Do I have to believe what your church believes to come?
Absolutely not! We want to be a church that is fun and engaging, especially for people who don’t go to church or are just beginning their faith journey. Our greatest hope is that people who have no background in Christianity or have another belief system would absolutely loved coming to our church. We teach messages from the Bible in everyday language, so you don’t need to have a Christian background to understand what we’re talking about. No matter what background you come from or where you find yourself in life, you are invited to come and check out our church. With that said, here’s what we believe:
Creation, Fall, Redemption
Creation
– God is Creator and Sustainer of all things. God is eternal and exists in Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. Everything and everyone were made by God and exist for Him.
– The Bible is God’s Word written to guide and help humanity, whom He loves as His children. It is the source of God’s truth and the blueprint for life.
– He made people to be His family and to manage His creation under His guidance. People failed in handling their responsibility from God, leading to brokenness in our world and separation from God’s good plan.
Fall
– God foresaw that people would fail Him before He made us; Jesus was always His plan for restoring people back to His good plan. This is necessary because separation from God’s good plan is dreadful and serious.
– Because God is the source of all life, separation from His good plan means separation from life itself. As awful as it sounds, this separation from God’s good plan ends in an eternity in hell. We know that is incredibly unpopular, but it is what the Bible teaches and so we recognize it as truth. However, God refused to abandon His family, and the Father sent Jesus to bring restoration to people and creation by ending humanity’s separation from God’s good plan.
– All of us have a need for restoration with God since at one point or another in our lives we have contributed to the brokenness of the world. Some have done more than others, but we all have failed in our responsibilities to ourselves, each other, and God in some way. The Good News of Jesus is He didn’t come to condemn us, but to save us.
Restoration: Place faith in Jesus Christ
– Jesus came to to accomplish restoration by being a perfect living example of God’s Word, taking away the punishment of our failed responsibilities through His death and resurrection, and starting His movement of restoration through His Church.
– God does not force individuals to be restored to Him; He loves and respects us too much to overpower our will. He offers restoration and forgiveness to all people through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus as a FREE gift.
– We don’t perform to earn God’s approval; our failed performance created the separation from God’s good plan in the first place. To be made right with God, we place our faith in who Jesus is and what He did in dying on the cross and rising again. Immediately at the time of placing their faith in Christ, any individual will be completely restored to God.
– After death, all those who have placed their faith in Christ will spend an eternity enjoying life as God originally intended. Those who have placed their faith in Christ will serve God and each other, utilizing their unique gifts, in a perfectly restored earth, a place greater than anything imaginable with no pain and suffering.
Restoration: Restored people carrying the message to others
– People who have placed their faith in Christ can experience restoration and new life because after placing their faith in Christ, God’s Spirit lives in them and empowers them to live beyond what they were capable of before. The Bible teaches the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in those who place their faith in Him and gives them strength for life.
– God has chosen to complete His restoration through people who have placed their faith in Christ. They’re not perfect, but God can “draw straight lines with crooked sticks.” As they experience restoration through Jesus Christ, He uses their unique gifts, abilities, passions, and experiences to help other people know restoration in Christ.
– God’s plan is for everyone all over the world. His church is to be about telling the Good News of Jesus to all people in their everyday language so that they can know Jesus’ restoration as well. His task will not be complete until people from every people group are reunited with Him as His family through Jesus Christ.
Traditional Doctrinal Explanation of Beliefs
About God
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three personalities: 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
About Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people 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 someday 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
About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. 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, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily.
Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13; 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 5:18
About the Bible
The Bible is God’s Word to us. 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 the truth without any mixture of error.
“The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us to do what is right.”
2 Timothy 3:15
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105,160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5
About Human Beings
People are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. People are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called “sin”. This attitude separates people from God and causes many problems in life.
Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1, 2
About Salvation
Salvation is God’s free gift to us but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.
Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1
About Eternal Security
Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. If you have been genuinely saved, you cannot “lose” it. 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 us this security.
John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25, 10:10,14; 1 Peter 1:3-5
About Eternity
People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.
John 3:16; John 14:17; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-9
About Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion)
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, remember the death of Jesus and anticipate His second coming.
Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12
About Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings. Christians are to serve God with their time, talents, and treasures (material possessions), and they should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the cause of Christ on earth.
Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19
About Church Planting, Missions and Evangelism
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations. Jesus Christ commanded every believer to share the gospel (“good news”) of salvation to all nations. It is the duty of every Christian to seek constantly to point those far from God to Christ.
“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city.” (Timothy J. Keller)
Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17