Our nine core foundational beliefs.

As represented by our logo, we have nine core foundation beliefs.

  • We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed (II Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13).

  • We believe God exists eternally in trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14). We believe that the trinity is co-eternal in being, co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14).

  • We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal God-man who became a man (John 1:14), lived a sinless life (I Peter 2:21-22), died on a cross, was buried, and physically rose from the grave to redeem sinful humanity (Acts 4:10; Philippians 2:7-11; Luke 23:26-24:53). We believe that Jesus is returning to earth to judge all people and to rule and reign with His saints forever (Revelation 22:12; II Timothy 4:1).

  • We believe the Holy Spirit is the supernatural agent in salvation, baptizing all Christians into the universal church at conversion, indwelling and sealing them until the day of Christ’s return (John 16:8-11; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 3:6; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18).

  • We believe God has created all humans in his image. He has created them uniquely female and male. (Genesis 1:26-27) We believe all humans are sinful and in need of salvation. Salvation is the gift of God brought to humans by grace alone, and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A true Christian will be kept by God’s power forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5).

  • We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; I Corinthians 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5). We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion for the flesh (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).

  • We believe the church is a spiritual organism made up of all believers everywhere for all time (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2). We believe the establishment of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament (Acts 14:27; 18:22; I Timothy 3:1-3; Titus 1:5-11). We believe in the autonomy of the local churches and recognize believers’ baptism and the Lord’s supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; Romans 16:14; I Corinthians 3:9; I Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8; I Corinthians 11:23-36).

  • We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts to each believer. We also believe that particular spiritual gift(s) are neither essential, nor prove the presence of the Holy Spirit, nor are an indication of deep spiritual experience (I Corinthians 12:7, 11, 13; Ephesians 4:7-8). We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accordance with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; I John 5:14-15). We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to minister according to the gift(s) and grace of God that is given to him (Romans 12:1-8; I Corinthians 13:1-13; I Peter 4:10-11).

  • We believe that the City of Regina is the place that God has led us to begin this new work. We love our city and are "in the city, for the city." We believe that Regina is full of souls that are far from God and that God wants to use the local church in Regina to make a difference for the Kingdom of God and the glory of God. Regina is not just the place we live, but the mission field God has called us to as a church.

We are a Gospel-centred church.

At The Compass Church, we seek to be Gospel-centred in all we do. When we speak of a person who lives a Gospel-centred life, we mean that person has believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and has made the death and resurrection of Christ the very foundation of his or her life.

To be Gospel-centred means to be focused on the life-changing Good News of God in Jesus. A gospel-centred life is a Jesus-centred life. When we come to Jesus by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), we do more than secure our eternal destination. Salvation is a divine paradox: a free gift that costs us everything we are (Luke 14:33) and becoming a child of God changes us from the inside out (I Corinthians 5:17).

 

What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is that God Himself has come to rescue and restore creation in and through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

In I Corinthians, Paul provides the most succinct summary of the Gospel:

The man Jesus is also God, or Christ, and died on a cross in our place, paying the penalty for our sins; three days later He rose to conquer sin and death and give the gift of salvation to all who believe in Him alone for eternal life.

The great reformer Martin Luther rightly said that, as sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality, and the second is the Gospel. The two are antithetical in every way.


What is the difference between Religion and the Gospel?

 
Religion Gospel
I obey, therefore I'm accepted. I'm accepted, therefore I obey.
Motivation is based on fear and insecurity. Motivation is based on grateful joy.
I obey God in order to get things from God. I obey God to get to God — to delight and resemble Him.
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe, like Job's friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life. When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while He may allow this for my training, He will exercise His Fatherly love within my trial.
When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a "good person." Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs. When I am criticized, I can take it. I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a "good person." My identity is not built on my record or my performance, but on God's love for me in Christ. I can take criticism.
My prayer life consists largely of petition and only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of my environment. My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with God.
My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure, inadequate, and not confident. I feel like a failure. My self-view is not based on a view of myself as a moral achiever. In Christ I am "simul iustus et peccator" – simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad He had to die for me and I am so loved He was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time, neither swaggering nor sniveling.
My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to "the other." My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies and who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace, so I can't look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. It is only by grace that I am what I am. I have no inner need to win arguments.
Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, regardless of what I say I believe about God. I have many good things in my life: family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things is an ultimate end for me. None of them is something I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency such things can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

The Compass Church is affiliated and partnered with the following three ministries.