|
We call ourselves “evangelical” because the word really
means “good news”. The good news is that Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. When we turn to Him in faith, we can know the forgiveness
of our sins, and receive the gift of God—eternal life. The reason for this
is that Christ gave His life as the perfect and complete atonement for our
sins, receiving by His death the due punishment for our sins in our place.
His bodily resurrection guarantees that He is victorious over the power
and curse of sin. Therefore He is able to forgive us for our sins, grant
us the gift of eternal life freely, and receive us into Heaven. We want to
share this good news, as we believe that this gospel is the answer to the
many problems we experience in life.
We use the term “free church” to denote our
denominational independence. We are delighted that we are free to govern
our own affairs as an independent church. As such there is no official
governing body that we have to conform to. However, we are very conscious
of the need to not only maintain our independency for governing and
supporting ourselves, but also to guard the privilege we have of being
established as a Bible-believing church that seeks to maintain the
unchallengeable principles of Holy Scripture.
|
We believe that the Bible in its entirety is the
written and inspired Word of God. It is our sole authority in all
matters of truth and conduct. The preaching and teaching of the Bible
has an important place in the life of our church. Its faithful
exposition (i.e. its explanation and application) is both prominent
and relevant in our services. Our worship is expressed through singing
hymns, both traditional and modern, as an appropriate means to praise
God—by prayer, through which we speak with God, sharing with Him our
hopes and desires—and by preaching, through which we believe that He
speaks to us. Thus through prayer our hearts and lives are focussed on
Him and tuned to His will for us. We also believe that the public
reading of God’s Word is a fundamental part of our worship and
supports the preaching of His Word.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
We believe that a church is more than a building.
It is a community of worshipping Christians. The Bible pictures the
church as a family—the Family of God. In our services we are meeting
with God as our Heavenly Father, for we are His children by faith,
having received the gift of “new birth”, or of being “born from
above”. We believe it is important to maintain this identity of
family—with the support, love and care a family needs. For this
reason, we hope that every member, friend, and visitor will feel all
equally at home among us. |
We believe that membership of the local church is a
privilege given to us by virtue that as Christians we belong the
universal, invisible church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe this
church is a local expression of the Body of Christ.
|
We believe in “Believers’ Baptism”. By this we mean
that a person who becomes a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will
want to demonstrate their faith and commitment to Him in the way that
He Himself showed us through His own personal submission to the will
of God. We believe that Baptism by immersion—as spoken of in the
Bible, and commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ—is a personal act that
demonstrates a change that has already been experienced. It is a
foundational act of faith and obedience to the command of the Lord
Jesus Christ. For baptism is God’s appointed means of identifying with
Christ, and the visible act of joining the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore both baptism and membership of the local church are
closely associated.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
We believe that the privileges of church membership
centre on “fellowship”. Fellowship is simply sharing together our
faith in Christ through our lives—it is the Christian family
experience. In particular we focus on the fellowship we have together
in the “Lord’s Supper” or Communion service. This is the special
service that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself commanded us to observe,
remembering His death and resurrection in a special way. We remember
that He gave His life for us to save us from God’s righteous
judgement, and to cleanse us from our sin. We remember that He took
our punishment and our guilt on Himself, so that we might be set free
and receive a new life through faith in Him. We look forward to the
fellowship that will be ours with Him in Heaven when he receives us
there. |
We do invite all who know and love the Lord Jesus
Christ as their own personal Lord and Saviour to join with us at this
special service. If you are seeking to walk in the fear of the Lord we
shall be delighted for you to share with us.
Our fellowship also extends to other churches who, like
ourselves, are Bible-based evangelical believers seeking to uphold the
biblical doctrines of truth. That fellowship is immediately expressed in
our association with churches who describe themselves as FIEC (the
Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) affiliated. We also seek
to maintain links wherever possible with other Bible-based churches, which
include those who subscribe to the British Evangelical Council. Locally,
we are also pleased to have fellowship with other like-minded evangelical
churches with whom we have regular joint meetings for fellowship.
|
