What We Believe?

---

What We Believe? The Bible The Bible is God’s word to all people. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105,160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5) God • The Father 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. (Genesis 1:1, 26, 27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2; Corinthians 13:14) • The Son Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was fully God and fully man. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return again to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Matthew 1:22, 23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14, 15; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; Romans 1:3, 4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14, 15; Titus 2:13; John 14:6) • The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, fully divine. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth. He equips us with spiritual gifts for effective ministry and empowers us to live, grow, and serve in obedience to God. (2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13, 14:16, 17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:1) Humanity People were created in the image of God for a loving relationship with God. However, people have rebelled against God, actively or passively choosing to go their own independent way. Thus we are alienated from God and suffer the corruption of our nature because of our sin. The effects of this fall from our intended relationship with God can be reversed through faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. (Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:9-13; Romans 5:8-16) Salvation Salvation is a gift from God to people. People can never make up for their sin by selfimprovement or good works – only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can a person be saved from sin’s penalty. (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8, 9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1)

Security of Salvation Because God gives people eternal life through Jesus Christ, the believer is secure in salvation for eternity. While salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian, obedience is evidence of one’s faith. (John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10, 14; James 2:14-18; Peter 1:3-5) The Church The Church is the living Body of Christ on earth and comprised of all true believers in Jesus Christ. He is the head and source of the Church's life, which exists to glorify God. The Church fulfills its mission by celebrating the glory and goodness of God, cultivating personal growth in Christ, caring about one another in biblical community and communicating the gospel in word and action to the world. (Matthew 16:15-19; Ephesians 4:14-16; Acts 2:41-47) Christ’s Return Jesus Christ will physically return to earth to establish his eternal kingdom. He will judge the world, reward the saints and rule for all eternity. This is the blessed hope of the Church and its encouragement for perseverance in faith and ministry. Those who have been reborn in Christ will live with Him forever. (John 14:1-3, Matthew 24:29-31, Revelation 19:11-21) Physical Healing God can physically heal a person in various ways: 1) Miraculously God can heal someone through His omnipotent power as a response to prayer in faith. 2) Medically God can heal someone through the use of medical intervention. 3) Eternally God can heal someone through physical death by allowing their spirit to leave their mortal body that is physically ailing. We believe that it is God’s will that we be healed but in all things we submit to His sovereignty. (James 5:14-16; Luke 10:33-35; 1 Timothy 5:23; Philippians 1:23) Women in Ministry We believe in identifying and empowering women to contribute to the ministry life of the church with the exception of those areas that exercise governmental authority within the church. Furthermore, we believe God has ordained the family unit to serve as a model for the entire church with the father as the head of the home and functioning as a servant-leader as described in Ephesians 5. We therefore believe that both men and women can reach their fullest potential in ministry within the structure of the biblical family model. We believe a woman can preach, teach and lead within any of the vast array of ministry roles and positions as long as she demonstrates a biblically-qualifying lifestyle. She must also submit herself, along with other servant-leaders, to those leaders God has placed in positions of governing authority, specifically, the Lead Pastor and Deacons. We believe that the positions of Lead Pastor and Deacon are (because of their governmental responsibility) reserved only for men. With the exception of these two positions, we consider all ministry positions and opportunities to be open to women. (Acts 2:15–18; Acts 18:26; Acts 21:9; Romans 16:7; 1 Corinthians 11:5).