Beliefs

You belong here.

Not weird. Not partisan. Not micro. Not mega. Just Jesus.

To all who are weary and need rest;
To all who mourn and long for comfort;
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares;
To all who fail and desire strength;
To all who sin and need a savior;
To all who hunger and thirst for righteousness;
And to whoever will come: This church opens her doors wide and welcomes you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Buck Creek cuts through our neighborhood. It flows from Allegan County, through Gaines and Byron Townships, into Kentwood, through Wyoming and finally to Grandville. Eventually it meets up with the Grand River and into Lake Michigan.

This little waterway was also a stop on the underground railroad. Just across the street from Lemery Park, escaping slaves would walk in the creek toward freedom.

It is our desire that Buck Creek Community Church would help you experience Living Water and freedom in Jesus Christ. If you don't know what that means, no worries. We are here to help with that. 

Curious about Jesus? Check this out.

Who We Are

Our Vision

A city transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our Identity

 God's family of missionary servants.

Our Mission

Helping you find and follow Jesus.

What We Believe

The Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is inspired, authoritative, sufficient and without error. Any creeds or confessions of men, while helpful in outlining and preserving the historic faith, remain secondary and subordinate to the revealed word of God.

We seek unity in essential beliefs. We value liberty in non-essential beliefs. We pursue love in all things.

God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God.

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” Psalm 90:2
Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:22
Matthew 28:19
1 Peter 1:2
2 Corinthians 13:14

People were created in the image of God to be worshipers of His. People are the crown jewel of God’s Creation. Although created in God’s image, sin has infiltrated every area of human existence, and therefore made humanity fully broken, and incapable of living the life God designed for us to live. All humanity has inherited the debt of sin in this world, but also contributes to sin.

Genesis 1:27
Psalm 8:3-6
Isaiah 53:6a
Romans 3:23
Isaiah 59:1,2

​We believe in the historical and literal fall into sin of Adam as the first created man, which we call original sin. We believe that due to Adam’s sin, all men receive the guilt and corruption of his sin and consequently are deemed sinners by heritage and choice. Humanity, in and of itself, is selfish and does not seek God, but rather seeks his or her own pleasure.

Genesis 3
 Romans 5
1 Corinthians 15:22

We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners. We believe by the death of Jesus Christ, the penalty of sin has been paid for all who believe in Him as Lord and Savior.

Hebrews 2:17
Romans 5:11
2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Jesus came to seek and save sinners. We believe a sinner is justified (declared not guilty) with God not by his/her own merits or good works but by the unmerited grace of God. Even faith is the gift of God! We believe sinners are saved by grace through faith and not by works.

Romans 4:25
Romans 5:16-18
Ephesians 2:8-10

We believe a sinner works out their salvation together with the church. The more we submit our lives to Jesus, the more we trust Him and believe the truth, the more of Him we get. The more Jesus rubs off on us the more like Him we become. He loves us just as we are and loves us too much to leave us where we are. This is how Jesus saves us every day from the power of sin. We do all of this together, as God's family on earth.

Romans 4:25
Romans 5:16-18
Ephesians 2:8-10
Philippians 2:12

Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the believer is secure in this salvation for eternity. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self effort of the Christian. It is the grace and “keeping power” of God that gives this security.

1 Peter 1:3-5
John 10:29
2 Timothy 1:12
Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14

The Church is the living body of Jesus Christ on earth. He is the head and the source of its life. We believe all true believers need to be a part of a local church, so that they can grow in their faith through instruction, worship, and fellowship with other believers. You can technically be married without ever seeing, talking with or spending time with your spouse but your relationship certainly won't thrive that way. The same is true in the church. You'll never truly flourish the way God intends apart from His church.

Ephesians 5:23
Romans 12:4-8; 1
1 Corinthians 12
Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:1-16
Colossians 1:15-20

We believe there are two Sacraments given by Jesus Christ to strengthen our faith as members of His Church. The first is Baptism, which is a sign and seal of God’s eternal covenant of grace for us and our children. Baptism symbolizes what God has done in washing away of our sins through the blood of Christ, and unites us in the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf. If you are a believer then you are to be baptized.

The second is the Sacrament of Communion. The broken bread symbolizes the broken body of Jesus Christ. The cup symbolizes the blood of Christ poured out at the cross for our salvation. Christ, spiritually present in the bread and cup, is a means of grace that strengthens us, and is celebrated to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf until he returns.

Genesis 17: 1-10
Deuteronomy 7:9
Matthew 19:13-15; 28:19
Acts 16:14-15; 30-33
Mark 14:22-25
2 Corinthians 11:23-26
Romans 6

When the time is fulfilled, Jesus Christ will return in power and glory to judge the world, and to complete His total victory over sin, death, and Satan. At that time, those who are followers of Jesus will enter His reign forever. Those who are not Christ’s will be eternally separated from Him. When either Jesus returns or we assume room temperature, we will see Him face to face and He will wipe away every tear from every eye. That's when He will save us from even the presence of sin.

Acts 1:6-11
Mark 13:24-27
Revelation 1:7
1 Peter 4:5
Matthew 24:29-31; 25:31-46
Revelation 21:4

Our Core Values

CORE VALUE: GOSPEL-CENTRALITY

The gospel news: The King is victorious! The enemy is defeated! The "Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). That Jesus Christ reconciles His wayward masterpiece back to the Father through His life of perfect obedience and His sacrificial work on the cross is earth shaking news!

But He goes even further through His bride, His family, His hands and feet–the church, by reconciling us to one another (Ephesians 2:14-17) and then reconciling all of creation unto Himself (Colossians 1:19-22)!

So you have the very personal side of the coin and one the other side of the coin you need to zoom way out to see because it’s cosmic! And both sides of the Gospel are rooted in Christ’s finished work vs. what we need to do.

Therefore, the four "movements of the Gospel" (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Reconciliation) shape who we are and what we get to do as Jesus followers. As a church, our sermons, our worship service, our bible reading, our shared lives, our personal lives, our disciple making tools–it’s all done in light of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Reconciliation–Christ's work. The Gospel.

CORE VALUE: MULTIPLICATION

We want to see the gospel fill every crack and crevice of Wyoming and the surrounding communities. We want to make Jesus famous on every block. That requires more disciples of Jesus, more leaders in the church, more groups of Jesus followers and more churches who are rooted in the gospel.

Multiplying Disciples: I want to be like Jesus and see love, joy, peace etc in my life. How do I get that? Jesus says “If you love Me you will obey My commands.” So a disciple of Jesus will…
1. Hear the words of Jesus and…
2. Put them into practice.

Jesus commanded much in the gospels. Summarized into five He commanded us to Be, Forgive, Serve, Give & Go. And it all begins with our being…

Learn More

CORE VALUE: ROOTED + RELEVANT.

1. We are united by a vintage faith, rooted in the inerrant Scriptures and the “Great Tradition” (the Apostles’ Creed, the two Nicene Creeds, the Athanasian Creed, and the Definition of Chalcedon), the Reformation (The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism). That means we don’t argue about those historic beliefs of the church.

2. Our vintage faith is expressed through relevant, modern music, classic hymns and passionate teaching. 3. And we will not be divided by secondary issues (baptism, spiritual gifts, end times, etc). 

CORE VALUE: EXCELLENCE + HOSPITALITY 

We value the warmth and ability to be known you find a small church combined with the excellence you find in a large church. So we invite and when they respond it’s “You belong here”–especially people who live near our building (we will be good news to our local community of Wyoming, MI), especially dudes (we skew masculine in order to reach men) and EXTRA specially the lost, broken, & hurting (especially those outside the family of God who are leaning in). We welcome church people too but they need to know if you are a believer you’re here to roll up your sleeves and to feed others.

CORE VALUE: GENEROUS COLLABORATION

Out of gratitude we use our resources for the sake of the Kingdom –especially the poor–while partnering with like-minded churches for Gospel saturation of our city through proclamation and demonstration.  

Five churches use our building. Two para-church ministries too. Plus the Family Resource Center. We like our building being busy, being good news for our community. 

Our Denomination

We are in the application process with the Kingdom Network.

Learn More