What We Believe

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OUR MISSION AND VISION

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WE VALUE

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COMMUNITY

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We believe that God desires us to live in community with Him and with others. Living in biblical community is an agreement of accountability, submission, trust, faith, hope, and love. When we enter into the reality of true community, we agree to live out our faith with each other with the same Biblical values, vision, and mission. In doing this, we become a living, breathing, local expression of the global, historical body of Christ.

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DISCIPLESHIP

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A disciple is one who follows and learns from a teacher. Discipleship is the process by which the student draws near to the teacher in order for transformation to take place. We desire to follow and learn from our teacher, Jesus Christ so that we too would be transformed. We teach and practice Christ-centered disciplines that draw us near to Jesus such as the study and meditation of scripture, prayer, fasting, solitude, silence, service, giving, and celebration. Our desire is to grow to see and respond like Jesus.

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MISSION

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We are a missional community. We believe that God is restoring all creation to Himself through the redemptive work of the Cross of Jesus. We are joining this reconciling work by the offering of all we are and all we have. We long to see wholeness, hope, and justice brought to our world through and by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that God intends Christianity to be a reality that sends us into the world to serve God and our neighbors, so that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven for His glory and our ultimate joy. The church is never to be the withdrawn or isolated end user of the gospel of Jesus; rather, we receive this good news in order to be equipped and sent into the world to love God as we love those made in His image. In this sense, Christ Church doesn’t just have a mission; it is mission, with 100% of our resources used in the fulfillment of it.

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OUR BELIEFS

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In our essential beliefs – we have unity.

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“There is one body and one spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. . .” Ephesians 4:4-6

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In non-essential beliefs – we have liberty.

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“Accept him whose faith is weak; without passing judgment on disputable matters . . . Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. . . So then each of us will give an account of himself to God . . . So whatever you believe about these things keep them between yourself and God.” – Romans 14:1, 4, 12, 22

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In all our beliefs – we show charity.

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“. . . and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I have the absolute faith which can move mountains – but have no love, I amount to nothing at all.” – 1 Corinthians 13:2

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WE BELIEVE THE FOLLOWING THINGS TO BE ESSENTIAL:

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TRIUNE GOD

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We believe in the triune God: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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GOD THE FATHER

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We believe God the Father is infinite, holy, loving, just, and merciful.  All things were created by Him and for Him. Because of His love for us, and His desire to be known by us, He has revealed Himself to us throughout history. He has revealed Himself through the beauty and design of creation. He has revealed Himself through His Word consisting of both Old and New Testaments. He is perfectly revealed to us in and through Jesus Christ. He reveals Himself through the guidance and work of the Holy Spirit.  He reveals Himself to us through His activity in and through His chosen Body, the Church.

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GOD THE SON: JESUS CHRIST

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We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and, as part of the Trinity, is God.  Although He is infinitely God, He chose to become a finite human. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is the eternal Word of God made flesh. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life.  We believe He was crucified, died, was buried and, by defeating sin, was resurrected in triumph over death on the third day. We believe Jesus Christ now sits in glory at the right hand of God the Father and will return to judge the world and will consummate the fullness of His Kingdom. We remember and celebrate Jesus Christ each week as He meets us in the sharing of the bread and cup of communion.

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GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

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We believe in the Holy Spirit who is the giver of life, liberator, and enabler of good works who was poured out on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify the Son, who in turn came to glorify the Father. The Holy Spirit is given as a gift to all those who receive Jesus Christ as savior. We believe the Holy Spirit unites us in one body, and gives us wisdom, discernment, gifts for service, the power to be loving and faithful to God, and fills us for worship. We believe the Holy Spirit seals us and guarantees our glorious and eternal destiny.

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MAN

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We believe God made man—male and female—in His own image, as the crown of creation, that man might have fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. Being estranged from his Maker, yet responsible to him, he became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special work of grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind, will, and affections. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward God, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ.

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THE GOSPEL

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Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news is revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Christ’s crucifixion is the heart of the gospel, his resurrection is the power of the gospel, and his ascension is the glory of the gospel. Christ’s death is a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. It satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. It also demonstrates his mysterious love and reveals his amazing grace. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which men must be saved. At the heart of all sound doctrine is the gospel of Jesus Christ and the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have of glorifying God because of what He has accomplished. Therefore, we want all that takes place in our hearts, churches, and ministries to proceed from and be related to the gospel.

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SALVATION

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Salvation, the free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking to Christ and his substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life and is declared righteous by God as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed (credited) to him. He is justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ’s atonement for sin an individual is reconciled to God as Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of his sin and, via the miracle of regeneration, liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God’s Spirit. We believe that baptism is a public display of a believer’s commitment to Christ. Baptism does not make a person a Christian, but is symbolic of death to sin and resurrection to a new life in Christ. Baptism is by immersion and is done in obedience after one decides to follow Jesus Christ.

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THE BIBLE

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We believe the Bible to be God’s Word to all people and should be treasured as such. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. We believe the Bible is without error in the original languages in which it was first written. It is the authority and source of truth for life. We believe that all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

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THE CHURCH

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We believe that God creates the Church by His Word and Spirit, calling sinful men out of the whole human race into the fellowship of Christ’s Body. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves that new redeemed humanity. The Church is not a religious institution or denomination. Rather, the Church universal is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally received the gospel. The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve him by faithfully doing His will in the earth. The local church consists of believers who have agreed to unite for the purpose of sharing the good news of Jesus with all people. Christ Church is self-governing through a plurality of elders under the authority of Christ the Head of the Church. We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free from any external authority and control.

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