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WORSHIP
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Above all, we value authentic, passionate worship of the living
God that is sensitive to the Spirit and guided by the Truth.
Our love relationship with God must come first.
Matthew 22:37-38 – “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God
will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”
EVANGELISM -
We value seeing people become followers of Christ both in our
community and around the world. Growing God’s Kingdom through
reaching the unchurched is central to all we do.
Matthew 28:19 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”
PRAYER -
We value the need for God’s people to talk to their Father. We
need God’s wisdom, comfort, and power to accomplish His
purpose. These are only received through genuine and passionate
prayer.
Luke 19:46a – “‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will
be a house of prayer.’”
FELLOWSHIP -
We value unity, love, and support within the church body. We
exist as a family to show God’s love so others will come to know
Christ. We are to be a people of love and to edify for one
another.
John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another. By this will all
men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Rom 14:19 — “Let us therefore follow after the things which make
for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
SCRIPTURE -
We value the Bible as absolute Truth. It is the Word of God,
and serves as the foundation for all we believe and all we do.
We believe God’s Truth truly sets people free.
2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness.”
DISCIPLESHIP -
Becoming a believer is just the beginning of a life-long
journey. Teaching God’s Word and equipping God’s people are at
the core of all we do. We exist to make followers of Christ.
Matthew 28:19-20a, “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you.”
MINISTRY
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We value servant-leadership as modeled by Jesus Christ. We
believe every member of our family is called and gifted by God
to minister in and through God’s church. We are committed to
helping people find and fulfill the ministry God has for them.
Ephesians 4:11-12 – “It was he who gave some to be apostles,
some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” |
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As a church
family, we base our ministry, methods and missions on the
following fundamental beliefs:
THE BIBLE -
We believe that the Bible is God’s Word. It was written by men
under the supernatural inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The
Bible is God’s revelation to us and is truth without any mixture
of error. The Bible is the foundation for all we teach, all we
believe, and all we do as a church family and as individuals.
2 Timothy 3:16-17* – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped
for every good work.”
GOD -
God exists eternally with no beginning and no end. Although
there is only one God, he exists as three distinct persons:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each is equal in power, unique in
role, and reveals different aspects of God’s nature.
1 Timothy 1:17 – “Now to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.
Amen.”
FATHER -
As father, God is the creator and sustainer of the entire
universe. He formed all things according to his plan and
pleasure. God remains active in his creation and in his pursuit
of a love relationship with mankind.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7 – “In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth. . . the Lord God formed the man from the dust of
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living being.”
SON -
Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. He is the focal
point of salvation being both completely God and completely
man. He offered his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the
entire world. He died on a cross, and arose from the dead on
the third day. Salvation is possible through faith in Jesus
Christ alone.
2 Corinthians 5:19, 21 – “God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. . . .
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.”
Colossians 2:9 – “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity
lives in bodily form.”
1 Timothy 2:5-6 – “For there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom
for all men.”
HOLY SPIRIT -
The Holy Spirit is active in the world today. He draws people
to Christ by convicting them of sin. Following salvation, he
dwells in believers to comfort and empower them. The Holy
Spirit enables believers to live the abundant Christian life.
John 16:7-8, 13 – “But I tell you the truth: It is for your
good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will
not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he
comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgment. . . . But when he, the Spirit of
truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not
speak on his own: he will speak only what he hears and he will
tell you what is yet to come.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 – “And you also were included in Christ when
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the
promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s
possession – to the praise of his glory.”
MANKIND -
We believe that mankind was created by God in his own image.
Man was the crowning work of God’s creation. From the
beginning, God gave man the freedom to choose between following
or disobeying God’s plan. The result was man choose to reject
God’s plan and follow his own path. Because of this choice, sin
came into the human race and created a barrier between God and
man.
Romans 3:23-24 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace, through the
redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
SALVATION -
Because of sin, no one can achieve salvation on his own. No
amount of good deeds can help a person become as holy as God.
God’s grace for salvation is received through faith in Christ
alone. Through repentance of sin and accepting Christ as
personal savior, salvation is available to all. Once saved, the
believer is forever secure in that salvation through God’s
grace. The Bible teaches that once a person is a member of God’s
family through God’s grace, no power can remove that salvation.
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but
have eternal life.”
Acts 4:12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no
other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
John 10:28 – “I give them eternal life, and they shall never
perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
ETERNITY -
God is eternal and so is His word. But, God also created
mankind for eternity. Every person will exist eternally united
with God in heaven, or eternally separated from God in hell.
The Bible teaches that both heaven and hell are real places that
exist in the spiritual realm instead of the physical. God
originally created hell as a place for punishment for Satan and
heaven as a place for believers. God wants everyone to follow
him and live with him in eternity.
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Matthew 25:41- “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart
from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for
the devil and his angels.”
2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
ORDINANCES -
An ordinance means something that is an authoritative decree or
direction. We hold that Jesus Christ gave two such decrees or
“ordinances” to the church of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The
church was specifically commanded to continue doing these two
things until he returns. These are significant symbols of our
faith.
BAPTIST
The word “baptize” literally means to dip or immerse under
water. Baptism is the public profession of faith for every
Christian. While baptism does not give grace to an individual,
it does provide a picture of the death, burial and resurrection
of Christ. Because of that symbol, and because of the meaning
of the term, baptism should be by immersion and follow an
individual’s decision to become a Christian.
Matthew 28:19 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 6:3-4 – “Or don’t you know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We
were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
LORD'S SUPPER -
Most know this as communion today. The Lord’s Supper was
instituted by Jesus himself and is meant to remind us of the
sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our salvation. The Lord’s
Supper is a special meal which symbolizes the body and blood of
Christ and is available to all believers in Christ. It does not
give grace for salvation, but it does provide focus for our
faith until the return of Jesus himself.
I Corinthians 11:23b-26 – “The Lord Jesus, on the night he
was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke
it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in
remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the
cup, saying,‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this,
whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.” |
