Higher Ground Church

Higher Ground Church exists to glorify God, edify his people, and testify his Gospel. 1. Glorify The church exists to glorify God. This is the foundational principle for Christ’s church. Church (ekklesia) means a called out assembly or congregation. Members of Christ’s church are called out from the world to bring God glory (Eph. 1:5-6). God desires to be glorified in his church (Eph. 3:20-21). The church exists as a living portrait of God’s counter-cultural, self-glorifying wisdom (Eph. 3:10-11). Glorifying God is accomplished at Higher Ground by principally driven ministry (not pragmatism); unashamed proclamation of and centering upon the Gospel; God exalting worship (singing and preaching); and faithfulness to God’s word. 2. Edify The church exists for the edification of the saints (Eph. 4:11-13). Edification of the saints consists of discipleship, community and service: 2.1 Discipleship. Every Christian is to be a disciple maker (Matt. 28:19). To be a disciple is to be a follower, learner, and pupil of Christ. To believe in Jesus is to be a disciple of Jesus (Acts 4:32; 6:2). Disciples are to be like Jesus (Luke 6:40) and to serve others (Phil. 2:1-8). 2.2 Community. God, being triune, exists in community (Gen. 1:26; John 17:20-26). Man is made in God’s image (Gen. 1:16-17), after his likeness (Gen. 5:8). He is made for community. The Church is a relational and interwoven body of believers. The Church is called the Bride of Christ (Rev. 21:9), the Flock of God (1 Pet. 5:2-3), the Fold of Christ (John 10:16), the House of God (Heb. 10:21), the Temple of the living God (2 Cor. 6:16) and the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22). It is mandatory that Christians be joined to a local church (Heb. 10:23-25). Discipleship and community for the entire family will be accomplished through Bible teaching and relationship building. 2.3 Service. Jesus is the ultimate model for every disciple to follow. He taught that his followers must be servants because he was a servant (Matt. 20:20-28). He had a mindset of service (Phil. 2:1-8). He modeled humble service through the washing of the disciples' feet (John 13:3-17). Christians serve other Christians by their meeting their needs and building them up (Gal. 5:13). Christians serve non Christians by their lives of holiness (Matt. 5:13-16; John 13:34-35) and their faithful gospel proclamation (Matt. 28:18-20). 3. Testify It is the responsibility of every Christian to make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). Christians must be preaching the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16). This is done through verbal proclamation of the Gospel and by distinctive living. When Christians love one another as they ought, they show to the world that they are God’s true followers (John 13:34-35). Distinctives: We are Reformed in our theology, elder led, committed to expository preaching, and missional. Reformed Our identity as a church finds its roots in the Protestant Reformation. Being Baptist, we trace our church lineage back to the Puritans. The historic confession we most identify with is The Baptist Confession of 1689. Being Reformed, we believe in primacy of Christ above all. We believe that God initiates and guarantees salvation. We believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. We believe in the lordship of Christ in salvation. We unashamedly hold to the Five Solas of the Reformation: The final authority for the Christian is Scripture alone. Salvation is through faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone. The Christian life is to be lived to God’s glory alone. Elder Led Elders are men (1 Cor. 14:33-35; 1 Tim. 2:11-15) who shepherd God’s people (1 Pet. 5:1-2) and rule his church (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim. 5:17). The biblical norm for church leadership is a plurality of elders (Acts 20:17; 1 Tim. 4:14). In this structure, which we believe is most biblical, there is no single pastor who does it all. Instead, elders as a group, collectively preach, teach, shepherd, and make decisions. Expository Preaching At Higher Ground, we are firmly committed to expository preaching. To exposit means to explain. The preacher’s job is to explain the biblical passage. If the point of the sermon is not the point of the passage, it isn't biblical preaching. We preach through entire books verse by verse. Missional God has providentially placed us in a populated area, surrounded by new, developing neighborhoods, in a location where there are not any Bible preaching churches. The communities surrounding our church and the bordering Navajo reservation are our mission field. We desire to share the Gospel (Mark 16:15; 2 Cor. 5:19-20), and make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20).