Distinct

• Expository preaching is going verse by verse through a passage or book of the Bible from beginning to end, proclaiming God's message that is taken directly from the text at hand, in its intended context.
• We get our message from digging out of the Bible the meaning of the words in the text within its own context, and supporting the explanation of the text with other Scripture passages.
• We believe that we should not sacrifice the originally intended historical and grammatical meaning of a given passage in order to put forth our own ideas or agenda. We are servants of the Word.
• It should not be left up to the popular culture or our own imaginations or traditions what we are going to preach on each week. Even when a topic (i.e., special holiday, world event, or specific church issue) needs to be preached about, we will always and only do so according to the Word of God, not our own ideas, experiences, or feelings. Our messages had better be God's messages, or we are not only mishandling His Word, but also molesting His Bride.
• Preaching is hard work. It takes a lot of time, mental rigor, and emotional energy to read, think, study, and pray through a passage of the Bible so as to proclaim the Word both accurately and persuasively.
• The whole process of preparing to preach an expository sermon, the actual delivery of it, and the end result of it all is to be surrendered to the sovereign power and grace of the Holy Spirit who works through His Word to change lives and to create and strengthen faith in people.

• The Biblical ideal in Church government is to have Christ-like shepherds who so affectionately and unconditionally love the flock under their care, each and every individual member, that they gladly and willingly live and die for their benefit unto God’s glory, and to have a congregation that so loves their elders in the same way by trusting, respecting, submitting to, supporting, encouraging, and following them.
• Within a Biblical eldership there is a plurality of leaders with an equality of authority which, in God's wisdom, serves to protect both each elder and the rest of the church from laziness, arrogance, impurity, dictatorship, disunity, and a myriad of other evils.
• Although each elder has the same authority, main role, and responsibility to oversee the whole church, there are different functions and areas of emphasis that each elder might spend more focused time and energy in. The reason for this is that there is a diversity of gifts and strengths within the eldership that complement and supplement the weaknesses of one another.
• The Biblical terms: "pastors"/"shepherds", "elders", and "overseers"/"bishops" are all synonymous, and thus we will purposefully use them interchangeably so as to foster and uphold the unity of the church.
• Pastor elders lovingly serve as leaders with prayer and the Word by overseeing and guiding all of the other leaders and covenant members, as well as all of the activities and overall direction of the church with wisdom and humility, giving counsel to and care for the spiritual needs of the body with Scriptural faithfulness and sincere compassion, teaching and exhorting the church with sound theology and exemplary living, and passionately protecting and guarding the people under their charge from false teachings and teachers.

• By saying that we believe in "Reformed Theology" we do not intend to convey a necessary adherence to all of the frequently accompanying "baggage" of any particular denomination or tradition, but only that God, who is sovereign over all, glorifies Himself in all of history and creation, life and death, sufferings and blessings, and judgement and salvation as He so rightly deserves. This is clearly communicated in what are historically called, "The Solas of the Reformation" and "The Doctrines of Grace", both of which we gladly adhere to.
• Rather than hindering or weakening our resolve to obey, pray, and evangelize, our confidence in God's providential control and active involvement in all things actually serves to strengthen and provide hope and joy for what the Lord has commanded us to do in His Word. We believe that God ordains both the ends and the means, and we take humble delight in being called to be the means of His unfolding plan of redemption.
• While our Theological understandings will (and should) shape how we think, we will always hold the Bible to be the only standard for beliefs, attitudes, and actions. We will not set out to trumpet any system of Theology from the pulpit; however, as we unashamedly and faithfully preach the Word of God, we will not avoid or disproportionately emphasize any doctrine or word or phrase, no matter who likes them or not.
• While adhering to all of our beliefs of Reformed Theology is required for our elders, it is not a requirement for church membership, and we sincerely love and enjoy fellowship with every Christian who believes and loves the essentials of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• There will always be an openness and even an expectation to ask questions, discuss, and learn together from God's Word in appropriate ways and times with humility, understanding, and love, while all the time willingly and humbly submitting to the teaching and authority of the elders so as to uphold and foster unity and love in Peine Ridge Church.

• As a church, we believe that the most loving thing we can do in our community, in our nation, and in our world is to share the gospel message of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. If Christians have been called to love our neighbors as ourselves, then we should hope they will confess sin, repent from their wickedness, believe in God, and live eternally to glorify Him. Loving them towards any other end could not be considered love at all.
• To live missionally in any context is to be an influencer of culture without being absorbed by culture. Instead of continually seeking to bring the culture of our society into our worship of God, we actively seek to create culture by being ambassadors of Christ in a foreign world.
• As missionaries in Wentzville, our practice of revealing Christ will not center around taking people to a sacred space where God lives and wants to be worshipped, but pointing out the omnipresence of God in all places at all times with every passing opportunity. By doing this, we (Christians) will worship every day of the week.
• In every cultural context we find ourselves in, we will recognize ourselves as the image bearers of Christ to unsaved people. Because of this, we will desperately seek to uphold the beauty of Christ in the words we speak and in the ways we act (and react).
• When we speak about hospitality, we will be referring more to our generosity with non-believing guests and less to our camaraderie with Christian brothers and sisters.
• As we proclaim Christ to people inside and outside of the church, we will recognize that our methods can change while the message remains the same. With this understanding, we will contextualize our presentation of the never-changing Gospel to an ever-changing culture in this generation and in generations to come.

• In order to honor our Creator and King we must submit to His desires and designs for life and living. Consequently, we not only value the family, but we value God's definition of and path for family as found written in His Word.
• We believe that children are a blessing from the Lord and not an inconvenience or a liability. And so we rejoice with those who receive children in abundance, and we mourn with those whose prayerful plea for the blessing of children has gone unanswered.
• Since parents have the God-given privilege, responsibility, and effectiveness in the overall training, teaching, growing, and discipling of their children (especially in morality and spirituality), we count it our privilege and responsibility to set out to partner with parents in what God has called them to be and do for their children.
• We will always encourage and seek to equip families to worship together at home every day and with the rest of the church every Lord's Day, being understanding, patient, and even thankful for the little "distractions" that accompany small children in our corporate gatherings.
• If we are to fully love and serve our families, then we must take them with us as we seek to reform the church and reach the world. The world will only be reached and the Church will only be reformed when the family is being restored.
• Our desire to promote and protect the family, certainly includes all single-parent families and those single people who either long for a family or embrace a special calling to singleness.
• Our view and valuing of family unity is subservient to, and an outflowing expression of, our view and valuing of Christ as the Supreme Savior and Lord. We do not want to become, or convey that we are, a family-centered church; for we seek to always and only be a Christ-centered church.

• We believe that when we come together each Lord's Day to worship God, we come primarily not to give anything to Him, but rather to receive from Him, because all things come from Him, particularly our salvation through faith in Christ. This dependence on God for all things honors and glorifies Him, and is clearly typified as we receive the Lord's Supper.
• While God has chosen not to clearly define many aspects of the gathered worship of His people under the new covenant, Christ clearly and expressly commanded us to "do this" (receive the Lord's Supper) in remembrance of Him. We believe that God is gracious in His commands and that we would do well to obey them.
• The Lord's Supper was specially instituted by Christ to represent and apply to believers the benefits of the new covenant by visible and outward signs. Those who eat and drink in a worthy manner partake of Christ’s body and blood, not physically, but spiritually in that, by faith, they are nourished with the benefits He obtained through His death, and thus grow in grace. Since this is true, it is best for this spiritual nourishment to be received regularly and frequently, just as physical nourishment must be received regularly and frequently.
• Far more effective than implementing any man-made gimmicks, programs or strategies aimed at creating a sense of community within a group of people, we believe that participation in the Lord's Supper is a God-ordained means of unifying and strengthening the church. Therefore, as a church which desires to experience the unity and oneness which Christ prayed for us to experience, we will receive the Lord's Supper frequently.
• We believe it is very likely that weekly (or even more frequent) participation in the Lord's Supper was the practice of the early church, and that we should follow their example.
• We recognize that the old adage "familiarity breeds contempt" can hold true even for something as precious as the Lord's Supper. However, we believe that this does not reflect any deficiency in the ordinance, but rather it reflects a deficiency within ourselves due to our corrupt nature. This deficiency always tends to cause us to grow bored with, or apathetic towards, the things of God. Recognizing this, we believe the proper response is to repent often of our sinful attitudes and to fervently, desperately, and sincerely pray that the Holy Spirit will renew our passion towards, and appreciation for, Christ’s atoning work each week as we remember and receive it together.

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