I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the *holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Amen.

* The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;  through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;  he suffered death and was buried.  On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;  he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.  We believe in one *holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

* The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Much like the creeds, confessions are useful statements of the Christian faith that help to shape and define the affirmations of a local Christian worship community. Confessions differ from creeds in that they express specific doctrinal views, define the number and nature of the sacraments to be celebrated and set forth the ecclesiology of the body that affirms them. The ultimate purpose of a confessional statement is unity. Confessions are subject to the final authority of Scripture and are only profitable as they reflect their unity with Scripture. 

"We believe that the best way to serve a pulpit ministry is by preaching successively through whole books of the Bible, giving a thorough teaching of the text, and grounding the message and authority of the sermon in the clear teaching of the Bible. The gospel is not a form of self-help; it is a transforming message. Thus it is through the explanation and proclamation of God's Word--with exhortation--that believers grow in grace. Therefore what the Church needs in these post-Christian times is preaching--biblical, expositional, practical preaching that proclaims Christ from all of the Scriptures." (Rick Phillips)

"Preaching is falling out of favor among Christians which is yet another sign that our post-Christian culture is producing a post-Christian church. The listener, not God, is sovereign. There is an overall "dumbing down" of doctrine. Sermons are getting shorter; if they go longer than twenty minutes, people start to get restless. Church-goers demand to be entertained, so in some cases the sermon is gradually replaced by music, testimonies, drama, or even video." (Philip Graham Ryken)

"Now you may be asking this question: Why are we studying these verses today (Hebrews 3:12-19)? And why are we examining the autopsy of a dead heart?
1) Because these are the next verses in the book of Hebrews
2) Don't ever forget rule #1.
We are committed to consecutive verse by verse exposition of the Scriptures. We're not gonna play fast and loose with the Word of God and pass over certain portions of Scripture so that we can get to my hobby horse or get to my sugar stick, but we are going to excavate every single verse as we go through the Word of God and so, therefore, God sets the menu. God sets the agenda as to what we will talk about Sunday by Sunday by Sunday. And if I ever skip over a verse, you have my permission to raise your hand in the middle of the service and say "Pastor, but what about verse 15? You just skipped over verse 15."
3) In any given Sunday we have people here among us who need to know the Lord. Now I don't know who you are, and some of you here today don't even know that you need to be saved, although some of you today do know that you need to be saved. And the Bible says that as a pastor, as I preach the Word, I'm to do the work of an evangelist. And I'm to be continually broadcasting the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." (Steve Lawson)

"Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves. Digging is hard, but you might find Gold." (John Piper)

At the portico the preaching of God's Word is central to our worship. We devote the majority of our service to it. Sermons at the portico typically extend for an hour or more and generally cover only a small number of verses. Our Lord taught "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Scripture is the only way that we can know God truly so we must devote ourselves to the careful study and application of God's Word. We understand that the Christian sub-culture suffers from ADD, but our desire is to stand with the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers who have gone before us in the careful and clear proclamation of the Word of God. We desire to please God and not men.