What does it mean to be a member, visitor or participant at MRPC (Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church)?  We believe that as we follow Christ there are three commitments that will achieve our joy and Christ’s glory.  They are…

Commitment to Christ

John 15: 1  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Events that emulate our Commitment to Christ are: 

• Sunday Morning Worship (9:00 and 10:30)
• Sunday Communities (meet during the worship services).

Commitment to Body of Christ
John 15  10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.  11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Events that emulate our Commitment to the Body of Christ are: 
• Sunday Evening Celebration (6:00 PM the first Sunday of the month)
• Community Groups (which meet during Sunday Evenings and throughout the week). 
• Also involved are children’s, youth, music, Senior’s, women’s, and men’s ministries that meet weekly.

Commitment to Work of Christ in the World 
John 15  26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.  27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Events that emulate our Commitment to the Work of Christ in the World are: 

• Global Missions, Center Court (a ministry to those in need)
• ESL (English as a Second Language)
• Good News Club (a ministry to local elementary Schools)
• Hispanic Ministry Church Plant
• A number of other ministries such as Piedmont Women’s Center, Bethany Christian Services, Miracle Hill, Christian Learning center and Gideons.

Most importantly we want you to know that where our members are is where ministry is happening….whether it is in business or other professions, homemaking, as a student, in the arts, or in any various forms the Work of Christ is to redeem and restore the beauty and meaning of the world.  

We seek as best as we can to emulate the ministry of Christ.  Christ came in the carnal body, which we call the Incarnation.  That is to say that God himself came in the flesh in order to pay for our sin, give us intimacy with God our Father and show us how to live.  The ideal that Christ came to share our burdens and struggles is unique in all religions.  Motivated by Christ’s love we seek to do the same.  Christianity is a religion of relationships.  As Christ Initiated with disciples,  Identified with the culture, and Invaded individuals with the gospel; we the family of faith at MRPC (Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church), desire to pattern our lives in the same way.

Initiated

Luke 19:1-10  Luke 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."  6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"  8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."  9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

As Jesus initiated with people we seek to initate in order to know and pursue each other in relationship.

Identified

Hebrews 2:12 — 3:1  12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”  13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”  14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil--  15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.  17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 

As Christ has identified with our humanity we seek to understand and identify with each others struggles, families, sins, and lives in order that we might now best how to love and encourage. 

Invaded

Luke 8:25-39    26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.  27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.  28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”  29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places…  38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,  39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Finally we see with Christ that he did not leave us alone but invaded with the truth of the Gospel…that God loves and cares for us.  So we seek to invade lives with the truth of the gospel and therefore urge people to experience God’s Grace through the three Commitments to Christ, the Body of Christ and the Work of Christ in the World.  In other words we are subject to the Christ’s ministry to our lives – to our ministry in the lives of each other – and to our value in our daily lives as participants in the world: 

What is the philosophy?

As handed down by many men, and most adequately summarized by Edmund Clowney in his book The Church, the philosophy of the church is three-fold. 

Ministry to God 
Ministry to the Church 
Ministry to the World 

Clowney summarizes these three priorities in the opening of chapter 14, “The Structure of Christ’s Church.”

In every task of the church, the ministry of the Word of God is central.  It is the Word that calls us to worship, addresses us in worship, teaches us how to worship and enables us to praise God and to encourage one another.  By the Word we are given life and nurtured to maturity in Christ:  the Word is the sword of the Spirit to correct us and the bread of the Spirit to feed us.  In the mission of the church, it is the Word of God that calls the nations to the Lord:  in the teaching of the Word we make disciples of the nations.  The growth of the church is the growth of the Word (Acts 6:7, 12:24, 19:20): where there is a famine of the Word, no expertise in business administration or group dynamics will build Christ’s church.

The three goals of the church are to be sought not only through the Word, but also in the obedience of love.  When they are so sought, a ministry of order will result.  The Lord rejects the worship of those who honour him with their lips, but who do not love and honour him in their hearts and lives (Is. 29:13).  We nurture one another by deeds of love, not just by sharing Scripture texts.  In the mission of the church, deeds and words combine in our witness (Phil. 2:15).  Love that is real requires accountability, and accountability means order.  The discipline of the church appears in the love that Christians show for one another, in encouraging, counseling, asking ‘How are you doing?’ and looking for an answer.

 

OUR SHARED VALUES

1. CENTRALITY OF PREACHING AND TEACHING

We believe that the Bible is God's inspired Word and we hold to its teaching as our ultimate authoritative standard for faith and living (Isa. 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Gal. 1:8-9; Eph. 2:20; 2 Tim. 3:15-16; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; Rev. 22:18-19; cf. WCF Ch. 1:1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9; WLC Q.3; WSC Q.2).

Preaching and teaching are the Bible's self-proclaimed means for the communication of its life-transforming truth. Through preaching, God's Word is proclaimed; through teaching, it is explained. Because we value these God-ordained means for the expression of His truth we make them central to our worship and integral to all other aspects of ministry.

2. WORSHIP AND MUSIC

We value worship that is governed by God's Spirit and God's Word (John 4:23-24), orderly (1 Cor. 14:40), reverent (Heb. 12:28-29), and joyful. We value worship that is conscious of God as our audience, both in His immanence and transcendence (Acts 7:48-49). He is the source and recipient of all our praise.

As those made in God's image (Gen. 1:26-27; Jas. 3:9), our calling is to offer worship to God in accordance with the commands of His Word for the purpose of enjoying Him, edifying His people, and exalting Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.

To this end we seek to engage the whole family of faith in giving glory to God with our best music, our fervent prayers, our heartfelt thanks, our joyful offerings, observance of the sacraments, and the clear proclamation of God's Word.

To learn more, please visit our Worship and Music Ministry webpage.

3. HISTORICAL ROOTS

In accord with our Reformed heritage we hold to the sovereignty of God in all things (Eph. 1:11), including the salvation of His elect. Our belief in God's sovereignty in salvation manifests itself in radical submission to Him in all things. Our belief in God's sovereignty in and over creation, time and history expresses itself in a worldview that sees all things as rightly belonging to God (Ps. 24:1-2) and rightly ordered by God (Heb. 1:3). Our belief in God's sovereignty over eternity gives us courage and hope in the face of suffering, and establishes us in the assurance that all things will be brought to the glorious end promised by God in the Scriptures.

As Presbyterians we value a representative and connectional form of church government (Acts 15). We gladly join in mutual submission to other PCA churches in our presbytery and General Assembly.

We view our connection with the broader body of Christ as an essential guard for the peace and purity of our own congregation. We treasure the historic confessional statements of orthodox Christianity that faithfully preserve "the faith once delivered to the Saints." We value our spiritual unity with those evangelicals who affirm the foundational truths of the Gospel, and we gladly join hands with all who seek to express these truths in ministry.

4. SPIRITUAL OVERSIGHT

We value each soul entrusted to us by Jesus, the Good Shepherd, whose loving care we seek to emulate. Through the ministry of pastoral care we seek to enable the flock to grow in grace and in favor with God and man. As a clear response to our membership vows, we embrace elder shepherding of the flock, visitation, encouragement, fellowship, small groups and prayer support. Our pastoral care is extended in word and deed, in cooperation with our mercy ministries, to assist those in need of marriage, family, and life counseling.

5. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

We value Christian education for all ages. Our purpose is to teach all people to think from a Biblical perspective, realizing that the God of all creation is God over all learning and knowledge and that He is the Lord of every discipline of life.

We believe the primary responsibility for the education of children rests with their parents (Deut. 4:9-10; 6:7; 11:19; 32:46; Ps. 78:1-7; Eph. 4:4). However, the church, the family, and the academy provide complementary roles in educating students for lives of fellowship with God and service to others. Mitchell Road Christian Academy was established as a ministry of MRPC to reflect this belief.

Visit our Christian Education and Discipleship Ministry webpage.

6. FAMILY LIFE

We value the family as a God-ordained institution through which God works to disciple His children, evangelize the lost and sanctify His people (1 Cor. 7:14; Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18-21; 1 Pet. 3:1-7). Within the family is the primary relationship of husband and wife which is to be a portrait of Christ and His church (Eph. 5:22-33). As such, we desire to encourage the development of healthy, God-honoring families within our fellowship. Realizing the unique needs within our church family, we desire to structure and create fruitful ministries to children, youth, single adults, students, men, women, and senior adults that will complement the overall program of discipleship and advance the Kingdom of our Lord.

Visit our Youth Ministry webpage
Visit our Childrens Ministry webpage
Visit our Young Adult Ministry webpage
Visit our Seniors Ministry webpage
Visit our Widows' Ministry webpage
Visit our Women in the Church webpage

7. MISSIONS AND OUTREACH

Kingdom Mentality

MRPC does not exist simply to satisfy the needs of our individual members. We are excited about sharing the Gospel with others. God is advancing His Kingdom throughout the nations (Rev. 7:9). We desire to be instruments through which our Lord advances His Kingdom be advanced in the hearts and minds of people throughout our local community and the world. We seek to help fulfill the Great Commission by advancing church-planting movements through ministry of word and deed in strategic areas worldwide. Such churches are true to the Scriptures, Reformed and covenantal, and obedient to the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20; Luke 24:45-49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8).

We seek to provide leadership and coordinate resources for planting healthy churches and multiplying such churches. We believe that starting new churches and forming church planting movements is the most effective means to reach lost people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the same time, planting new churches increases the resource base for supporting missions throughout the nations of the world.

Global Missions

We value God's call to spread the Gospel to every tongue, tribe, and nation. As a result, we seek to consistently cultivate a heart for missions among our members through education, example, and experience. Additionally, we value the need to strategically send and support individuals by way of prayer, faith challenge giving, short-term missions, missionary care, long-term career missionaries and other laborers who also value the need to advance church planting efforts among all peoples through ministries of word and deed.

Local Outreach

We recognize our responsibility to express the message of Christ's redeeming love to those in our own community. We desire to consistently encourage and equip believers to naturally live out and share the Gospel of grace in their relationships with others. Furthermore, we recognize the opportunity of our local church to support and facilitate several outreach and mercy ministries to non-believers in our community.

Visit our Missions and Outreach Ministry webpage.

8. THE PRIORITY OF THE GOSPEL

It is imperative that we distinguish our Church's ministry, preaching, teaching with a Biblical understanding of the transforming power of a comprehensive Gospel. The message and power of the Gospel is far more extensive than we can imagine. The Gospel makes clear that we are so sinful, lost and helpless, that apart from faith in Christ there is no hope to enter God's Kingdom.

The Gospel, however, is not simply a gateway through which we enter the Kingdom, it is the pathway to all renewal and change both individually (Col. 1:6) and socially (Gal. 2:14). We believe that the Gospel should be central in our daily lives, worship, relationships, and ministry. The dynamics of the Gospel include a life of repentance from our sin of idolatry and unbelief, faith in the promises of the Gospel, and obedience unto God's Law.