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Beliefs

At Grace Presbytarian Church, we...

    ...affirm the truths expressed in the classic church Creeds and Reformed Confessions, and in particular the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, together with the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.
    ...worship the Triune God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one true and living God who created heaven and earth, came into the world to save His people from their sins and give them new life in Him (Acts 2:38-39; John 1:1-3).
    ...believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again to give His people eternal life (John 3:16)
    ...rejoice in the reality that the Lord God is sovereign over all things and that He controls and directs them for His own good and glorious purposes (Romans 11:36).
    ...affirm that the Bible is God’s Word, written without error, and is a guide to teach His people what they should believe and how they should live (II Timothy 3:16).
    ...seek to live as unto God by faith in Jesus Christ through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
    ...strive to build one another up in love by sharing each other’s joys and burdens (Romans 12:15).

Grace Church is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), a reformed and presbyterian denomination. The OPC was founded in 1936 in an effort to remain faithful to God’s Word. Being reformed means that we stand in the doctrinal and historical lineage of the Protestant Reformation. As such, we believe that in matters of faith and worship the Bible is the sole infallible standard, the sole source of special, divine revelation, and as such the primary and ultimate standard (sola scriptura), that salvation is purely a gift of God’s grace (sola gratia), that salvation is received by sinners through faith alone (sola fides), that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior and Mediator for sinners (solus Christus), and that all things, our salvation, our worship, every aspect of our lives is unto the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).

The word presbyterian describes how the church is governed. From the time of Abraham in the Old Testament, God’s church has been led by wise elders, men gifted by God and called to govern his church. The word presbyterian comes from the New Testament Greek word presbyteros, meaning ‘elder.’ The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has followed this biblical pattern for church government. Local church elders, along with the pastor, form a ‘session’ to care for the spiritual welfare of our members. Matters of common concern for churches in a given region, such as establishing new congregations and ordaining ministers, are regulated by a body of regional ministers and representative elders called a ‘presbytery.’ Annually, representatives of our presbyteries form a ‘general assembly’ to give the whole church direction and advice.

The word orthodox in our name means following the straight way, the right way, the biblical way, which is to say, God’s way. Ortho is the Greek word for ‘straight’ and dox is Greek for ‘thinking.’ Orthodox then expresses that we are a presbyterian church seeking to be faithful to the Word of God in what we believe and teach, the way we govern God’s people, and the way we live our lives.


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Grace OPC, Hanover Park, IL
Copyright 2010