Immanuel Presbyterian Church

The Lord of the Church
Immanuel Presbyterian Church exists to bring glory to her Lord. Her Lord is Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. It is this Christ, along with the Father and the Spirit, that are the objects of praise and adoration by those who are joined together to form Immanuel Church. It is the Christ of the ancient creeds, the God-man, who is the Lord of his Church, as well as the Lord of the cosmos. Formulations about Jesus Christ, such as those made in the Apostles’ Creed are formulations that are at the core of the life and ministry of Immanuel Church.

The Nature of the Church
Since creation God has always had a people, and, under the New Covenant, the people of God are found in the Church. Church membership, is therefore, not to be seen as a mere option, but rather is to be seen as normal and expected for the people of God. Families in Immanuel, to include their children, are joined together as one body, a unit of professors in Christ seeking to collectively live in mutual interdependence one with the other.

The Purity of the Church
If churches sought only perfect people, there would be no churches. Churches are for sinners, though we quickly add that churches are for redeemed sinners. One of the tasks of the Church is to maintain the purity of the Church, meaning that sins not repented of mar the image of the Church as the bride of Christ, whose calling is to be spotless. Immanuel Church, accordingly, does all within her power to encourage and uphold and exhort and assist all of her sinning members in their war against the world, the flesh and the devil. Yet Immanuel Church also seeks to deal in love, but with firmness, with any in whom hardness of heart has become a way of life.

The Function of the Church
The supreme task of the Church is Worship. The worship offered to God at Immanuel is not a worship built around the notions of men, but rather is worship in accordance with the pattern given in Scripture. Worship at Immanuel includes the singing of psalms and the great hymns of the faith, along with Scripture readings, a sermon based on a text of Scripture, and weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper.
The Church has also been given the task of teaching the faith (“…teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded” –Matt 28:29). A weekly Sunday School exists for the purpose of teaching the members of Immanuel, as well as other teaching/learning opportunities. The goal of making disciples of every nation is taken seriously at Immanuel.
To evangelize is thus seen as one of the central tasks of the Church. Effective evangelism, of course, begins with efforts to make known the beauty and glory of Christ to those in the immediate area. Yet the task of seeing the world bow the knee to Jesus is all-encompassing, which is why Immanuel supports mission efforts among the Muslims, in Peru, and in other locations.

The Confession of the Church
In addition to the ancient creeds of the Christian faith such as the Apostles’ Creed, Immanuel Church also affirms other ancient creeds such as the Nicean and the Athanasius. Further, all Elders of Immanuel subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism are also held in high regard.