Our Beliefs
The Church of Christ in Traverse City is an independent, autonomous, non-denominational church, whose members have come from a wide variety of backgrounds and doctrinal persuasions. We desire to contribute to the unity of believers rather than be a part of the divisions, finding commonality in Christ and his word.
We do not require that members subscribe to a formal creed. In a very real sense, "we have no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible." The twin basis of our unity are our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and our adherence to the Bible as the Word of God. We seek unity of understanding in the essentials of our faith, yet we do not suggest that we must agree on all things pertaining to our walk in Christ.
We believe that God has eternally existed.
He is:
Omnipotent — all-powerful.
Omniscient — all-knowing.
Omnipresent — everywhere present.
Creator of heaven and earth and everything in them.
Sustainer of our lives.
We believe in the God Head which consists of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, and that we are made in God's image.
1 John 5:8, Genesis 1:26, Matthew 28:19
The foundation of our faith is the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We believe the Jesus the Son of God died for our sins and was raised again, establishing a process to redeem our loss condition.
Luke 24:46-49, Luke 24:46-49, Acts 10:38-44
We believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.
He is coequal with God, the one and only Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. He offers us eternal life as a free gift.
He was born of a virgin.
He was tempted in all ways as we are.
He was sinless.
God laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He died for our sins.
He rose from the dead for our salvation.
He is at the right hand of God making intercession continually before our God.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is coequal with the Father and the Son.
He is the down payment on eternal life.
He convicts the world of its sin and guilt.
He judges the world concerning righteousness.
He guides believers to truth.
He comforts believers in their struggles.
He enables believers to fulfill the mission of Christ
We believe that the Bible is the inspired written Word of God.
Human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote it.
It is the authoritative rule of faith and practice for Christians and the Church.
Each person who approaches it with the same care that is used in interpreting any important literature can understand the Bible.
God is love. God is all-powerful. Therefore, God's love moved him to communicate his will in a way that the object of His love can understand it.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Pet. 1:23, Rom. 10:17
We believe that there are false doctrines in our current society but that Jesus, through the Gospel, established one church that He will return for.
Matthew 16:18, Galatians 1:6-9
We believe the church is a community of men and women, free under Christ, following His orders when given and otherwise governing their own affairs.
The church is the body of Christ. It is an organism, a living body. It is Christ's body and He is its head.
The church is the bride of Christ.
There is one body.
Believers are united to one other by their belief in the Bible.
We believe the Lord's Supper is an ordinance initiated by Jesus to serve as a reminder of one's identification with His death, burial, and resurrection.
Following the example of the believers in Acts, we observe the Lord's Supper every Sunday.
We consider it a memorial and an expression of fellowship with the Lord and with one another. The Lord's Supper is not limited to our members, but is open to all who are Christians.
We believe that Christian baptism is the total immersion in water of a believer who has repented of sin and confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior.
It is an expression of faith, an act of submission to the authority of Christ and is an identification with Christ. It is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Jesus said:
Matthew 16:24, Acts 2:38, 1 Pet. 3:21
Jesus asks us to put self to death on a cross and then we can follow Him. What do we do with a dead self? We bury it by baptism.
A cappella (vocal) music is used during our worship services.
The Bible teaches us that the New Testament church sang, so you will find us singing praises to our Lord just as did the first-century church.
Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16