"Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God and to fully enjoy Him forever" (Larger Catechism). We have been created and redeemed by God and for God, to magnify and display the greatness of His glory. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
God is most glorified through the Person and work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through His perfect character and by His cross He has redeemed for Himself a people. Because we embrace Him as Savior and Lord, we strive above all things to know Him, love Him, praise Him, and serve Him and to give Him preeminence in His church. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
We preach Christ and Him crucified, risen and sufficient for every need. We are committed to the gospel delivered to the apostles and revealed clearly in the Word of God. We believe and proclaim that God is holy, man is dead in his sin, Jesus is the only Mediator and Savior of sinners, and all those who are saved are justified by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone to the glory of God alone. (1 Corinthians 2:2, 15:1-5; Romans 1:16)
We believe in the Biblical gospel and true biblical conversion. We believe that salvation is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5) that is enduring (Philippians 1:6), and that it is evidenced by the bearing of fruit (Matthew 7:16-20). The man who walks in a continual state of carnality with no divine discipline can have no assurance of sonship (Hebrews 12:8), no matter how adamantly he professes his allegiance to Christ. (Ephesians 2:1-10)
Christ called us to make disciples who understand, obey, and adorn themselves with the gospel. We seek to accomplish this through expository preaching, Sunday school, small groups, men's and women's ministries, and biblical accountability, We believe that true disciples will evidence the fruit of the Holy Spirit, desire the Word of God, engage in meaningful worship, seek God in prayer, give liberally of their resources, and seek to multiply disciples of the Lord. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 8:31-32; Ephesians 4:17-24, 2Timothy 3:16-17)
It is our desire to be thoroughly biblical in the totality of our lives. Our purpose, our methods, and our goals must be formed from sound, biblical preaching and teaching. We reject the modern concept that biblical goals can be achieved by man-centered, man-empowered methods. Our theology must dictate our methodology. (Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Believing in the inerrancy and authority of the Word of God, and believing that it is sufficient to accomplish God's purposes without the aid of human cleverness, we embrace the systematic exposition of the Bible. We embrace preaching of the Word of God, carefully exegeted and powerfully proclaimed. We also repudiate the modern forms of preaching that reject the sufficiency of Scripture and minimize textual exposition as in, but not only in, the seeker-sensitive and market-driven traditions. The preaching pulpit is vital to the spiritual growth and health of the local church body. It cannot and must not be diminished or de-emphasized. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
We are committed to humble reliance upon God and are committed to calling upon God to do what only He can do. We believe that the fervent, passionate prayer of righteous men and women accomplishes much. (Matthew 7:7-11; Matthew 21:13; James 5:13-18)
In corporate worship we desire spiritual integrity, doctrinal accuracy and deep passion. We desire our congregational worship to be fed by the individual and personal worship of the body of Christ at WSBC. The congregation is not an audience, but a gathering of priests to offer spiritual sacrifices to an audience of one -- God. (John 4:22-24; Eph 5:15-21)
We desire to live life and to pursue Christ together, encouraging spiritual maturity and devotion to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as modeled by the church in Acts 2 and 4, and 1 Thessalonians 1. Our deepest friends and mentors should be found in this body. We must exhort, admonish, encourage, and instruct one another, holding one another accountable before God with deep humility and love. Because we care for the souls of one another, we actively practice church discipline. Because we believe that every believer is gifted by the Holy Spirit for service within God's church, we expect every member of the church to engage in Christ-exalting ministry. (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37; Romans 12:9-21; Ephesians 4:1-6; Hebrews 3:12-14; Hebrews 10:24-25)
We believe parents are the primary leaders and disciplers of their children. This means that parents should not abdicate their God-given responsibilities to the Student and Families pastor or Children's Director. The Student and Families pastor or Children's Director serve as facilitators to the family to assist them in discipling their children and leading in family worship. We are committed to seeing multi-generational relationships formed to impact present and future generations for the glory of God. (Deuteronomy 6; Matthew 22:34-40; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Titus 2:1-10)
The church has a body of elders/pastors who teach and shepherd the flock. In accordance with Hebrews 13:17, they keep watch over the congregation as men who must give an account to God. According to the same text, the congregation is to obey them and submit to their authority so that their work will be a joy and not a burden. The elders must meet the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9, and they exercise authority over the church only to the degree that they teach and lead according to the Scriptures.
The tasks of a deacon are primarily that of meeting the physical and material needs of individual believers and the congregation as a whole. If the deacon serves faithfully, he obtains for himself a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 3:13). Our deacons must exemplify the qualifications of a deacon set forth in 1Timothy 3:8-13.
A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers. Church government or leadership is congregational in context and, therefore, the final word in matters pertaining to the congregation must come from the congregation itself (Matthew 18:15-17, Acts 6:2-5, 1 Corinthians 5:4-5, 2 Corinthians 2:6).
We are committed to seeing the gospel preached to every living soul and we believe in calling all to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We stand against hyper-Calvinism on one hand and easy believism on the other. We are committed to engaging in and supporting mission efforts that share this view. The entire local church family should be personally and strategically involved in world missions, mobilizing laborers, prayer, and finances to the end of glorifying God among all peoples. We must be committed to enduring partnerships in missions. (Micah 6:8; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:6-8; Romans 10:9-17)
We ascribe to the great truths of Scripture recovered through the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century. The Reformation recovered the Scriptural truth of the gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone to the glory of God alone. These key truths are summarized in what are known as the Five Solas of Reformed Theology:
Sola Scriptura is the teaching that the Bible is the only inspired and authoritative Word of God, is the only source for Christian doctrine, and is accessible to all - that is, it is clearly understandable and self-interpreting.
Sola Fide is the teaching that justification is received by faith only, without any mixture of or need for good works, though saving faith is always evidenced by good works.
Sola Gratia is the teaching that salvation comes by God's grace or "unmerited favor" only - not as something merited by the sinner. This means that salvation is an unearned gift from God for Jesus' sake.
Solus Christus is the teaching that Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and that there is salvation through no other.
Soli Deo Gloria is the teaching that all glory is to God alone, since salvation is accomplished solely through his will and action - not only the gift of the all-sufficient atonement of Jesus on the cross but also the gift of faith in that atonement, created in the heart of the believer by the Holy Spirit. God is worthy of all praise and adoration.