What We Believe

Six Distinctives of PBC

1. We believe God has governed human history in periods of time called dispensations.
   The word “dispensation” means an economy (like capitalism, socialism, or communism) or an administration, (like our 43 U.S. Presidential Administrations or like how parents relate differently to their children as they grow up). Understanding the different dispensations of the Bible is one of our greatest tools to help interpret the it correctly. For example, God’s has given distinct promises to both Israel and the church. If we confuse these two sets of promises, we misinterpret the Bible.
2. We believe Christ will return in the future in 2 phases: In the air to rescue His church (the Rapture) and to the earth to rescue Israel and rule the nations (the Second Coming).
   These two events will be separated by at least 7 years of worldwide disaster and war called the Tribulation. Distinguishing these two phases of Christ’s coming helps us correctly interpret many Biblical passages and preserves the imminency of Christ’s return for us believers.
3. We believe the miraculous New Testament sign gifts, such as speaking in tongues and healing, are not for the worldwide church today, nor are they signs of a believer’s salvation or spiritual maturity.
   Our church believes in miracles! We pray weekly for God to heal the sick and intervene in people’s lives. And He does! We see God save people and change them over time. We send out missionaries who study foreign languages so they can preach the Gospel in those cultures, and see God transform people. But we do not believe God gives the gift of speaking foreign languages or healing to every Christian and church in the world today. God gave those sign gifts to prove the truth of the apostles’ message before they wrote the New Testament. Now that we have a complete, inspired Bible, we don’t need miracles to prove it—the Bible itself is the miracle.
4. We believe God saves us, forgives us and gives us eternal life only by His grace through faith alone in Christ alone.
   Today, the Gospel is presented in as many different ways in evangelical circles as there are different Gospel tracts. Most of these Gospel presentations call for faith plus any number of additional steps, promises, or commitments. Our church preaches the message that is used 100+ times in the NT: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
5. We believe the New Testament model of the local church is to be governed by a team of elders who shepherd and oversee our flock and a team of deacons who serve us, all under Jesus Christ, our Chief Shepherd.
   A team of elders who are responsible for leading and shepherding the church protects us from 3 extremes in local churches: an outside hierarchy controlling us, a one-man dictatorship, or a congregation democracy where immature believers take charge. We believe God uses the good intentions of the elders, who are godly, yet imperfect men to determine His will and decide the direction and policies of our church. They provide representative leadership, getting input from our staff, deacons, and ministry leaders. Our paid pastors and staff implement the vision of the Elders and coordinate ministry with various leaders. Our deacons serve us by facilitating the ministry needs of the church including the care of our physical plant and finances. Our ministry leaders guide our members in carrying out our ministries. Our members vote to express their affirmation of major decisions like recognizing new elders and deacons. A joint elder and deacon committee called the Trustees makes legal decisions for the church.
6. We observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday and baptize believers as a public confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ.
   Observing Communion every week (Acts 2:42, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) increases our worship and appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ and His great sacrifice on the cross for us. It requires us to examine our hearts (1 Corinthians 11:28-29) in order to love God and love others as Jesus has loved us. Water baptism by immersion is a physical demonstration of the spiritual transformation that happens the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ.  Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ as a testimony of faith in Him (Matthew 28:18-20).  Baptism identifies the believer with Jesus and with His body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).