OAK GROVE COVENANT
We as a church family affirm the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and agree to live by the Oak Grove Covenant.
Having been led by the Holy Spirit to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized by immersion in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into a covenant with each other as a local assembly of the body of Christ.
We engage therefore, by the power of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this Church in knowledge, holiness, and comfort. We seek to promote the prosperity and spirituality of this Church, to give it a sacred preeminence over all institutions of human origin, to attend its services regularly, and to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines. We will contribute cheerfully and regularly, as God has prospered us, to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the Church, the relief of the poor and the spreading of the gospel to all nations.
We also engage to maintain personal and family devotions, to train our children according to the Word of God, and to seek the salvation of our loved ones and acquaintances. We seek to walk daily in a manner that honors our Lord Jesus Christ, to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements and exemplary in our behavior. We strive to abstain from all forms of activity which dishonor our Lord Jesus Christ and cause stumbling to a fellow believer or hinder the winning of a lost soul to Christ. We will oppose all conduct which compromises our Christian faith and will uphold the highest standards of Christian morality. We will be passionate in our love and service for the Lord, to discern our spiritual gifts, and employ them in this local Church. We seek to be zealous in our efforts to advance the Kingdom of Christ, our Savior and to give Him preeminence in all things.
We further engage to encourage one another in the blessed hope of our Lord’s return, to watch over one another in brotherly love, to remember one another in prayer, to aid one another in sickness and distress, to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech, to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, being mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we are removed from this Body we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other Church of like faith and order where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word. In the event there is no such Church, we shall seek, with the Lord’s help, to establish one.