The Church is the body of believers gathering together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ
- to worship Him (Psalm 96:1-3)
- be taught by His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
- grow in our love for one another (1 Peter 1:22)
- and be equipped for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12)
- by serving the body of Christ (Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 10:24)
- and bringing the gospel to all men both at home and abroad (Matthew 28:19-20).
We come to worship Him because He is worthy to receive glory, honor and power. He has created all things. We therefore emphasize songs of worship and praise (Revelation 4:11).
We come to be taught by His Word because it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, leading us to a knowledge of Him. We therefore emphasize the teaching of His Word (Psalm 119:105, Psalm 119:9-11).
We come to grow in our love because it is His commandment that we love one another (John 15:12-17), and by this the world will know that we are His disciples. We therefore emphasize the unity and fellowship of His body (Ephesians 4:1-6).
Note: Unity in the Lord Jesus Christ is realized by all who hold fast to the scriptures and walk in holiness before the Lord. Man made unity at the expense of sound doctrine and practical Christianity is rejected as unscriptural (Romans 16:17).
The Church believes that worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship (John 4:23-24).
We believe that worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give great place to music in our worship (Psalm 150:1-6).
We believe that worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services are designed with great emphasis upon the teaching of the Word of God (2 Timothy 4:2-5), that He might instruct us how He should be worshipped (Deuteronomy 12:28-32).
We believe that worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly worshipping Him (John 15:1-11).
The Church believes in God and that He is the personal (Genesis 1:1), transcendent (Romans 11:33-36), eternal (Isaiah 57:15), sovereign Creator of all things (Psalm 115:3). We believe He alone is God (Isaiah 43:10). He is the first and last, there is no other (Revelation 22:13).
We believe that God is eternally self existent (Exodus 3:14) and has revealed Himself as a Tri-unity of three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, 1 John 5:7 NKJV), as three persons in the Godhead and yet one Lord God Almighty (Colossians 2:8-9).
The Church believes in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. We believe it is the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21). The Bible is sufficient in and of itself to provide us with all that pertains to life and Godliness (2 Peter 1:2-3).
The Church believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16 NKJV). He Himself is God incarnate (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, John 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:16, John 1:14) and in Him the fullness of the Godhead is revealed to man (Colossians 2:9 NKJV). Therefore, He is appropriately called God the Son.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and that all who wish to come to God must come through Him (John 14:6). Therefore, any and all who reject Jesus as both Lord and Christ have no possibility of acceptance by God the Father (1 John 2:22-23).
We believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh as both God and man. He never ceased being God and yet in His humanity was fully man (Philippians 2:5-7).
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23), lived a sinless life (1 Peter 2:21-22, Hebrews 7:26-27), worked miracles (Acts 2:22), provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:20-21), after three days and three nights in the grave was physically raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), ministered to (Acts 1:2-11) and commissioned His disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), ascended bodily back to the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34) and ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).
The Church believes that after Jesus ascended to heaven He poured out His Holy Spirit upon the believers: His Church, at which time they were empowered to live a godly life and fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today (Acts 1:8).
We believe in the present work of the Holy Spirit in the world today. Jesus said: "when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:7-8).
He works in regeneration (Titus 3:5), sealing the believer unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13), teaching (John 14:26, 1 John 2:27), empowering for service (Acts 1:8) and guiding the believer into maturity and fruitfulness (Galatians 5:22-25).
We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and their operation in the Church today. We believe the purpose of these gifts is to edify the body of Christ, His Church, to equip us for the ministry and above all to glorify Christ. We believe these gifts are to be disciplined as prescribed by the scriptures, should never be used to draw attention to or to glorify man, should be practiced in a decent and orderly fashion, and must always be operational in a spirit of love (1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40).
The Church believes that all people are by nature sinful (Romans 3:10-12), separated from God (Isaiah 59:2-3) and responsible for their own sin (Ezekiel 18:20-23). We believe that man in and of himself has nothing to offer God in exchange for his soul (Matthew 16:25-26) and will spend eternity in hell should he reject the provisions provided for him in Jesus Christ our Lord (Matthew 10:28, Revelation 20:12-15).
Salvation (Romans 1:16), redemption (Ephesians 1:7), justification (Romans 4:25-5:1), forgiveness (Colossians 1:14) and sanctification (Hebrews 10:10) are freely offered (1 Corinthians 2:12, Revelation 21:6) to all (John 3:16, Titus 2:11) through the grace of God by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).
When a person repents of sin (Mark 1:14-15, Luke 24:46-48, Acts 3:19) and makes Jesus Christ the Lord of their life (Philippians 2:10-11), recognizing Him as Savior (Isaiah 45:22, 1 John 4:13-15), trusting in His finished work (John 19:30, Hebrews 10:1-14, Colossians 2:8-9); that person is immediately born again (John 3:3-8, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 5:1-5) and sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:4-14), all sins are forgiven (Colossians 2:10-13, Isaiah 55:7, 1 John 1:9) and becomes a child of God (John 1:12-13, 1 John 3:1) destined to spend eternity with the Lord (John 3:16-17,36, John 14:1-4).
We believe that salvation is offered by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God, not granted by any human merit or offering of good works. Any offering of salvation granted by human achievement, be it all or in part, is not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and should be rejected as heresy (Galatians 1:6-9, Galatians 2:16).
Note: Many believers don't really understand the power of the Gospel and are trapped in a game of performance based Christianity. Here is the scenario.
When many respond to Christ they are taught to believe that being a Christian involves "asking Jesus into their lives" and then making every effort to live a life pleasing to the Lord. They expel great energy "working" and "trying" to please God, make good choices, and refuse the impulses of the flesh. They focus their energy warring with the devil, fleshly habits and the lure of the world - always with little to no success, and always with great discouragement. However, they believe that this effort is pleasing to the Lord and He therefore "makes up the difference" for their weakness by an act of His grace. Thus they are "saved." Oh how far this strays from the true Gospel message.
The good news of the Gospel is that God, in accordance with the good pleasure of His will, made provision for the total forgiveness of our sin. Jesus gave His life that we might have redemption through His blood. Jesus took the penalty we deserve upon Himself and died in our place. His life - the only acceptable payment for sin, given by the shedding of His blood, provides total cleansing of our sin. It is by the offering of Jesus' life and through the power of His resurrection we have forgiveness of sin and a new life in Him. By faith alone in Christ alone our sin is forgiven and exchanged for His righteousness.
Nowhere in Scripture are we told to "ask Jesus into our lives." However, we are instructed to surrender ourselves to Him. As Christians (born again by the Spirit of God) we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. We don't spend our lives "working" and "trying" to please the Lord. We surrender ourselves to His leadership and rest in His holiness. Our human effort to "please the Lord" by "trying harder" is an affront to His grace and power working in us. The Christian enters into the "Sabbath Rest" of a relationship with Jesus and ceases striving to please the Lord; thus enjoying a continual maturing by God's Spirit within. "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His" (Hebrews 4:10 NKJV).
God will deliver us, direct us, change us, and mature us. Let Him do the clean up. Trust Him, surrender to His leadership and give Him all the glory.
We reject Calvinism.
The Church believes obedience to the Lord is the outflow of true conversion. A life of personal holiness is the experience of all believers (1 John 3:3-7, 1 Peter 1:13-16, Ephesians 2:10).
We believe in the ordinance of baptism in water by immersion, a public expression of our faith and identification in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).
We do not believe in baptismal regeneration (1 Peter 3:21).
We believe in the ordinance of communion. The Lord's supper, consisting in the elements of bread and wine, representing the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This serves as a memorial to His suffering and death, is a prophesy concerning His second coming and is to be enjoyed by all believers until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
The Church believes in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18): the imminent and blessed hope of all believers (Titus 2:13-14, Philippians 4:5, Revelation 22:12-13). The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
We believe in the Great Tribulation, a judgment upon Israel (Jeremiah 30:3-11) and the unbelieving world who have rejected the offer of Salvation (Revelation 2:21-23, Matthew 24:36-51). During this seven year period, God shall pour out upon the inhabitants of the earth, sore judgments and afflictions such as the world has never known (Revelation 6:1-17, 8:1-9:21, 16:1-21).
Those who have heard and refused the Gospel shall be blinded from the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12) and damned to destruction, while those who have never heard the Gospel shall have an opportunity to respond to the preaching of the 144,000 chosen sealed Jews (Revelation 7:4-8), the two prophets (Revelation 11:3-12) and the angel who proclaims the truth from the heavens (Revelation 14:6-10). Many of these who turn to the Lord shall be murdered by the Anti-Christ, the False Prophet, and those of his kingdom (Revelation 6:9), but shall be raised up again by the Lord to life everlasting (Revelation 20:5).
We believe in the visible second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:29-30, Acts 1:9-11, Revelation 1:7, 19:11-14) at which time the battle of Armageddon shall occur (Revelation 19:17-21). Jesus will then set up His millennial kingdom and will reign here on the earth for 1000 years. We, His blood-bought Church will reign with Him (Revelation 20:6). At this time Jesus will be recognized by national Israel as Messiah (Zechariah 12:10, Romans 11:1-24). Many Jews will then turn to Jesus as Lord (Romans 11:1-36).
As the Prince of Peace, Jesus will, by His rod of iron rule the nations (Revelation 19:15-16). Satan will be bound for the 1000 year period (Revelation 20:1-3) and universal peace will be established (Isaiah 11:1-12:6).
We believe there will be a final judgment of the living and the dead. The believer will appear before the judgment seat of Christ where we shall be judged according to our works and rewarded accordingly (2 Corinthians 5:10). The unbelieving will be raised and judged according to their works and whoever is not found written in the book of life, together with the Devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10-15).
The Church believes in the new heavens and new earth wherein righteousness dwells. We who have trusted in Christ as Savior will live with Him forever (Revelation 21:1-7).
We believe the Church is the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:21-22), the habitation of God through the Spirit. Every born again believer is an integral part of His body. Jesus said: "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18 KJV).
The Church believes the mission of the Church is to be a family of those who worship the Lord in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24), to be a body of believers who study the scriptures that we might grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord (2 Timothy 2:15), to be fashioned into the image of Jesus, to be a body of believers who gather together for fellowship, encouragement and instruction (Hebrews 10:25), to be an agency for the evangelization of the world (Matthew 28:19-20).
The above message is the statement of faith from our home church, Candlelight Christian Fellowship, and is the best description of the true Church we have seen. If you are a believer, and your Church Doctrine does not line up with the above scriptural principles, you should consider finding a new one. We "urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." (Jude 1:3)