What we believe shapes the way that we live. When you get to the root problems in most of our lives, there is usually a lie that we are believing or a truth that we’re missing. What we believe directs the way that we live. A couple of examples could be:
A lie like... Living in shame and avoiding God because we fail to see the depths of His mercy and the completeness of the work of Jesus on our behalf.
A lie like... Being driven by the winds of culture rather than standing in the truth of God’s Word because we functionally trust what the media says more than what God has said.
A truth like... Living with unbelievable peace amidst suffering because of a deep trust in the sovereign rule of God on our behalf.
On and on we could go, but here’s the point; what we believe shapes the way that we live. We do not hold out this Theological Statement as a mere ‘check the box’ type of activity. Reading the Statement of Faith isn’t something we want you to rush through on the path to the other points of Family Membership.
Slow down.
Remove the distractions.
Quiet your heart.
Ask God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit to speak to you.
Pray in between each point.
Ask God to bring you deeper into the lifelong work of realigning with His truth so that you can walk in the fullness of life that He has planned for you.
What we believe as a church family will shape how we live together as a family. We hope you don’t just rush through this, but we hope that you let these truths shape your life going forward!
Statement of Faith*
God
1. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
The Bible
2. We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
The Human Condition
3. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
Jesus Christ
4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus––Israel’s promised Messiah––was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
The Work of Christ
5. We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
The Holy Spirit
6. We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
The Church
7. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
Christian Living
8. We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Christ’s Return
9. We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Response and Eternal Destiny
10. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace.
Points 1-10 are the EFCA Statement of Faith adopted in 2019.
Image of God
11. We believe God has created human beings in His image, which places great value on each individual. Therefore, we should love and respect everyone, and any actions that dishonor, abuse, or mistreat someone dishonors God. Men and women are both created in His image and are equal yet distinct, and gender is a gift from God meant to lead to human flourishing. Therefore, God's design and purposes should direct our understanding of gender above all else. Life itself is a gift from God that begins at conception and should be cherished and protected at all stages of life. God has created the diverse beauty of the world's ethnicities; therefore, any attempt to degrade the value of individuals through racism of any kind is an affront to God and inconsistent with the gospel.
Marriage
12. We believe that God has designed marriage to be a lifelong covenant relationship between one man and one woman. Ephesians 5 explains that God's design for marriage points to the gospel and Jesus' love for the Church. For this reason, we recognize that marriage is ultimately to be defined by God and not by differing cultural expressions. God has designed sexual intimacy to be exclusively experienced between a husband and wife.
*Our Elders are grateful for the wisdom of the Theological Statement from the Evangelical Free Church of America and are learning from it. Their Statement is detailed in points 1-10 while we have added statements on issues pertaining to marriage and the image of God in each person.
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