On March 31, 2004, I met with six pastor-theologians as a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) Spiritual Heritage Committee (SHC) because the denominational board had asked us as a group to address issues that might help us as a movement remain true to the gospel. The EFCA Board of Directors had been prayerfully considering the possibility of and need for a revision to their Statement of Faith. For four years after that meeting, I was involved with these six wonderful brothers in Christ as we developed, communicated, and then defended the articles of faith we were proposing. During these years, we had numerous public discussions regarding the various articles of faith. Across the nation, we led sessions where the fine points of the document were discussed. Finally, in June 2008, the proposed revision was discussed, debated, voted upon, and approved.
When I came to LAC in 2007, I was still involved in that process. Lee Merritt, the LAC Ministry Council chair, informed me that our church also needed to review its statement of essential biblical convictions. We now also have been involved in that review process for about three years. Our proposal is similar to the one adopted by the EFCA but has been revised in the light of many discussions held throughout our church. Last week, I began a series of messages looking at the preamble of these theological convictions which, we believe, all center around what the Bible calls the gospel, i.e., God's good news. This weekend, we begin a series of sermons looking week by week at each conviction.
To accompany the sermons, we will also be posting commentaries online and at the LAC Welcome Center in the Worship Center Lobby, Chapel Lobby and Plaza Information Center to supplement what cannot be covered fully from the pulpit. This document is based on the EFCA commentary that soon will be available in a book entitled Evangelical Convictions: A Theological Exposition of the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America. The exposition I have adapted from that forthcoming book will be shorter and re-drafted to fit the Statement of Faith we are proposing at LAC. I am thankful to my theologian friends—Mike Andrus, Bill Jones, Bill Kynes, David Martin, Ruben Martinez, and Greg Strand, Chair—both for the work together and for the opportunity to post this material before publication. Though many contributed to the commentary, the writing was done mainly by Dr. Greg Strand and Dr. Bill Kynes. Your pastor accepts responsibility both for the abridging and re-focusing of the commentary now being made available to us.
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor