|
STATEMENT OF FAITH
INTRODUCTION
We are a
ministry committed to the Lordship of Christ and each other. We
recognize that the development of Christian character must of
necessity be an individual and a corporate endeavor. We believe that
God communicates with man; that it is His intention to reveal Himself
and His ways. The following are some of the standards and values to
which we are committed:
We believe
that the Bible is the inspired word of God; that God, through the
Holy Spirit, moved upon the authors of the Scriptures in such a way
that they faithfully, accurately, and completely recorded all that
God intended them to record-, that the Scriptures are a reliable,
accurate, and fully trustworthy account of God's nature and
character, of His actions in human history, of His laws, and of the
life and teachings of Jesus Christ. We affirm that the Scriptures are
to be the standard of faith and practice by which the life of the
church and the lives of its individual members and their families are
to be governed. We also affirm that the Scriptures are the standard
by which all revelation and tradition is to be judged. We believe
that there is a progressive aspect to God's revelation - that there
are areas of truth which are taught in Scripture, but which we do not
fully understand until the Holy Spirit further illuminates them.
I.
GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe
in the one God, revealed in the Bible, as the only true, eternal, and
living God. He is infinite in being and perfection; He is spiritual,
immortal, and invisible. He is an intelligent and personal being. He
is creator, redeemer, and sovereign ruler of creation. He is infinite
in holiness, goodness, faithfulness, mercy, righteousness, justice
and all other perfection, and is due the highest love, reverence, and
obedience. He is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and complete
within Himself. He accomplishes all things according to His righteous
will for His own glory.
He reveals
Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit with distinct personal
attributes, but without diversion of nature, essence, or being. God
the Father determines all things after the counsel of his own will;
God the Son is the Word who speaks that which the Father has
determined; God the Holy Spirit is the dynamic power of God who
brings these things into being. The three persons act out of one will.
The Father
sovereignly governs His creation and human history by His wise and
holy providence. He is all-powerful, all-living, and all-wise,
righteous in all His fatherly love for all who become His children
through Jesus Christ by caring for them. His purpose is to prepare a
family of redeemed people on the earth to show forth His glory.
Jesus
Christ is God the Son. He is eternally the uncreated Word of God.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
Jesus was God Incarnate and perfectly revealed and did the will of
the Father. He took upon himself human nature and identified fully
with humanity, yet remained wholly without sin. He honored the divine
will and law by obedience, and through His death on the cross. He
made provision for the redemption of all who would believe in Him. He
was raised from the dead and appeared to His disciples. He ascended
into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God the Father,
where He is the one mediator, effecting the reconciliation between
God and man and providing access to the Father for the believer.
The Father
has established Him as Lord over all things, and has appointed Him as
judge of the world. He is the Head of the Church. He will return in
power and glory at the end of the present age to judge the world, to
reign with His people, and to complete His redemptive mission by
establishing in full measure the kingdom and reign of God. He will
then return to the Father the government of all things, so that
"God may be all in all."
He
presently dwells in all believers through the person of the Holy
Spirit as the living and ever-present prophet, priest, and king,
representing God to humanity, humanity to god, and being fully
entitled to reign as King.
The Holy
Spirit exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, righteousness, and
judgment. He calls people to Jesus and effects regeneration. He
inspired the authors of Scripture and has superintended both the
recording and transmission of the Scripture. He grants revelation to
men and women, enables them to understand and obey the truth and
illuminates and quickens God's Word to them. He comforts, teaches,
and guides God's people, and empowers them to obey God, to cultivate
Christ-like character, and to be witnesses to Jesus Christ. He
bestows upon them the spiritual gifts by which they serve God in and
through the Church.
II. MAN
We believe
that man was created in the image of God as the crowning work of His
creation. Man stood in a unique relationship with his creator and was
commissioned to rule the earth under God's headship.
Through
the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God and fell
from his unique relationship to God; thus all his inherit both a
nature and an environment twisted by sin. Because of sin, man is
separated from God. Only the grace of God can restore man to his
original calling; to live in fellowship with God and to fulfill the
purposes for which he was created.
III. SALVATION
We believe
that salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is
available only in and through Jesus Christ. It is offered to all
people, and is appropriated and experienced by those who respond in
faith to God's call to submit to His Son as Lord and Savior. Jesus,
through the shedding of His blood, obtained eternal redemption for
those who through faith believe in Him. This faith is a gift from God
and is by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, which enables a
person to repent of his sin and self determination. Repentance is
followed by baptism in water and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of righteousness enables the believer to live a life of
obedience to God's law, to cultivate and maintain right
relationships, and to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
IV. COVENANT
LIFE
We believe
that God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. Through
covenant, God binds Himself to His people, and His people to Himself.
God extended covenant to us in Jesus Christ. This covenant
encompasses both promises which make available to us the inherited
riches which belong to Christ and demands which are to be faithfully met.
Entering
into Gods covenant involves entering into fellowship with God's
people. The primary demand of the covenant is that we as God's people
love one another. This is the command of the Lord Jesus. Loving one
another involves learning to serve, admonish, and support in a
brotherly fashion. Practically speaking, this is experienced in
relation to those who are closest at hand.
V. THE
CHURCH
We believe
that the Church is the people of God - those who are participants in
God's covenant in Jesus Christ. The Scripture gives us several
pictures of the Church, each of which illustrates an aspect of the
Church's nature and function. The Church is Christ's body, with Him
as its Head. It is His family with Him as the firstborn. It is His
workmanship with Him as its craftsman. It is His temple with Him as
its cornerstone, It is His army with Him as its captain. It is His
bride, with Him as its bridegroom. It is His flock with Him as the
chief shepherd. The goal of the Church is to reflect the glory of God
and to make disciples of all the nations. For the accomplishment of
this goal, the Lord has given to His Church His Holy Spirit who
expresses Himself through:
1) Each
individual's particular God-given abilities which are different from
and complementary to, those of each other members. Each member is
encouraged to function in his own areas of strength in
interdependence with his fellow member.
2) The
distribution of gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the body to be used
and extend the Church.
3)
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the
equipping of the saints, for the work of service (ministry) so that
the body of Christ may be built up.
VI. ORDINANCES
AND SACRAMENTS
We believe
that God had provided certain ordinances and sacraments which are to
be part of the believer's life.
A. WATER
BAPTISM: In which the believer makes an open confession that they
have turned from sin and are being baptized into one body; further,
it is an outward confession to the devil that they no longer belong
to him and have been transferred from the government of darkness to
the government of God's Son by baptism in water.
B. THE
LORD'S SUPPER: in which the participants first remember and
acknowledge the death of the Lord Jesus on their behalf, and affirm
and renew their covenant with God.
C. RELEASE
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: following the believers faith in the Lord Jesus,
Christ's Spirit is freely released in the individual to express all
gifts, abilities, fruit, revelation, and life as it pleases the
Spirit of God, for spiritual maturity and spiritual warfare.
D.
MARRIAGE: in which a man and a woman are joined as husband and wife.
VII. AUTHORITY
We believe
that God is the source of all legitimate authority, and that all
earthly authority is to be subject to and fulfill the intentions of
the divine authority.
God has
enjoined man to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue and
rule it. To accomplish this goal He has established for man three
spheres of authority, the family, the Church and civil government.
Each has its own set of responsibilities, limits of authority, and
procedures with regard to wrongdoers. Within each sphere God has
established procedures for the correction, discipline, and punishment
of wrongdoers. We believe the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of god.
A. THE
FAMILY
The family
is the basic societal unit - the first place of common worship,
common work and common life. It is headed and led by a man, and
consists of a man and those under his care: his wife, who is his
helper; his children; and any elderly or displaced persons for whom
God grants him responsibility. A man, assisted by his wife, has the
responsibility to lead, train, educate, and discipline his children
according to the principles and methods given in Scripture.
B. THE
CHURCH
The Church
on earth is the redeemed people of God. The Church has been charged
by the Lord Jesus to preach gospel of the Kingdom of God, to heal the
sick, to cast our demons, to make disciples of all nations, to
baptize new members, to teach all of its members all that God has
commanded, and to care for the poor, aged, homeless, widows, and
orphans. The Church may disciple its members by correction,
admonition, reproof, and, if in extreme situations, by a ban from
participation in the life of the church community.
VIII. INDIVIDUAL
RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY TO GOD
We believe
that while God has ordained both civil and spiritual government, each
Christian is individually responsible to God and accountable to Him
for his choices and behavior.
The
believers personal access to the Father through Jesus makes him
responsible to:
1)
Cultivate his relationship to God through prayer, the study of
Scripture, and obedience.
2)
Function as a priest to God through personal praise, worship, and
intercessory prayer.
3)
Represent the Lord to those around him through his life and words.
4) Be
faithful to his conscience.
IX. EVANGELISM
We believe
that implicit in Gods command to His people to be fruitful is the
responsibility to proclaim the Gospel, to make disciples to the Lord
Jesus of all nations, to baptize new members, and to teach them to
observe all of God's commandments.
X. SPIRITUAL
WARFARE
We believe
that God and His people are opposed by supernatural foes in the
persons of Satan and his principalities, powers, and demons. We
believe that their power has been definitively and decisively broken
by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who now lives
within each believer. We believe that Satan is a liar and a thief. As
God's people, we have been commissioned and given power and authority
to expose Satan's lies and to deliver all who are in bondage and
captivity to him. We believe that his power is limited by the
sovereign purposes of God and that the Churchs' victory over him will
be complete.
XI. CHRIST'S
RETURN
We believe
that every person will stand before God and be judged at the end of
this age, and give an account for everything they have done in the
physical body, whether good or bad. For the righteous, this judgment
will determine their reward. For the unrighteous (those who have
lived a life of rebellion against God's law and gospel), the judgment
will determine their punishment. Heaven and hell are real.
|
|
