About Christianity & the Bible

What is a Church?

A church is a group of people, not a building. It is a group of people who gather themselves together for the sole purpose of bringing honor and worship to the One True God Who in Himself deserves our deepest, most heart-felt love, reverence, and adoration. Life really isn’t all about us in any way. It is about a loving Creator God Who by His grace has given us life so that we may love and enjoy Him forever. This great God is worth giving all of our worship to, for in Him alone is the source of great news.

This great news is why we are a church—it is why we come together!

What is a Bible Church?

Many people wonder what a Bible church believes and stands for. How does a Bible church operate and what affiliations does it maintain? The following general facts about Bible churches will hopefully help you to understand a bit about the doctrinal position and style of worship found at Calvary Bible Church. For detailed information about our church government, doctrinal beliefs, and resulting practices, please read the Constitution.

Bible churches consider faithfulness to the Bible to be more important than allegiance to a denominational name or group. We do not oppose denominations as such but do not incorporate a denominational name. Remaining independent of these ties enables Bible churches to maintain allegiance to the purity of God's Word, rather than to man-made tenets of a particular denomination.

However, we do believe that there should be a clear interdependence and accountability with other like minded Churches who would encourage CBC to remain faithful to God's Word.

Bible churches vary in their style of service, with regard to formality, music style, and emphasis. CBC has chosen to conduct its services in a traditional manner with emphasis on strong Bible teaching, relational discipleship and evangelism, and worship that accurately reflects the holiness of God.

Bible churches vary with regard to certain doctrinal positions. Some are charismatic, some do not believe in a believer's eternal security, and some believe that the Holy Spirit begins the sanctification process in a believer' s life at a time separate from that of his or her salvation, often linking the gift of tongues-speaking to this experience. CBC holds to the doctrine of a believer's eternal security, with sanctification occurring at the moment of salvation.

CBC seeks to pursue a life of transformation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We strive to not merely "do" church but to actually "be" a church.  We seek to love Christ, learn Christ, and life Christ in every aspect of life itself.

What is this good news that comes from God?

The Bible calls it the gospel! The gospel is good news because it tells us that God has done what is necessary to bring us into a relationship with Him. Whereas other religions and philosophies provide lists of rules and good deeds to perform, God provides Jesus, Who lived a life of perfect obedience for us, and then transferred the credit for His performance to our account, taking on Himself the record - and, therefore, the punishment - for all our sin and failure.

Consequently, neither the sinfulness of the irreligious person, nor the moral achievement of the religious person, counts for anything. The only thing that counts is the righteousness of Christ on our behalf. This is the gospel—it is truly good news!

However, the gospel is not just the way to enter God's kingdom, it is the way to address every problem. It is the way to progress in growth and holiness—to look more like Christ and less like ourselves!

How Does the Gospel Lead to growth & Holiness?

First

The gospel tell us that we are more sinful than we ever dared believe, but, at the same time, that we are more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope. This is where we must begin. Our only hope is in Christ and His righteousness.

Second

The knowledge of our acceptance in Christ motivates our obedience to God by gratitude, rather than by fear, or seeking to devise a spiritual resume of applaudable charities. This is what it means to live by the grace that God alone supplies in Christ.

Third

The gospel creates a new way of living life! The context for a gospel-centered life is never merely individual. God's promise in salvation is to create a "holy nation," a people who dwell with Him forever, comprised of every race, class, ethnicity, and variety of human experiences. "I will be your God and you will be My people." (Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 30:22) The gospel creates a concrete, visible community that has a distinctive lifestyle in which supporting, encouraging, and loving one another is essential to living the Christian life. This community of God’s people is made up of those who meet to bring God His due worship.

Fourth

This gospel flows out of us and into others! At CBC, the expression of this gospel permeates everything we do. We expect virtually all of our actions and activities to be "overheard" by people who do not believe or who do not know what they believe. Truly good news is not just for those who have heard, it is for those who haven’t yet heard as well!

Fifth

The gospel is the only thing that really heals! It is humanities’ lack of righteousness that has ripped and destroyed every area of life as the Creator made it. The righteousness of Christ heals and transforms neighborhoods through Christian community development as people forsake their righteousness and pursues the righteousness of Christ in all of life. Thus, we call our people to seek the likeness of Christ in their lives and to become less like themselves; to work with excellence in their professional fields; to bring healing through living life for others rather than self—for God’s glory rather than for self-attainment. Self-attainments are then uniquely tied to divine attainments by grace. Our goal is to show the world the effect of the gospel to change our lives at its very core. We expect to suffer, labor, endure sickness, tragedy, and earthly sorrows with the grace of Christ living in and through us. To be able to live in this way demonstrates more accurately our Savior and communicates His worth.

Calvary Bible Church exists for the glory of God to equip the saints and gather disciples from all peoples to the end that they might grow up into Christ, worship God and enjoy Him forever.

We meet weekly to grow in our love and adoration of our Creator God and His gracious gospel that is only in Christ! We verbally sing of our love and worship, but just as important, we seek to live out that love and worship as the gospel flows out of us as a work of His grace. We change, grow, reflect, ponder, and are energized by the love of our Christ in all of life.

Yep, this is a church—not a place of entertainment, social hall, or merely a local religious gathering--but a genuine reflection of a holy, Creator God who has loved us with an everlasting love. Come and worship Him alone with us!