Grace Fellowship Church Distinctives
"The
Glory of God our Purpose"
This
church will be doctrinally distinct in holding to those truths
commonly referred to as the "doctrines of grace." The Calvinistic
view of the Word of God makes us reformed in theology, baptistic
in practice, confessional in fellowship and motivated by the glory
of God in all we do.
"Committed
to the Essentials"
In
an effort to reflect the patterns laid out in the Scriptures,
and to do a few things well rather than a lot of things poorly,
this church will remain committed in its practice to those essential
ministries of a local body.
Prayer
- it will be instrumental in practice, not supplemental
Preaching
- it will be biblically focused, Christ exalting and Spirit-empowered
People
- we will seek to be profitably transparent, engaged with eternal
souls, winsome to lost
Praise
- spiritual & rich singing, giving generously, practical acts
of service, prayer
Person
of Jesus - we will worship Christ not religion or men, He is the
Lord of His church
Practical
- we will help one another to live godly and effectively in this
present age
"Led
by Leaders"
We
will seek to install only biblically qualified men as elders who
will endeavour to "rule the church well." They will be freed
up from distractions to serve the church in love.
We
will seek to install only biblically qualified men as deacons
who will endeavour to be "ministers of mercy" to all those in
need in and out of the flock.
Other
men and women will be appointed by the elders to serve the body
in various functions as necessary to the well-being of the church,
including areas of finance, property, Christian education and
the like.
"In
the world, but not of the world."
Never
should our church activity, however, take us away from the practice
of cultivating meaningful relationships with those outside of
Christ. Therefore, we will limit our meeting together to
a bare minimum, living in the world with that warfare mentality.
Mid-week
we will meet for prayer and instruction and fellowship.
We will seek to keep families together, not separated, and make
this night joyful and profitable.
We
will meet twice weekly for worship on Sundays. One of these
services will be geared particularly toward the unbeliever, the
other will have the strengthening of the saints as its more primary
goal.
"Upwards
and Onwards"
We
are committed to being a church-planting church. It is our
goal to see a new work begun, Lord willing, within seven years
of our inception. By God's grace we will continue to plant
churches in the city of Toronto for decades to come, or until
His glorious return.
"Bibline"
All
we do must be generated out of a biblical world view. Our
theology is biblical, (or, "Calvinistic") and actually determines
how we seek to live and work in this world. We will seek
to be people whose blood runs "bibline." This is foundational
to our existence as a church.