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STATEMENT OF FAITH
We believe that God always desired a Spiritual Family (Genesis 1:27) and that mankind was always designed to be in fellowship with God. That fellowship and relationship was lost when man sinned and chose to live his own way instead of obeying God and following God's way. We believe man made the wrong move in the garden and the consequence of sin effected humanity and separated us from God. But God made his ultimate move by demonstrating His love for humanity, when God sent His Son Jesus so that we can be saved from our sins and not remain in them.
We all have sinned (lied, stolen, disobeyed). We violated God's law and the punishment of sin is death (Romans 3:23 & Romans 6:23). God loves us and doesn't want us to be condemned to hell, so He sent His son Jesus to take our punishment. He died on the cross to save us FROM OUR SINS, so that we can have the New Life! Jesus had NO SIN and overcame both sin and death! He rose from the grave, and ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God, then God sent His Holy Spirit (Acts 2).
So, WHAT MUST YOU DO? REPENT from sin and turn to God in faith. Put your faith (trust & obedience) in Christ and be BAPTIZED into Christ (in Jesus' name) through water baptism for the forgiveness (remission) of your sins, and receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT! Our sin is the real problem, and God was manifested in the flesh as the son Jesus, who became the answer to our problem (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus took our punishment so that we can have life (Romans 3:24-31). This is the full Gospel. We are not ashamed of the gospel, "for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). We have the opportunity to be reconciled to God, and to come back to a relationship with God by grace through faith (trusting & obeying) in Jesus. Not just believing historically who He is, but believing, OBEYING everything Jesus did and said for us to do. Jesus said to us that if we love Him we would keep his commands (John 14:15), meaning that to obey Jesus is to love Him. Disobeying Jesus is not loving Him. We cannot say that we follow Him if we don't do what He says for us to do. We can't call Him LORD, LORD and not do what Jesus says for us to do (Luke 6:46).
The true biblical response to the Gospel is demonstrated by acts of faith and true obedience in what Christ did and preached! We see this biblical response to the Gospel in Christ throughout the book of Acts (Acts 2:38-41, Acts 8:12, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 16:15, Acts 19:1-7, Acts 22:16). These are the acts of faith in Christ: being in a true state of repentance from sin and turning to God (Holiness), being baptized in full water immersion in the name of Jesus Christ (joined into Christ), and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth & Promise). We believe that when Jesus said in Mark 16:16, that "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" is a command and His words are true. We know Romans 6 tells us that when we are baptized, we are buried into the water through baptism into Christ, and rise out of the water in His resurrection. The old man is buried, and a new man comes out of the water as a new creation in Christ. We believe and know according to the scriptures (1 Peter 3:21) that "baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a RESPONSE to God from a clean conscience. It is EFFECTIVE because of the RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ." So, when someone is water baptized, it is only effective because of the resurrection of Christ Jesus. After we bury the old life, the body of sin, we must know that the power of sin has been BROKEN! We can now live the new life, and be a slave to righteousness and not a slave to sin. We can be filled with the Holy Spirit to live holy and Godly lives as the scriptures command us (1 Peter 1:15-17).
Once you are born again (John 3:5, born of water and the Spirit), God calls us to be disciples of Jesus. This is our true calling for everyone that has been born again. To live as disciples, Christ has called us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and go follow Him (Matthew 16:24). We believe that Jesus discipled the apostles and they continued the work that Jesus commanded them to do as described in the book of Acts and through the New Testament letters. We believe that Christ proclaimed that all of His disciples will do the same works He did, and greater works as well.
We believe that God is not the author of confusion, and that He establishes functions & gifts of the Holy Spirit and for the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12) as well as leadership offices and ecclesiastical structure (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5) within the church body so that the body of Christ, believers (disciples) can equip and edify each other through obedience to the Scriptures and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the ongoing work the Holy Spirit and the continuing gifts and offices for the body of Christ. As the scriptures proclaim that we know "now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13)
These gifts of Christ to the church will strengthen the believers, and in turn will help develop the maturity of the believers. As the scriptures affirm, "then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." (Ephesians 4:14-16)
We believe that the Holy Spirit of promise was sent at the Day of Pentecost to empower the believer and allow the church to be endued with power and to be a witness throughout the earth. The body of Christ is an active and alive spiritual family of God -- a family of born again believers, that are truly here to glorify Christ and be a bride to Christ upon His return. We believe that we are in fellowship with the body of Christ when we remain connected and pursue growth in our faith by being nurtured through discipleship, corrected by the authority & truth of God's Word (the Scriptures), and encourage one another unto good works (Hebrews 10:24). These works are things God has called us to do (Ephesians 2:10) right now, in which He prepared in advance for us to complete while we are here on this earth.
We believe in the Apostolic mandate to expand God's Kingdom through reconciling people to Christ Jesus.
We believe and obey the foundational teachings of Christ as stated in Hebrews 6. We must continue to be obedient and faithful to Jesus, the one we put our faith and hope in. We believe that "By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a Godly life" (2 Peter 1:3). As the body of Christ, we must "work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a GRAND ENTRANCE into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:10). We believe "the Lord knows how to rescue Godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment."
We believe in the Day of the Lord, that Christ will return and meet us in the air. As the scriptures state, "The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what HOLY and GODLY lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the NEW heavens and NEW earth he has promised, a world FILLED with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make EVERY EFFORT to be found living peaceful lives that are PURE and BLAMELESS in HIS sight" (2 Peter 3:9-14).
We believe as the scriptures state, "the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:13-14). We believe that we are called to be ambassadors for Christ -- that ALL of those who are born again have the responsibility to follow Christ, and have been given the ministry to RECONCILE people back to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Spiritual growth and maturity in Christ is walking in His love and living in the light and not in darkness (Ephesians 4:14, Ephesians 5, 1 John 2, Hebrews 5:11-14).
We believe and obey all that Christ taught and commanded us to do. Jesus said to "Therefore, go and make DISCIPLES of ALL the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Baptize into Christ, His authority). Teach these new disciples to OBEY all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus also commanded us to " 'Go into all the world and PREACH the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be SAVED. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany (FOLLOW) those who believe: They will CAST out demons in my name, and they will speak in new (diverse) languages (tongues). They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. [God's divine protection will be with them] They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.' When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs" (Mark 16:15-20).
If you are born again, then grow in your relationship with God and live as a disciple of Christ Jesus! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is GONE; a NEW LIFE has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you are not born again, then make your next move to get to that place. Put your faith in Jesus-- repent, be baptized into Christ, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! The promise is for you, your children, and for those that are called by God, those that are afar off (Acts 2:38-41). Contact us and we will help guide you to be disciples of Jesus. Grace, peace, and blessings to you all!
- Pastor Jay & Sister May Jones