DISTINCTIVES
In addition to our beliefs, people often ask what characterizes Crestview and makes us similar or different from other local churches? The following disctinctives reflect some of the key things our church values and emphasizes:
Christ-centered
We aim to glorify the Lord in our gatherings and in our lives. We cherish the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, who has acted to redeem sinners for his glory and our joy.
Word-Centered
We are a people of the word and believe the Bible is God's inspired, true, clear, authoritative, and sufficient rule of faith and practice. Therefore, our corporate gatherings are centered around God's word. When we gather to worship we sing the word, read the word, pray the word, preach the word, and see the word (in Lord’s Supper and baptism). The Bible translation we use for preaching and teaching is the English Standard Version.
Baptist
We walk in Baptist theology by recognizing the local church as an assembly of those who profess their faith and identify with Christ by water baptism and enter into covenant together to be a church. We are Baptist not merely in name, but in conviction and practice.
Confessional
All our members share a common confession of faith about the Bible’s doctrines: The Baptist Faith & Message 2000. We practice charity toward members’ personal, biblical convictions within the guardrails of this confession, when they are not essential to Christianity and do not threaten church unity.
Meaningful membership
We believe membership in a local church should be meaningful. Membership is submitting oneself to the church and taking responsibility for one another's maturing in Christ. An important way we love one another is carrying out this commitment through active participation in the church’s gatherings.
Expositional preaching
Our preaching is text-driven, meaning that the point of the sermon is the point of the biblical text. Our pastors preach consecutively through books of the Bible. A survey past sermons provides a helpful overview of our approach: Sermon Resources
Congregational singing
We believe Scripture calls the church to sing together unto the Lord and to one another We structure our gatherings to support such singing. We utilize new songs and timeless hymns, accompanied by light instrumentation to accentuate and foster joyful, robust congregational singing. Follow this link for playlists of the songs we sing: Music Resources
Family participation
We encourage families to sit together as they participate in gathered worship— including children. We provide an optional nursery for children 5 years and younger. Learn more about this under the Families tab and by reading Parenting in the Pew.
Personal Discipleship
Jesus calls every believer to be a disciple-maker. Therefore, every member is responsible for lovingly, gently, and steadily leading others to know and grow in the Lord's grace, knowledge, and holiness.
unity in diversity
We believe that the gospel unites believers from diverse backgrounds as a family within Christ’s church, therefore our church values racial, economic, and educational diversity among our members.
11. Missional
Jesus has commissioned his church to engage the world with the gospel— both locally and internationally. We expect every member to be active in evangelism and missions, in one way or another, through praying, giving, sending, and going.
12. Elder-Led
We are led by a team of men who are biblically qualified pastors/elders/overseers. We are congregational-ruled, meaning that under Christ the church has final decision-making authority. We are deacon-served, meaning that our deacons meet the tangible needs of the church.