ARTICLE II: COVENANT
The covenant by which this church exists as a distinct body and which every member accepts, is as follows:
Acknowledging Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Lord and submitting to the authority of the Holy Scriptures as our rule of faith and practice. Recognizing the privilege and duty of uniting ourselves for Christian fellowship, the enjoyment of Christian ordinances, the public worship of God and the advancement of His church on earth, we do now, in the sight of God and invoking His blessing, solemnly covenant and agree with each other to associate ourselves as a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as warranted by the Word of God.
We agree to maintain the teaching and the preaching of the Word of God, to submit ourselves to the orderly administration of the affairs of the church and to walk together in brotherly love.
This we do depending on the aid of our Heavenly Father, who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for our salvation, and of Jesus Christ who redeemed us with His blood, and of the Holy Spirit: our Comforter and Guide.
Biblical Obligations of Members and Elders
of Green Mountain Bible Church
Biblical Obligations of the Green Mountain Bible Church Elders to the Green Mountain Bible Church Body
We elders make a covenant with all members; this covenant listed below is our promise before the Lord that we make with all our members.
As we are shepherds and overseers of this local church, we elders are entrusted with protecting, leading, equipping and caring for the church corporate body and for individual members. Scripture gives us the requirements for elders and deacons who serve in the local church (1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Acts 6:3; 1 Tim. 3:9-12). As elders, we seek through prayer God’s will for the church community and steward these resources to the best of our ability based on Scripture and following the Spirit of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet.5:1-4). As elders we are to care for the church and seek her growth in grace, truth and love (Matt.28:16-20; Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 1:28; James5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). As elders we are tasked to provide teaching and counsel from the whole of Scripture (Acts 20:27-28; 1 Tim. 4:16; 2 Tim.4:1-5; Titus 2:1). We elders are to equip the members of the church for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:11-16). We elders are to be on guard against false teachers and teachings (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:28-31; 1 Tim. 1:3-7; 1 John 4:1). As elders we are tasked to lovingly exercise discipline when necessary to restore our brothers and sisters to the church, for God’s glory, the good of the one disciplined and the goal of having a healthy and growing church (Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5; Gal. 6:1; James 5:19-20). We elders are to set an example and join members in fulfilling the obligations of church membership stated below (Phil. 3:17; 1 Tim. 4:12; Titus 2:7–8; 1 Pet. 5:3).
Membership Covenant
I covenant to submit to the authority of Scripture as the final authority on all issues (Ps. 119; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; 2 pet. 1:19-21) to pursue the Lord Jesus Christ through regular Bible reading, prayer, fellowship and practice of the spiritual disciplines (Luke 18:1; Acts 17:11; 1 Cor 9: 24-27; Eph. 5:1-21; 1 Thess. 5:12-22) following the command and example of Jesus by participating in the ordinances prescribed to His Church: by being baptized (immersion) after my conversion and by regularly remembering and celebrating the person and work of Christ through communion (Lord’s Supper). By attending weekly services and living in the gospel-centered community and serving those inside and outside the church (Acts 2:42-47; Heb. 10:23-25; Titus 3:14). Believers should strive to put certain attitudes and actions to death while stirring and stimulating love and good deeds through the Spirit. to refrain from such activities that the Scriptures would deem foolish (Rom. 14:14–23). To take seriously the responsibility of Christian freedom, especially actions or situations that could present a stumbling block to another (1 Cor. 8:1–13). To submit to the discipline of God through His Holy Spirit by following the biblical procedures for church discipline where sin is evident in another—the hope of such discipline being repentance and restoration. To receiving loving discipline when approached biblically by fellow believers (Ps. 141:5; Matt. 18:15–20; 1 Cor. 5:9–13; Heb. 12:5–11). To do the following when I sin: confess my sin to God and to fellow believers repent and seek help to put my sin to death (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5; James 5:16; 1 John 1:6–10) To submit to the elders and other appointed leaders of the church and diligently strive for unity and peace within the church (Eph. 4:1–3; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:5) and to do the following should I leave the church for righteous reasons: notify the elders and to seek out another Bible Believing Church that I may attend as a Born Again believer.
ARTICLE III: STATEMENT OF FAITH
The "Statement of Faith" which this church shall embrace, preach and defend is specifically set forth as follows:
We the members of Green Mountain Bible Church, believe the Bible, exclusively and in it's entirety, to be our infallible rule of faith and of practice. In feeling our responsibility to make known the divine message of the Bible, we present the following articles as a statement of those basic truths taught in the Bible which are common to our Christian faith and practice.
THE BIBLE: the Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, verbally inspired by God in all parts, and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God (II Tim. 3:16: II Pet. 1:21).
THE ONE TRUE GOD: existing eternally as three persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).
GOD THE FATHER: He is Spirit, (John 4:24); He is omnipotent, (Matt 19:26); He is omniscient, (Matt 10:29); He is Holy, (John 17:11).
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: His preexistence and deity (John 1:14; Matt. 1:18-23), His sinless life (Heb. 4:15), His substitutionary death on the cross (II Cor. 5:21), His bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43), His ascension into heaven and present ministry (Heb. 4:14-16), and His coming again (Acts 1:11).
THE HOLY SPIRIT: His personality (John 16:7-15); & deity (Acts 5:3-4) and His work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9); and filling (Eph. 5:18) to empower for Christian life and service (Eph. 3:16; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23).
MAN: his direct creation in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 5:12), and the necessity of the new birth for his salvation (John 3:3-5).
SATAN: his existence and personality as the great adversary of God and His people (Rev. 12:1-10), his judgment (John 12:31), and doom (Rev. 20:10).
SALVATION: a complete, eternal and irrevocable salvation by God's grace alone, received as the gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work (Eph. 2:8-9: Titus 3:5-7; I Peter 1:18-19).
THE CHURCH: One true Church, the body and bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (I Cor. 12:12-13) and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for world wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4:11-16).
CHRISTIAN LIFE: a life of righteousness, good works, and separation unto God from the evil ways of the world (Rom 12:1-2), manifested by speaking the truth (James 5:12), maintaining the sanctity of the home (Eph. 5:22–6:4), settling differences between Christians in accordance with the Word of God (I Cor. 6:1-8), not engaging in carnal strife but showing a Christ-like attitude toward all men (Rom 12:17-21), exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), maintaining a life of prayer (Eph. 6:18; Phil 4:6), daily reading & study of God's word (Psalm 119) and including the privilege, when sick, of calling for the elders of the church to pray and to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:13-18). (reorder)
ORDINANCES: the Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are: (1) baptism of believers by immersion (Matt. 28:19) and; (2) the Lord’s Supper, consisting of the communion of the bread and the cup (I Cor.11:23-26).
SECOND COMING: The personal, visible, and imminent return of Christ to remove His Church from the earth (1 Thess. 4:16-17), and to descend with the Church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Rev. 19:11 - 20:6).
FUTURE LIFE: The conscious existence of the dead (Phil. 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Rom. 14:10-12; II Cor. 5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matt 25:46, Rev. 20:15).
