rightly called Evangelicals. Our heritage bears this name out as we celebrate the proclamation, mission and social consciousness of the 18th century Evangelical Revivals. We eagerly support the heralding of the gospel in local and global contexts in our day and look forward to the multilingual celebration of Christ’s worshippers from "every tribe, tongue and nation."
We are Reformational
Tracing our roots to the recovery of biblical truth during the Protestant Reformation, we identify with its chief principles expressed in the following Latin slogans: Sola Fide (Faith Alone), Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone). As such we gladly claim the broad term of ‘Reformed’ as our own, thereby expressing our commitment to these Reformation principles.
We are Confessional
Our faith is not new, but ancient. We stand not alone, but confess the Christian faith passed down through the centuries. The faith we confess is rooted in history, and continues to shape our history.
We are Complementarian
In the beginning, “God created man in his own image… male and female he created them.” We celebrate biblical manhood and womanhood, secure in the truth that God made man and woman to be equal in value and worth, yet also for distinct and complementary roles in the home and the church. We believe that under God, all of human existence functions in a complementarity of roles.
We are Baptistic
The term “baptistic” simply refers to the biblical teaching about who the Church is. The Church is not a building. Christians are not an ethnic group. Rather the Church is the gathering of people who have been born from above (John 3:3,7). They believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. They follow him in faith. It is these believers who make up the Church. In obedience to their Lord they identify with him by being baptized according to his command.
Our Values
In accordance with these distinctives, Calvary Grace Church upholds the following values in its congregational life and practice:
Expository Preaching
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). The public proclamation of God’s Word is central to Christian worship. As such, we are strongly committed to preaching which unpacks, unfolds, explains, and applies the meaning of the text of Scripture.
Biblical Accountability
We are one body in Christ. And just as the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” (1 Corinthians 12:21), so too the “parts” of our body, our members, are connected to and dependent upon one another. We have the privilege and responsibility from God to watch over one another, to guard each other from stumbling, and to encourage, exhort, admonish, and correct one another.
God-Centered Worship
We are created to make much of God, not to exalt ourselves. Nowhere is this more true than in the worship of the church. Our worship is centered around the expository preaching of the Word of God. Our music is designed to support and lift up congregational singing, rather than being a performance or to call attention to itself. Our songs are chosen to obey the command of the Apostle, so that we are “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)
Living In the World, But Being Not of It
Christ has entrusted the only hope that this desperate world has – the Gospel – to the Church, and has commanded his disciples to go and share it with others, making disciples of all nations. This requires that Christians be engaged with the unbelieving world and those in it. This mission is to be carried out in a manner that glorifies Christ, and so the Christian is commanded to remain unstained by sin while dealing with a sinful world. Our very worldview must be different and distinct from that of the world, but must be explained and shared with it.