Our Covenant

Berean Baptist Church > Our Covenant

As you read over our church covenant please notice that it is built upon the Bible. Members of the body of Christ are expected to recognize and follow the inerrant Word of God as their authority for living a godly life. Use your mouse to scroll over each verse to study through the biblical support for the covenant. You can also ‘click’ onto www.blueletterbible.org website to read the context of the verse and then use the back button or use tab browsing to bring you back to the covenant page. Be sure to checkout our ministry distinctives page as well.

As a bond of unity among us, Berean Baptist Church accepts for its members the following covenant:

Having been led by the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:14-16; Gal 5:18,25) to receive the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:36; 15:11) as our Savior (Luke 2:11); and upon our profession (Heb 4:14) of our faith in Him (Gal 3:26; Col 1:4) , having been baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mat 28:19), we do now solemnly and joyfully enter into this covenant (Neh 8:10) with one another as one body in Christ (Rom 12:5).

We fully realize that the strength to uphold this covenant comes from the grace of God (1Co 15:10) our Father, the shed blood of God the Son (1Pe 1:19), and the power of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; Rom 15:19).

We promise to actively pursue personal holiness (Rom 6:19; 1Th 4:7); to walk (1Th 2:12; Col 1:10; 3 John 4) together in Christian love (John 13:35); to strive for the advancement of this church’s spiritual growth (2Pe 3:18) and unity (Psa 133:1); to faithfully abide by the doctrines (Acts 2:42) and behaviors outlined in this church’s Articles of Faith; and to give cheerfully of our time, talents (Rom 12:6-8), and finances (Luke 6:38; 1Co 16:2) for the support of this ministry (Eph 4:12) and its missionaries (Acts 1:8).

We further promise to faithfully attend the church’s worship services (Acts 2:42; Heb 10:25), to maintain personal spiritual disciplines; to teach our children the Word of God (Deu 6:4-7); to share the gospel with our relatives and acquaintances (Mark 16:15; 1Pe 3:15); to be just in our dealings (Rom 13:8) faithful in our engagements (1Co 4:2); and to avoid all gossip ([backbiting, whisperings] Rom 1:29; 2Co 12:20). We promise that we will love and pray for each other (Jam 5:16) and in times of distress help one another (Gal 6:10).

We promise to endeavor to obey the commandments of our Lord Jesus (Mark 12:30-31) and to abstain from anything that would cause our fellow brother or sister in Christ to stumble (Rom 14:13) or that will bring reproach to the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 15:26; Col 3:17).

We further realize that if we should fail to live up to the promises we have made, our brothers and sisters in Christ will always strive for our reconciliation and spiritual restoration (Gal 6:1). However, if we partake in a sustained and unrepentant violation of an Article of Faith, we will be brought under church discipline in accordance with the Church Constitution (Mat 18:15-17; 1Co 5:1-7).

We make this covenant with each other for the express purpose of glorifying God (1Co 10:31) as the visible representation of the body of Christ (1Co 12:27).

 

Clarifying Notes:

  1. A church covenant is a series of written pledges based on the Bible which church members voluntarily make to God and to one another regarding their basic moral and spiritual commitments and the practice of their faith (Charles DeWeese).
  2. The word “promise” communicates a good faith effort toward doing or refraining from doing that which is specified in the covenant according to the grace of God. Only those who are new creatures in Christ have access to the grace needed to live by this covenant.
  3. Article V, paragraph 2 of our church constitution mandates that every member of the church is expected to live by this covenant and “love, honor, and esteem the Pastors, to pray for them and to recognize their authority in the spiritual affairs of the church; to cherish a brotherly love for all members of the Church; to support the Church in prayer, tithes, offerings and with other financial support as the Lord enables; and, in accordance with Biblical commands, to support through a life-style affirming the beliefs and practices of the Church.”
  4. Prayer, meditation and study of God’s Word, fasting, service, submission one to another and worship are examples of spiritual disciplines.
  5. Any church member who serves as an employee or in a volunteer leadership position must agree to abstain from the use of tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs and other expectations further outlined in another document.