Vision and Values

We desire to exalt the triune God for the wonderful salvation He has wrought. According to Ephesians 1:3-14, God the Father ordained our salvation; God the Son accomplished our salvation; and God the Spirit applies our salvation. As we worship the triune God, we experience a small taste of heaven on earth - as we look forward to worshipping the Lord alongside all of his saints for all eternity.

"Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods." — Psalm 96:1-4

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!"  — Psalm 115:1

"And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'" — Revelation 5:13

Our leadership is committed to the authority of Scripture, sufficiency of Scripture, and inerrancy of Scripture. We believe that all of God's Word points to the Lord Jesus Christ, and is therefore, His ordained means of saving and sanctifying His people. As a result, we practice expositional preaching here each week in that we seek to proclaim faithfully the intended meaning of the Scriptures.  

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" — Romans 10:13-17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." — John 17:17

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." — 2 Timothy 4:1-2

We are a people entirely dependent on the Lord for all things. We come before the Lord in prayer, not to inform God of our needs, but to confess our utter need before Him. Through corporate and private prayer, the church seeks to commune with God as we seek His direction, wisdom, and power for the advancement of His Kingdom throughout the earth.

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." — Acts 2:42

"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites...But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they thing that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'" — Matthew 6:5-13

We believe that discipleship and sanctification are not individual processes, nor were they ever intended to be worked out in a vacuum. Rather, in God’s perfect plan for the church, all believers are members of one body, and therefore, are dependent upon one another. In other words, we were made to live in community with one another. We need consistent encouragement from each other in order to persevere in the faith and live lives characterized by love and obedience to Christ.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." — John 13:34-35

"Take care, brothers and sisters, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." — Hebrews 3:12-13

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." — Hebrews 10:23-25

The New Testament compels believers to live in covenant with a local body of believers. This relationship serves as a safeguard of mutual encouragement, instruction, and exhortation in an ever-changing world. Biblically, membership in a local church consists of a three-fold responsibility: of members to one another, of the leadership to the members, and of members to their leaders.

"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." — Romans 12:10

"So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." — 1 Peter 5:1-4

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." — Hebrews 13:17

In the Great Commission, Jesus commands his disciples to “make disciples of all nations." We believe this mission is carried out by the local church. We long to see discipleship begin in the home, as parents fulfill their God-given responsibilities to disciple their own children. Further, by God's grace, we desire to make disciples of the Lord Jesus in the Laurel community, Jones County, Mississippi, the United States, and to the ends of the earth.

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" — Matthew 28:18-20

"'Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.'" — Deuteronomy 6:4-9

We believe in the priesthood of all believers. The Spirit of God breathes life into His saints and enables them to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel and to use the gifts He has given them to serve one another in the church. Therefore, the work of the ministry is not reserved for the spiritually elite or "professionals." Rather, the leadership of this church has the solemn responsibility and privilege to equip each member of this church for serving the body.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." — 1 Peter 2:9-10

"And [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." — Ephesians 4:11-16