Our Church Covenant

The Biblical Precedent

“Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant” (2 Kings 23:3).

“Then they entered a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul” (2 Chron. 15:12).  (See also: 1 Sam. 18:3; 20:8; 23:18; 1 Chron. 11:3; 2 Chron. 23:3, 16; 34:31-32; Neh. 9:38 and many more.)

Preamble

Having been led by the Spirit of God through the Word of God to repent of our sin and to place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior from the penalty of sin and the practice of sin, and having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of Almighty God and His elect angels and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, as one body in Christ.

We, the members of Cornerstone Church, do affectionately welcome you into the fellowship of this church in the blessing of the gospel.  Believing as we do that the fellowship of the saints and commitment to the local church is a sacred privilege and duty, and an essential part of living a successful Christian life, we do not enter this covenant lightly.

Our Testimony

Therefore, we do covenant together, God helping us, that as strangers and pilgrims in this world we shall abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul; that we will put away from us all bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking, and will be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us; that we will be honest and fair in our business dealings, faithful in our responsibilities and diligent in our employment;

Our Family

That we will maintain family and personal devotions, educate our children in the Word of God, lead our family in worship and take them to church rather than just sending them; that we will take time to be with our children modeling for them the spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit; that we will put our spouse as our highest priority after the Lord, striving to meet their needs and build them up in their faith, constantly striving to build oneness in our relationship showing them the unconditional love of God;

Our Witness

That we will speak of salvation to our family, friends, associates and those whom the Lord gives us opportunity; that we will be zealous in our efforts to spread the gospel and obey the Great Commission and we will take part in confessing Christ before men; that as we have opportunity, we will do good to all men especially those of the household of faith;

Our Church

That we will remember to obey those who have rule over us in the church and be submissive, so that when they give account to God they may do so with joy and not with grief; for we know that they speak the Word of God to us and watch out for our souls; that we will earnestly seek to maintain in the church the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace by refraining from all gossip, slander, and backbiting, seeking the forgiveness of those whom we wrong and freely forgiving the wrongs of those who sin against us;
that we will strive for the advancement of this church; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, partake of its ordinances, submit to its discipline and cling to its teachings, giving Christ’s church sacred preeminence over all institutions of human origin, faithfully attending the regularly called services and a Care Circle (small group); that we will faithfully serve Christ in a ministry of this church using our gifts, talents and interest;

Our Spiritual Warfare

That we will put on the whole armor of God, keeping in mind that our battle is not with our Christian brother, and not even with ungodly and unreasonable men, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness; that we do renounce the hidden things of darkness.  We reject any previous involvement in the cults or occult by ourselves or by our forefathers.
We willingly renounce any and all previous oaths or covenants with the prince of darkness.  Forsaking all other false gods, idols, cults, Masonic lodges, secret societies and worldly religions we cling to the true God of the Bible knowing that the Lord has said He is a jealous God and will have no other gods before Him; that we will pray for each other and the salvation of the lost, and we will comfort each other in sickness and distress; to be slow to take offense, quick to forgive and always ready to sacrifice for the sake of reconciling.
We furthermore, agree that when we remove from this place, we will, as soon as possible, unite with another Bible-believing church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.