OUR BELIEF
OUR BELIEF
JOHN 3:16
"“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
GOD - We believe in an eternal God who is the Creator of all things. He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. He is totally loving and completely holy.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD - We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, true God as true man, is the only One who can reconcile us to God. He lived a sinless and sinless life, died on the cross in our place, rose again, and will return.
REPENTANCE & FAITH - To receive forgiveness and be born again, we need to repent from our sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and submit to His will for our lives.
BAPTISM IN WATER - We believe that we need to be baptized in water as a natural step after our repentance to Jesus, in order to bury our old self through baptism and rise to a new life in Christ.
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - We believe that we need to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit in order to live the holy and fruitful life that God has for us. We see this as a separate experience. Through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we gain access to the Spirit’s power and gifts, including speaking in tongues.
FELLOWSHIP - We believe in the power and importance of the church, and the necessity for all believers to share life with other believers. This involves a commitment to care for one another in different ways and to meet regularly for fellowship, prayer, and the breaking of bread/communion.
SONSHIP / CHILDREN OF GOD - We believe that every person who repents to God and places their faith and trust in Jesus as Lord receives the wonderful privilege of becoming a child of God, who can live in close and personal fellowship not only with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, but also with God the Father / God the Dad.
DISCIPLESHIP - Jesus calls all people to be His followers—His disciples—in every area of life. We believe this means that we also pass on what we have received from Him to others in the same way, by being personal disciple-makers (mentors, guides, spiritual parents).
In this way, every believer receives personal help to grow in their relationship with God and become more like Jesus, while also pass on to others in the same way. This begins with us making ourselves dependent on others for training, help, and guidance in growing as Christians and disciples.
LEADERSHIP - We believe in team-based leadership for the church, consisting of a group of church leaders/pastors. This enriches and protects both the leadership and the whole church.
THE WORD OF GOD - We believe that the Bible is God's Word, and it is trustworthy and applicable to our everyday lives.
FINAL JUDGMENT - We believe that our eternal destination—either heaven or hell—is determined by our response to the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life is about fellowship with Jesus, who is the origin of all life.
God, in His love, wants that all people be saved and that no one should perish, and we trust that God, in His way, gives every person the opportunity to reach out to Him.
JESUS WILL RETURN - We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth as He promised, and that one day He will put an end to all darkness and evil, and wipe away every tear from those who have received Him.
MORE ABOUT US AS A CHURCH
We gather all together once a month and meet weekly in our homes in smaller groups/house churches. By gathering in house churches, we shift the focus away from a single building and large services, where there is only limited opportunity for everyone to grow by expressing their gifts and life in Christ.
Life and meetings in house churches allow every person and family who puts their trust in Jesus to gather with others to follow Him together. This happens, among other ways, as described in 1 Corinthians 14:26 (ESV):
“What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”
Practicing this fully in large meetings is difficult, but in house churches everyone has the opportunity to share. Several house churches spread throughout the city that meet weekly provide a rich expression of Jesus’ presence in His body, which is the church—under His leadership, He who is the head of the church.
We place great emphasis on the family, and we believe that the Christian life, beyond personal life with God, primarily begins in the home. This also includes singles, as those who live alone are also given community in everyday life.
Our goal is to live in close fellowship with one another, in family and in the home. From this foundation, we want to live as disciples of Jesus wherever we are—in the workplace, at school, among neighbors, and in contact with people who need help and care.