Who We Are

We are a confessional, independent, reformed church that seeks to glorify God here in Ogden. We are sinners, saved by grace alone. We are saints, because of Christ alone. All are invited to come worship with us and find out what that means.

What to expect when visiting Sovereign Grace:

Families worshiping together

Biblical songs about the glory of God, not human emotions

Clear distinction between the Law and the Gospel

Christ-centered sermons from a covenantal perspective

Engaging bible study with plenty of conversation

Warm Christian fellowship

Week night study in theology and church history

WHAT THE WORDS MEAN:

Reformed:

To call ourselves ‘reformed’ means that we align ourselves to the piety and practice recovered during the 16th century by the protestant reformers. Justification by Grace alone through Faith in Christ alone, was a doctrine that had become buried under the man made traditions of the Medieval Church, to such a degree that when the monk, Martin Luther, ‘discovered’ this teaching in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. The recovered commitments the early protestants were willing to die for can be described by the 5 ‘solas’ of the Reformation: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone, Christ alone, and Glory to God alone.

Confessional:

To be a reformed church is to be a confessional church. The historic church has used secondary writings (scripture alone being primary) by which the essentials of the Christian faith were collected and defended against the heresies of the day. There were many confessions written during the time of the reformation, mostly for geographical reasons, but at Sovereign Grace we subscribe to the beloved 3 Forms of Unity: The Belgic Confession, The Canons of Dordt, and the Heidelberg Catechism. As Dr. Michael Horton has said: It is important for every Christian to know what they believe and why they believe it; which is exactly what the 3 Forms helps us do.

Independent:

We are independent, not isolationist. We are not beholden to a particular denomination, but that does not mean that we are ignorant or ignoring the issues and concerns of the body of Christ. In this especially polarized and divisive time, we are more than a little interested in finding ways to show love to our brothers in other churches around the world, and expressing our unity under One head, Jesus Christ, even while acknowledging that there are doctrinal issues among the Brethren that need to be addressed with integrity and wisdom, and always- with love.

Covenantal:

We believe all of scripture points us to Christ the Lord, from Genesis to Revelation, as the fulfillment of what has been called the overarching covenant of Redemption; which the triune God established before the foundations of the world were made. The scriptures speak to all mankind as being ‘in covenant’ with our Creator; under obligation to our maker either through the covenant of Works, or the covenant of Grace. According to the Scriptures, we are to receive ‘blessings’ for our fulfillment, or ‘curses’ for our failure to fulfill, our covenantal obligations. Scripture teaches that all humanity is under the obligation of the covenant of Works that He established with our first parents when they were created to tend and keep the garden in loyal service to God, and that we are under its curse since the covenant was broken through their disobedience. They were ejected from the garden and cursed with the burden of sin ending in death and judgement, and all of us born to them suffer the same penalty. Since all are born under the curse, we all will eventually reap the consequences of living lives of disobedience.

Fortunately, God was willing to demonstrate His great mercy upon the covenant breakers; by establishing a new covenant, the covenant of Grace, by which mankind can participate once more in a loving and fruitful relationship with their Creator, receiving the blessings of a new covenant through faith in Jesus, who becomes for us a “new and better Adam”, by perfectly fulfilling the obligations required to receive the favor of a Holy God, and sharing those benefits with all those who believe in Him. Because Christ took our humanity on Himself, and paid the debt of the broken covenant of Works by dying on the cross and bearing the wrath of God in our place, and He lived a life of perfect obedience as a man (also, for us), we are now free to focus on living lives of Gratitude for this amazing Grace we have received, through no works of our own; as members of the new covenant of Grace.

The Law/Gospel distinction:

Scriptures teach us of the Law, the righteous demands of the Creator to the creatures He made in His own image, and our inability to keep the Law because of sin. And the scriptures teach us the Gospel; the good news, that though mankind is sinful and rebellious, slaves to their own sinful desires and lusts, worthy of the condemnation that is coming at the Day of Judgement, the Son of God willingly submitted to a short and painful human life of humble service and submission, offering Himself as a sacrifice of atonement in the place of sinners; so that all who seek salvation from the judgement to come shall find it in Christ alone, through the gift of faith granted freely to us by the Holy Spirit, who transforms those who were previously dead in their sins into new living creations, by uniting us to Christ. Therefore, the only works that are sufficient to merit anything from our Creator are the perfect works of Jesus, which become ours by imputation. Having received the Perfect Righteousness of Christ, we seek to live lives of obedience to our Creator out of Gratitude, knowing even our best works are stained with sin, and with a desire to reflect the Goodness and the Mercy of the Lord by practicing loving our God and our neighbor. And when we fail to do this, as we all do, we look again to Christ our Lord, and trust in Him alone for our salvation. We believe it is essential to keep The Law distinct from The Gospel; so that all who are confronted by the Law that reveals all our sin and shame, can flee to the Gospel that reveals the One who gave himself up for sinners in order to free them from their bondage to sin.

Please see our resource page for more information . You may also use the contact form to request more information about any questions you might have; or you can always come visit us next Lord’s Day!