Who is Port City? - Episode 1: Confession

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Funny question before we dive into some deep stuff today,

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

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

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

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

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

times are trying to save some and basically whatever workout

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

the fridge. Well what happened was is over

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

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

some of them dirty someone clean and shit.

Just drives her nuts but I got assistant.

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

dropped. No I can feel that.

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

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

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

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

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

whatever. Tupperware thing.

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

My wife Caitlin started calling me to my job.

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

combined all the to B until my container.

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

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

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

That's awesome. All right guys.

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

question for us. I would love for us to talk

about. Why do we have a confession of

faith? Yeah, that's a great question,

because I feel like in the modern American church.

This is not as common. Maybe we lean on traditional

confessions of Faith, but particularly like individual

churches, local churches, creating their own confessions

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

happens when a church like develops.

Its own confession of faith. It it promotes Unity and

Clarity. So I think it helps us be

unified around. This is, this is what we are

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

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

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

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

into the second which is Clarity, like I feel like

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

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

neighbors. This is what we believe.

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

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

new Believers kind of wrap their brain around Doctrine and kind

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

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

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

generation. What the Bible teaches in its

entirety. So those are just a few reasons.

Reasons why we have put together a confession of Faith.

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

they're reading? Yeah this is a great question

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

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

reading this confession first off they need to understand kind

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

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

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

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

confession process and eventually covenanting together

around that confession does, is it binds us?

Yes. To Christ.

Yes. To one another and to kind of

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

crisis. You know we are the city on the

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

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

good of my family and for the good.

Good of, you know, my church family here.

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

really understand what they're reading.

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

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

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

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

entire denominations are built on confessions and and we wanted

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

understand what they're committing to.

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

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

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

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

So, to speak to speak into an issue?

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

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

are. This is how vation this is this,

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

much as your members really like And it.

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

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

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

Yeah. So what's unique about our

distinctives Yeah. So as you're reading through the

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

the Articles, it says distinctive.

And it's really important to understand that these particular

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

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

things but these are distinctives of our particular

church. That means that other Christians

who are gospel believing Bible. Faithful all those different

things. They just would go a different

way than we would on some of these things.

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

making some theological decisions and we are leaning

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

issues, we think the Bible articulates them well this way

and we are convinced from a confessional standpoint that

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

Christians everywhere. Agree with us and that is right.

Good and okay. So a few of our distinctives,

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

a little bit about that if we want.

But complementarianism, we are distinctively complementarian.

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

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

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

connected to maleness and to being Email as well.

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

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

complementarianism. Another one that shows up in the

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

about time. Don't see worship as important,

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

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

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

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

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

universe. So the operative question for us

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

worshiping? But are you worshiping well and

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

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

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

over. That salvation cannot be

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

Christ Alone, through faith alone, by grace alone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

baptism by immersion. This is a Believers baptism,

even more succinctly. But we think that about baptism

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

think that baptism happens via immersion because of the nature

of what it symbolizes it symbolizes going from Death to

life. So so these are distinctives.

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

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

where we land on these particular things.

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

distinctives, but the problem with with that is that these

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

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

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

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

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

that we will trip into these things and conversations and as

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

get. We're not going to like

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

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

about worship, like to some extent.

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

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

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

Like, we would want to help you get there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

You have basketballs about worship.

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

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

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

salvation. And like, you know, He is not

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

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

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

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

listening out there man, these are conversations were saying

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

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

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

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

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

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

baptism by immersion. We want members to be baptized

Believers. That's a historical kind of kind

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

dad would Johnson. That's great, guys.

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

gets you excited about our confession of faith?

I think what really kind of gets me really excited.

Just about having a confession. Is it establishes like a

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

help, educate our members and our are community in Norfolk

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

And it promotes theological accuracy and acuteness and like

depth. I think that confessions are a

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

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

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

our members a tool to really hold us as pastors as

accountable. Like this is where the

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

texts. Are you teaching at that?

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

Local church. And I think the confession

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

Faith, Like It endures throughout time.

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

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

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

ancient sources because that is what this is built on.

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

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

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

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

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

time. The Church of Jesus Christ,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue to grow, theologically good.

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

question. I think, like, to build off

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

1 Timothy 4:16

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

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

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

foundation upon Christ is so important.

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

couple thousand years. Things like the Apostles Creed

songs that route what were established around?

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

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

rooted in sound Doctrine, a good teaching.

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

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

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

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

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

serious and like a having staying power.

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

right now, they're eating this up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

kind of how Systematic Theology works.

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

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

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

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

anybody's Ministry or anybody's background.

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

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

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

about. No human being is perfect, but

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

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

resource but it just kind of gets at this concept of like

handlebars for the Christian faith.

Big big rocks to kind of think through.

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

Jameson. It's another not super long but

helps people understand why Doctrine matters for the And

ongoing Vitality of the local and Global church.

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

like really in the sun right now.

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

a little bit. If someone is not really

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

talking about. What would you say to them as to

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

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

Would you say John? Yeah, I think.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

theological points that the Bible makes systematic points.

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

these things are. These are make or break deals

for. Like many Christians and when

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

okay? Do I believe that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

baptize infants and babies, which is very common in the

Christian faith in Christianity throughout the world throughout

history. But the the interesting company

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

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

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

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

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

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

I actually hold to the same things?

Do I understand? And believe the same things

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

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

churches. By Mark divert, his book is

titled A, why should I join a church?

And I think Thinking through church membership and its

importance, I think is is something that every person

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

thing. We're committing our lives

together to something and every Church based on their

theological their Theology. And what they stayed as stated

beliefs are doing that in a different way.

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

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

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

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

there, every church has answers to these questions whether

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

some ways. A post truth post truth, post

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

being buried with Christ and raised in baptism Roman city.

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

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

listener out there. Something you said in your

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

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

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

Love you. You're still a brother or sister

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

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

the process just as serious because that church to is

painting Christ. So their Community.

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

need to know what picture you're painting.

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

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

that picture, and this is the Covenant.

We are making together. It's not just the confession of

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

another to it. So retweet, that's good.

Thanks for adding that guys. Well, this was really helpful

conversation about knowing where a church stands.

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

us taking the church family over time.

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

helps to dictate our true north and Essence confession, is

shaped by scripture on the front end of coming to our church

family for potential members to see.

Our church stands on things is really loving, because it allows

them to see where what scripture formed our view and where our

true north really is to consider that before they dive into

membership. Well guys, thank you.

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

Met our listeners live in powered by Jesus will talk to

you all again soon. Hey,