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Welcome to the Port, City Church
podcast coming to you for the 

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city of Norfolk, Virginia. 
My name is Lauren and I'm your 

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host, this is episode one 
confession and our who is Port 

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City series today. 
I'm here with Tanner and John to

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of our founding pastors. 
So, guys, I'm gonna let you go 

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ahead and say hello. 
And then answer for me, the 

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question, what is something that
you do that gets on your wife's?

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Nerves are going to start off 
with a little little Intro. 

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Funny question before we dive 
into some deep stuff today, 

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Tanner gets to go first, what's 
going on? 

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My name is Tanner and I'm like 
which thing do I pick it drives 

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my wife nuts when I I, So I do 
this thing. 

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We have like a mini fridge in 
our room from back when the our 

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twin girls were born and we had 
milk you know in there at all 

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times are trying to save some 
and basically whatever workout 

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clothes I'm going to use the 
next day I would stack on top of

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the fridge. 
Well what happened was is over 

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time, I just kind of keep 
stacking close there and I got 

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sweatshirt, I got shoes, I got 
socks, all kinds of stuff and 

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some of them dirty someone clean
and shit. 

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Just drives her nuts but I got 
assistant. 

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You don't say anything. 
So it's a process but it 

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dropped. 
No I can feel that. 

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Where the opposite istat close 
up in our room and will I'm 

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proud of you. 
Tell you that your Tanner, I'm 

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John and I'd have to say that I 
don't do this as much as I used 

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to, but I'm still prone to it 
when we first were married. 

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I used to eat everything on my 
plate or in my lunch tin or 

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whatever. 
Tupperware thing. 

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And I would always kind of leave
about 2 B to the point. 

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My wife Caitlin started calling 
me to my job. 

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And so yeah then one time she 
got so fed up with it that she 

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combined all the to B until my 
container. 

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It's the kindest, Richie coach, 
our children on hey, don't, 

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don't leave two bites on your 
plate, you'll get her up. 

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And so, yeah, we live it down 
with your mama. 

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That's awesome. 
All right guys. 

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Well let's jump in John. 
You want to take this first 

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question for us. 
I would love for us to talk 

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about. 
Why do we have a confession of 

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faith? 
Yeah, that's a great question, 

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because I feel like in the 
modern American church. 

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This is not as common. 
Maybe we lean on traditional 

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confessions of Faith, but 
particularly like individual 

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churches, local churches, 
creating their own confessions 

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is not as common as it once was,
but I think two things really 

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happens when a church like 
develops. 

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Its own confession of faith. 
It it promotes Unity and 

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Clarity. 
So I think it helps us be 

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unified around. 
This is, this is what we are 

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affirming as a congregation. 
And this is what we are saying. 

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Like, these are things were put 
in the ground and saying, like 

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this is what the Bible teaches. 
This is what we're going to 

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declare to our community. 
And, you know, it leads right 

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into the second which is 
Clarity, like I feel like 

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there's no question for the 
member or the newer believer 

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that this is what? 
I believe this is an end to our 

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neighbors. 
This is what we believe. 

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And so I think it really kind of
solidifies and clarifies a lot 

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about what our church. 
I also think it really does help

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new Believers kind of wrap their
brain around Doctrine and kind 

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of helps them summarize. 
It in the Bible is a big book 

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and is a lot that it teaches and
I think confessions help us 

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summarize that and it also helps
us to really articulate to a 

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generation. 
What the Bible teaches in its 

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entirety. 
So those are just a few reasons.

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Reasons why we have put together
a confession of Faith. 

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Okay, so Tanner what should our 
people be thinking about as 

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they're reading? 
Yeah this is a great question 

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and I love what John was saying 
because it kind of my answer 

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ties into that a little bit. 
I think that when somebody is 

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reading this confession first 
off they need to understand kind

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of like it's all tied together 
in terms of like what is the 

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church and like who am I with in
it and in the the Bible clearly 

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paints a picture of the new 
Church as a family of believers 

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who are committed to one another
and to the Lord and what the 

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confession process and 
eventually covenanting together 

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around that confession does, is 
it binds us? 

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Yes. 
To Christ. 

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Yes. 
To one another and to kind of 

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like John was alluding to like 
what were per train to the world

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crisis. 
You know we are the city on the 

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hill but it really, you know, as
you're reading it you're 

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thinking I am committing to this
for the good of myself for the 

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good of my family and for the 
good. 

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Good of, you know, my church 
family here. 

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So, I think as a reading the 
confession, they want to, like, 

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really understand what they're 
reading. 

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They want to, they have 
questions, ask them like, where 

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did that come from? 
Maybe they don't know the 

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history of confessions like way,
maybe me and John do, but this 

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stuff's been going on for 
hundreds of years and you know 

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entire denominations are built 
on confessions and and we wanted

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to put that out there for our 
people to see and to be able to 

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understand what they're 
committing to. 

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Goes with with good intentions 
people might just say why can't 

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we just have Jesus and say we 
love each other but you could 

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see how that might lead to chaos
with things of life and practice

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that go on in life, like what 
gives you the authority. 

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So, to speak to speak into an 
issue? 

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That might be going on. 
The confession, kind of gives 

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you handlebars of like, this is 
where we stand, this is who we 

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are. 
This is how vation this is this,

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you know, so it's a really 
helpful thing, but only in so 

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much as your members really like
And it. 

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So I would just say man just be 
thinking critically you don't 

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have to be some you know Master 
Theologian but man stuff jumping

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out at you ask questions and we 
that's why we're here, you know?

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Yeah. 
So what's unique about our 

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distinctives Yeah. 
So as you're reading through the

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Port City confession of Faith, 
you're going to see on some of 

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the Articles, it says 
distinctive. 

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And it's really important to 
understand that these particular

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doctrines. 
It's not that we don't think 

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that the Bible teaches them that
they're not important, the 

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things but these are 
distinctives of our particular 

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church. 
That means that other Christians

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who are gospel believing Bible. 
Faithful all those different 

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things. 
They just would go a different 

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way than we would on some of 
these things. 

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And that is okay. 
But we as a church are basically

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making some theological 
decisions and we are leaning 

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into this is this is how we View
and look at these particular 

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issues, we think the Bible 
articulates them well this way 

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and we are convinced from a 
confessional standpoint that 

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this is true and so but that 
does not mean that all 

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Christians everywhere. 
Agree with us and that is right.

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Good and okay. 
So a few of our distinctives, 

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I'll just kind of go through 
them and we can kind of dialogue

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a little bit about that if we 
want. 

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But complementarianism, we are 
distinctively complementarian. 

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What that means, as you'll see 
in the confession, is that we 

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really do think that God has 
made Humanity, both male and 

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female, and that there are roles
that he has established that are

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connected to maleness and to 
being Email as well. 

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And we see those particularly as
the Bible, lays them out in the 

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home and in the church. 
And so that's what we mean by 

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complementarianism. 
Another one that shows up in the

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confession is life is worship. 
It's not that all Christians 

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about time. 
Don't see worship as important, 

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they don't necessarily see life 
as worship some level. 

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But this is a distinctive of 
ours, because we understand from

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1st Corinthians, That whether 
you eat or drink, we do it unto 

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the Lord we as worship to him. 
And so that all life matters, 

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all of life is an opportunity to
worship the Triune god of the 

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universe. 
So the operative question for us

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when we think about life is 
worship is not, are you 

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worshiping? 
But are you worshiping well and 

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so that's a big deal for us. 
Another distinctive that you'll 

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find on the confession is the 
sovereignty of God in Salvation.

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We are just Is that the Bible 
articulates over and over and 

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over. 
That salvation cannot be 

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accomplished by the effort of, 
by human effort that it is by 

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Christ Alone, through faith 
alone, by grace alone. 

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It's just all those different 
things like we can't save 

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ourselves, you know? 
John one tells us that we could 

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not become children of God, if 
not, by the will of, man, but 

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had be by the grace of God. 
So we see those things. 

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And that. 
And so that's a big one for us. 

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And then, lastly, this is like 
one that is like a very big 

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conversation and history of the 
church is that we just land on 

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baptism by immersion. 
This is a Believers baptism, 

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even more succinctly. 
But we think that about baptism 

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is for those who profess Christ 
faith in Christ and we also 

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think that baptism happens via 
immersion because of the nature 

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of what it symbolizes it 
symbolizes going from Death to 

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life. 
So so these are distinctives. 

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These are some of these things. 
They are highly debated and 

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Christian circles but we as a 
church have landed that this is 

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where we land on these 
particular things. 

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It would be nice to say that we 
could not have these 

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distinctives, but the problem 
with with that is that these 

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questions come up over and over 
and over in all aspects of the 

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church and and life. 
And so, It's kind of, it seems 

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nice that we would just be able 
to just focus on the on just the

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primary things and not get into 
some of these more night. 

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My, my new points, but it is 
problematic because I do find 

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that we will trip into these 
things and conversations and as 

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we go through text, it's just a 
little harder Tanner. 

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Would you want to add it? 
Yeah, man, I think you're doing 

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a great job flushing it out, I 
would say and it kind of ties 

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back into what we want people 
thinking as they read, I don't 

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want anybody listening Right 
now, thinking like I have to be 

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100% at their as I'm listening, 
but I think what we're doing by 

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putting it on a confession is 
saying, this is where we are. 

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We are going to be at as a 
church and we want our people to

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get. 
We're not going to like 

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something like, like this 
worship, man, if you just 

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weren't there, and you're like, 
man, my basketball, team is not 

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about worship, like to some 
extent. 

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We are, we are communicating. 
It would be unloving of us to 

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allow you to stay there. 
Like we feel it's weighty enough

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that we would I want to convince
you, you know what I mean? 

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Like, we would want to help you 
get there. 

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So I think, if anybody's going 
through the membership process 

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on one of these is like, hey, 
man, can you flesh that out for 

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us, man? 
Let's sit down and talk. 

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Let's start a conversation and 
you might be in a place where 

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this one's a struggle, but I can
Fellowship here, and I can 

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commit to you, like teaching 
about that and life is worship. 

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You have basketballs about 
worship. 

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I'm like struggle with that, but
I get it. 

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So, I would just say. 
But if your, if your heart is 

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like, man, absolutely not. 
God is not sovereign and 

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salvation. 
And like, you know, He is not 

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other my salvation of some kind 
of way like in a in a, like I'll

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never be there like I think, 
like, that's a little bit of a 

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different conversation was like,
man flush that out for me. 

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I want to talk to you about it. 
So just know, for anybody 

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listening out there man, these 
are conversations were saying 

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we're going to have. 
And like I think like we run a 

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shame because the the picture of
what the church is, who crisis 

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is represented in these things, 
I'm a were committed to a 

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conversation with our people but
that doesn't mean it's all all 

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in the same way necessary to 
enter, if that makes sense. 

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The only one of those that jumps
out at me would probably be the 

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baptism by immersion. 
We want members to be baptized 

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Believers. 
That's a historical kind of kind

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of thing there that we would 
hold pretty sight but that's all

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dad would Johnson. 
That's great, guys. 

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So what are some things were, 
what is the biggest thing that 

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gets you excited about our 
confession of faith? 

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I think what really kind of gets
me really excited. 

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Just about having a confession. 
Is it establishes like a 

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theological like routes for us 
and it seeks to, it's a tool to 

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help, educate our members and 
our are community in Norfolk 

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about what the Bible says, and 
brings it to them. 

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And it promotes theological 
accuracy and acuteness and like 

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depth. 
I think that confessions are a 

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big part of of helping us be 
shaped and in our understanding 

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of both God and salvation and 
life and I think it establishes 

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a reference point for us and it 
I feel like it also will give 

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our members a tool to really 
hold us as pastors as 

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accountable. 
Like this is where the 

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confession says, we get this 
from the Bayou, here's the 

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texts. 
Are you teaching at that? 

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I think that's a valuable 
component into being a member of

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Local church. 
And I think the confession 

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really kick-starts that. 
I hope that this confession of 

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Faith, Like It endures 
throughout time. 

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It's really built on those who 
have gone before us. 

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And I hope that, as peoples as 
more suit Learners of Theology 

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of read through it, they see 
certain things that are from 

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ancient sources because that is 
what this is built on. 

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And so I think it grounds Us in 
an age where we are constantly 

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looking for roots, and we're 
trying, To figure out who we are

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where we come from we as 
Christians can actually say no, 

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we the church has roots Port 
City Church, maybe a newer 

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Church in Norfolk but we have 
roots that span the test of 

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time. 
The Church of Jesus Christ, 

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didn't just pop up overnight. 
It has been here for over 2000 

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years but even before that, God 
was on the move and bring about 

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salvation through Christ alone. 
So I'm really excited that the 

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confession is an update. 
It document that really just, I 

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think we'll hopefully breathe 
life into our people but also, 

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and to our time, I really love 
how you compared it to Roots. 

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I feel like it kind of gives a 
visual picture of the foundation

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of who we are and then kind of 
everything else will be built 

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off of that like it a lot. 
Alright, so Tanner let's ask you

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this if someone is really eating
this stuff up and kind of loving

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what we're talking about, what 
they're learning today, what's a

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resource that you would Point 
them to so that they could? 

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Continue to grow, theologically 
good. 

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Yeah, I'm a, I'm a zoom out and 
then Zoom back into this exact 

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question. 
I think, like, to build off 

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something John just said like, 
what, what Hypes me up first 

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Timothy 4:16, says, pay close 
attention to your life in the 

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doctrine. 
That's, that's what he told 

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Timothy in the first century ad 
like, truth is so important 

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foundation upon Christ is so 
important. 

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And I think like, for our 
listeners to I am like man for a

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couple thousand years. 
Things like the Apostles Creed 

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songs that route what were 
established around? 

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It's a historical reality. 
You know this whole thing is not

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a game and it's real, it's 
rooted in Christ blood and it's 

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rooted in sound Doctrine, a good
teaching. 

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So I say all that to say I'm 
just so thankful, we have it. 

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John did a lot of legwork in the
creation of it. 

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I think in all of our stories as
we were kind of kind of 

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building, a lot of this out was 
was Was understanding how much 

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Christianity as a rooted Faith, 
was important to us, taking a 

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serious and like a having 
staying power. 

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So that helps me up a lot. 
And if somebody is listening 

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right now, they're eating this 
up. 

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What you gotta understand is 
this, this framework of what a 

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confession is, kind of leans a 
little more like what they call 

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Systematic Theology. 
So it's kind of bringing to the 

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surface things, the Bible talks 
about, but it doesn't go. 

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Hey guys, I'm talking about like
this worship right now. 

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That's like a Set that is 
gleaned from the the the texture

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of the Bible, the soil of it, 
some things pop out and that's 

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kind of how Systematic Theology 
works. 

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So if you're eating up kind of 
that framework are really good 

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kind of source to start with 
before I give a couple here any 

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time you do a book endorsement 
Lawrence, it's a little scary 

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and let me say why because I'm 
not wholesale endorsing 

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anybody's Ministry or anybody's 
background. 

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One of these brothers is 
Anglican that, you know, they do

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some things different than us. 
There's it's okay, but I I think

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what these resources get, right?
Is a lot of what we're talking 

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about. 
No human being is perfect, but 

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the First Resource, I will go to
is called concise theology by a 

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guy named j. 
I Packer it's not a super long 

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00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,400
resource but it just kind of 
gets at this concept of like 

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handlebars for the Christian 
faith. 

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Big big rocks to kind of think 
through. 

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And a second one is called sound
Doctrine by a guy named Bobby 

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Jameson. 
It's another not super long but 

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helps people understand why 
Doctrine matters for the And 

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ongoing Vitality of the local 
and Global church. 

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And those resources, I'm sure 
will bless bless people who are 

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like really in the sun right 
now. 

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Thank you. 
Okay, so let's kind of flip that

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a little bit. 
If someone is not really 

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feeling, this doesn't really see
the big deal and what we're 

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talking about. 
What would you say to them as to

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why it's important to think, 
through these things before 

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covenanting to any church? 
Not just us here at poison? 

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Would you say John? 
Yeah, I think. 

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Think this is a really 
important, you know, it's it's 

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easy to say that. 
Oh, I'm a Christian. 

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So I'm going to Covenant with 
other Christians and it just any

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Christians and any any doctrinal
stance, and at some level that 

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needs to always be true, right? 
We always need you to find. 

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Yeah, the global Church 
partnering, I think, I think our

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day and age, like has understood
that some of our predecessors 

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have not, but I feel like in our
current age, we really do get 

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Ownership, enjoy and working 
together is key, but when you 

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get to the local level coveting 
with a church is a big deal. 

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And and it really kind of comes 
down to like, if it's, we've 

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laid out some distinctives and 
some things, you know, some 

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theological points that the 
Bible makes systematic points. 

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That is as tender brought up, 
but we need to understand that 

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these things are. 
These are make or break deals 

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for. 
Like many Christians and when 

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you thinking about joining a 
local church, you need to think,

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okay? 
Do I believe that? 

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Do I think that's what the Bible
teaches and what are the 

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implications of that? 
So, let me just give you. 

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I mean, these are heated issues 
in the Christian tradition, but 

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let's just, let's just jump in 
for it real fast. 

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So if I look at baptism, for 
example, a local church holds to

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baptism by immersion, Believers 
baptism at that, you know? 

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Big questions like, you know, do
I can I join a church or a local

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church that actually doesn't 
hold to that whether maybe they 

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baptize infants and babies, 
which is very common in the 

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Christian faith in Christianity 
throughout the world throughout 

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history. 
But the the interesting company 

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comes out to when it when you go
to join a church. 

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If that is not where you land on
the on the issue or the 

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theological point of baptism 
that can create a bit of a riff.

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Aft with being a member there. 
So that's just one example in a 

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myriad of them, like, but I 
think the main thing is like, 

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I'm going to be coming with 
these people do. 

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I actually hold to the same 
things? 

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Do I understand? 
And believe the same things 

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because it will shape the life 
of the local church, a good book

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on kind of just in general about
how to, and why to join a local 

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churches. 
By Mark divert, his book is 

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titled A, why should I join a 
church? 

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And I think Thinking through 
church membership and its 

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importance, I think is is 
something that every person 

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looking to join a local church, 
should it's not like a haphazard

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thing. 
We're committing our lives 

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together to something and every 
Church based on their 

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theological their Theology. 
And what they stayed as stated 

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beliefs are doing that in a 
different way. 

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And so, our theology really does
shape what we do and how we live

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our life together. 
So, I would say that this is It 

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is a big deal. 
Let me retweet this real quick. 

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Lauren to let me just affirm 
something he's saying right 

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there, every church has answers 
to these questions whether 

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they've written it down or not. 
And I think we're in a post in 

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some ways. 
A post truth post truth, post 

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denominational age, where 
there's a lot of good like John 

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is saying inability to unify in 
the global Church kind of way 

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around the core core core tenets
of the faith but but what's at 

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stake over time if you don't say
this is my Sort of that and you 

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don't say and you kind of pass 
on it. 

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What you're communicating is 
that is not key to the portrait 

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of Christ that I'm painting. 
And for us, we're just like man 

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being buried with Christ and 
raised in baptism Roman city. 

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You know, this picture in the 
New Testament that is key to the

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portrait we're trying to paint. 
And so I think liked any 

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listener out there. 
Something you said in your 

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question was covenanting to any 
church, not just a port city. 

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So like if you land in some 
different place you like, I 

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don't think I could do it here 
you No Grace of peace. 

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Love you. 
You're still a brother or sister

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in Christ if you are in Christ, 
listen to this but we would 

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still say like when you go to 
another church you should take 

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the process just as serious 
because that church to is 

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painting Christ. 
So their Community. 

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You know I'm saying? 
And for the good of Norfolk you 

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need to know what picture you're
painting. 

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And we're just trying to say 
this is our picture. 

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And and we're trying to we're 
trying to empower people to know

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that picture, and this is the 
Covenant. 

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00:22:56,900 --> 00:22:59,200
We are making together. 
It's not just the confession of 

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the pastor's is the Vision of 
the church and we're holding one

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00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,100
another to it. 
So retweet, that's good. 

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00:23:08,300 --> 00:23:11,600
Thanks for adding that guys. 
Well, this was really helpful 

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00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,300
conversation about knowing where
a church stands. 

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And then it's important because 
inevitably it shapes were caught

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00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:18,600
us taking the church family over
time. 

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Just like you said, Tanner. 
It's kind of like the confession

407
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,600
helps to dictate our true north 
and Essence confession, is 

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00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,000
shaped by scripture on the front
end of coming to our church 

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00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,300
family for potential members to 
see. 

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00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,600
Our church stands on things is 
really loving, because it allows

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00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,900
them to see where what scripture
formed our view and where our 

412
00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:41,600
true north really is to consider
that before they dive into 

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membership. 
Well guys, thank you. 

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That is all for today from our 
Port City Church podcast. 

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00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,900
Met our listeners live in 
powered by Jesus will talk to 

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00:23:54,900 --> 00:23:56,300
you all again soon. 
Hey,