Serious Christianity
Many of the folks that have joined Providence over the last few years didn't have a Presbyterian background and weren't looking for a Presbyterian church as such. Some of them were unsure about a couple of our beliefs, like infant baptism or predestination. But they stayed because they had already found that we offer the serious emphases on Scripture and its teachings that they had once been taught are essential but which are now missing in their former denominations or congregations. For us at Providence, serious Christianity consists of commitments like those below. For eight signs of serious Christianity in a church, scroll down.:
Bible-based Preaching – What is called "expository preaching" is directly based on God's word, usually a single passage, which is explained and applied in a relevant wasy.
God-centered Worship – We exist for God. We center our worship around the Triune God intending to please Him more than to please the worshipers, and to be reverent without being stuffy.
Sound Doctrine – We are part of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), a Bible-believing Presbyterian denomination. We believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We find its teachings summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, a historic doctrinal statement from the mid-1600s. Our denomination provides us Biblical accountability.
Practical Godliness – We encourage godly living by Biblical standards, not legalistically but by grace in the power of the Holy Spirit . The preaching and teaching here show us how. Mutual encouragement makes it easier.
Maturing Families – We nurture not only individuals, but families as well. We help nurture marriages. We help families nurture children by providing strong Sunday School, youth, and children’s ministries that focus on Biblical doctrine and living and on building Christian maturity. enjoy, we build deep relationships and enciyrage each other and hold one another accountable.
Eight Signs of Serious Christianity
An evening worship service is usually a good sign of a church where there is a continuing emphasis on serious Christianity. Yet more and more churches have quit their evening services. At Providence, the ongoing evening service is a wonderful way for our people to end the Lord's Day together worshiping our glorious God. Some families who live too far from the church to go home and back comfortably between the services bring their lunch and stay at the church and eat there.
Expository preaching is usually a good sign of serious Christianity in a church. At Providence, expositions of Scripture passages are the staple of the Sunday morning and evening preaching. Our pastor normally preaches sermon series that work gradually all the way through one book of the Bible at a time, giving the congregation a better understanding of that book as a whole and placing well-known texts from it in their proper context. When one such series finishes, another usually begins. There are occasional topical series as well. But the individual sermons in such a series will usually be expositions of a single relevant passage. There are also occasional topical sermons, but even these are intended as sermons which expound the teaching of the whole of Scripture on the topic.
Midweek bible studies which actually study the Bible are another good sign of serious Christianity in a church. At Providence, we normally have mid-week Bible studies. The pastor frequently leads a Bible study in someone's home, and often there are one or more elders leading midweek studies as well.
Hymns or Psalms sung from a hymnbook or Psalter are also usually good indicators of serious Christianity, not because there's anything wrong with singing from song sheets or an overhead projector, but because there is such a wealth of solid Biblical content in traditional hymns and certainly in Psalms set to music. At Providence, we sing from the Trinity Hymnal, which is widely known for its strong content and traditional tunes. The Trinity Hymnal also has numerous metrical Psalms. We also usually use a full Psalter for one or more of the hymns in the evening service.
A commitment to a full set of doctrinal standards usually marks a church's commitment to serious Christianity. At Providence, our pastor, elders, and deacons have taken vows that they understand the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms to accurately reflect the teachings of Scripture. These standards don't replace Scripture for us, but they are good teaching tools and helpful summaries of the doctrines taught in the Bible.
An emphasis on doctrine in preaching and teaching indicates serious Christianity in a church. At Providence, we make such an emphasis in order to lay the foundation for practical application. The Bible always teaches something rather than nothing. And the word doctrine simply means teaching. Paul's writings in particular generally begin with a doctrinal section followed by a practical section that makes specific application of the doctrines taught earlier. We try to follow this pattern.
The practice of church discipline usually indicates a church that is serious about following the teaching of the Bible. This is so because the Bible teaches that church discipline is required by Jesus Christ in His Church. At Providence we try to follow Scripture in administering church discipline when necessary, but always in a humble spirit and a spirit of grace, hoping to reclaim a sinning brother or sister for Christ's body. We also don't have to administer church discipline frequently because we practice it consistently.
When the elders can fill in when the pastor's gone, it is usually a strong indicator of serious Christianity in a church. At Providence our elders have filled in admirably on numerous occasions in this way, a sign that the congregation is led by men with serious commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.