What Makes Us Different
The uniqueness of Oak Grove Baptist Church is our simplicity. We are not seeking to provide the latest programs to attract the most people. Our goal is simple: We exist to glorify God by keeping our focus on proclaiming and living out the truth. For this reason, we are a Word-centered Church. We seek to exalt Christ by preaching the Word, edifying the saints by applying the Word, and engaging the culture by sharing the Word.
Regulative Principle of Worship
We are not free to invent new approaches to worshiping God. We cannot worship what we do not know, and we cannot know God unless He reveals Himself to us in His Word. Adoration, godly fear, obedience, and praise come only from a heart that has been illuminated by God’s Word. God’s Word is central to worship. In other words, where the Word is absent, there can be no true worship of God. For this reason, worship is restricted to the divine means by which God has promised to communicate His Word to us. These means, known as the ordinary means of grace, include preaching God’s Word, singing God’s Word, praying God’s Word, seeing God’s Word in the ordinances, and fellowshipping around God’s Word.
Plurality of Elders
We affirm that New Testament churches were led by a plurality of elders and practiced plural elder leadership in their churches. The terms elder, bishop, and pastor are used interchangeably in the New Testament to refer to the same office. According to the New Testament concept of eldership, elders lead the church, teach and preach the Word, protect
the church from false teachers, exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine, visit the sick, pray, and judge doctrinal
issues. The elders are responsible for providing spiritual leadership and shepherding the church body in all matters (Hebrews 13:17,
1 Timothy 5:17, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).
Expository, Christ-Centered Preaching
As the pillar and ground of the truth, the most important function of the local church is the faithful preaching and proclamation of God’s Word. Biblical and Christ-centered preaching is the explanation and application of the Scriptures. The power of preaching is not found in oratory skills, in clever and relevant topics, or in the charisma of the speaker, but in the precision and accuracy of the exposition and application of the Biblical text. The Word changes lives; therefore, it is our goal to faithfully exposit and apply the Word. The goal of expository preaching is to preach verse by verse through the books of the Bible to discover the intended, historical, contextual, and theological meaning of the passage, and then to bring out the timeless truths so that we may submit to them and apply them to our lives.
Congregational and Christ-Centered Singing
We believe that the lyrics of our worship songs should be focused principally upon the explicit gospel of Jesus Christ. Though there is a rightful place to express our emotions verbally, such as singing about our love and adoration of God, for the most part, we desire to place the lyrical focus of our music on the life and work of Christ which, we believe, brings the most glory to God and the most edification to the saints. Moreover, GBC seeks to worship in a manner that highlights congregational singing. Therefore, we intentionally adjust the volume of the microphones and musicians as needed to aid, but not to dominate, the mutual singing of the congregation. In addition, we seek to keep our focus on the lyrics and to guard against creating a performance-or entertainment-based form of worship.
Church Discipline
Because God takes church membership and holiness seriously, OGBC takes church discipline seriously. Yet, church discipline should not be viewed principally as excommunication, which is only the last step of the process, but as loving restoration that takes place between and among Christians who hold each other accountable to God’s Word. Church discipline naturally flows out of the fellowship and counseling ministry of the church. Healthy and effective church discipline, therefore, is rooted in a desire to restore others in love and a spirit of meekness. If a church member who is in open rebellion against God does not repent after hearing one person, then two, and then the church collectively, OGBC is committed to carrying out church discipline even though it causes us much pain and sorrow to remove our spiritual fellowship until public repentance restores the broken union. Restoration, not excommunication, is the goal.
Active Church Membership
We believe Christians should take church membership seriously. Biblical church membership consists of Christians mutually submitting themselves in love to the care, oversight, doctrine, and discipline of a local church as they seek to be faithful and active in the life, fellowship, service, worship, and functions of the church body. The local church is the setting for Christians to utilize their spiritual gifts for the mutual edification of the body. We seek to create a family atmosphere that includes time for regular fellowship to build meaningful relationships centered on Christ Jesus.
Missions Focused
We seek to encourage, embolden, and equip our members to be mission-minded. We believe that every Christian is called to be a missionary, but we believe that mission work starts in the home with family worship and flows out of a life that is spiritually immersed in a daily communion with Christ. We are called not only to witness to our lost family members, but also to share our faith with those in the community as we pray and send out missionaries to the world. Therefore, we purposefully seek to promote, encourage, and equip our members for family worship, personal evangelism, and international missions.
Family-Friendly Ministry
We seek to be a Christ-centered church, not a family-centered church. Yet, God has designed the family, and as a church body, we seek to promote family unity by encouraging, exhorting, and equipping our families to worship together at home and to worship together with the church on Sundays. We believe that it is important for each family to remain together during the worship service, and we believe that corporate worship should be a major part of our children’s lives. Though we are happy to provide a nursery for those less than three years of age, we encourage even the youngest children to remain with their parents in worship. We believe children are a blessing from the Lord, so we are thankful to God for them, and we do not view their sometimes obvious presence during corporate worship as a distraction. We also seek to encourage and equip fathers to carry out their responsibilities as the spiritual leaders of their families because parents are responsible to teach, train, and raise their children in the admonition of the Lord.