What We Believe

God is One

God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 4:6)

All People are Born Sinners

We are dead in sin and need a Savior. (Romans 3:10, 23; Romans 5: 8, 10)

Jesus Alone

Jesus alone is Savior and saves sinners. There is no other that can save. (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:35; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Acts 4:12)

Repentance

Repentance is necessary in surrendering to Jesus’ Lordship. (Luke 13:3; Acts 3:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Freedom and Maturity

Freedom and Maturity is for every person. Jesus saves us from our sin and we must work to walk in the new life in being saved and born again. (John 8:36; Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 4:14-16; Colossians 1:28-29)

Baptism

Baptism is immersion for every believer in water. (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21)

Communion

Communion is a holy remembrance for our faith community to participate in. (Luke 22:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

The Word of God

The Word of God is our history of God and standard and guide for living. The Bible is inerrant, inspired by God and infallible. When coupled with the Spirit of God, the Word of God is alive and active to bring power in our lives. (2 Timothy 3:15-16; Hebrews 4:12; John 1:1-5)

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit inhabits every believer and is God’s interaction with us for help, comfort, conviction, and giftings. (Matthew 3:11; John 14:16-17; Acts 1:4-8; Acts 2; 1 Corinthians 12: 1-31)

Marriage

Marriage is between one man and one woman. It is God’s standard. Sexual engagement is only for a married man and woman. (Genesis 2:23-24; Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 19:4-6)

Membership

Membership is only for Christ followers united under local spiritual authority committed to working together with their time, talent, and treasure to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Romans 12:4; Ephesians 1:22-23)

Community

We recognize Jesus died to save us individually and put us in a family. It is not a personal faith only, but a corporate community. Jesus judges the 7 churches in Revelation 3 as a whole. We need each other. We choose to lose our independence to become interdependent yet not co-dependent. There is unity yet diversity in the church. (Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 68:6; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 12:12; John 17:23; Psalm 133:1)

Love

We are to be a people marked by a deep love for one another. This love, along with unity, work together to make us, as Paul described, the living stones, fitted together that can host the Glory and Presence of God. Loving each other well is necessary to help us be rightly related and authentically celebrate one another. (John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13:13)

Government

Government is Apostolic in nature and Elders-led, Biblical governing structure. (Ephesians 2:19-20; Ephesians 4:11-17; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 13:17)

1. Church Discipline when there is a struggle in the congregation that is not able to be solved through loving confrontation and mediation and prayer, church leadership may need to bring discipline to an erring and divisive member (Matthew 18:15-20). The examples of such are for: open and blatant sin 1 Corinthians 5:1-12; Issues involving doctrinal error 2 Peter 2:1-3; Divisive and contentious behavior within the congregation Titus 3:9-11

2. Elders are appointed by our Apostolic leader and will be appointed by the Elders ongoing as led by the Holy Spirit and the need for membership

Worship

Worship is many things. We have a high value for worship with singing and praise as lifting up the Lord and warring against the enemy. Worship is “worth and war”. Worship is expressive, intimate with God and experiential. (2 Chronicles 20; Acts 16:25-34; John 4:24)

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare (Prayer/Fasting/Declaration) due to the nature of the fall of man and the fall of Lucifer and his demonic angels, we have an enemy that we have to learn to defend ourselves and family and ministry as well as advance the kingdom offensively. (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6; 1 Peter 5:8; Luke 10:19)

Deliverance

We believe non-believers and believers can be harassed and demonized by demonic interference. Open doors to the enemy both in ignorance and through habitual sin or generational curse can be broken with the help of wise counsel and intentional engagement to free people from demon bullying. Freedom is for every soul. (James 4:7; Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 10:17; Mark 16:17; Acts 19:11-20; Acts 16:16-18)

Soul Healing

Many or most people come to Christ because they are riddled with sin and may often be victimized or traumatized on multiple levels. While Jesus saves our souls, salvation alone does not equal freedom and healing, it makes a way for it to happen. With discerning ministry, we believe healing is for every person in Christ and God has called us to walk with scars but not wounds. (Isaiah 61; Psalm 94:19; Psalm 147:3; Matthew 11:28-29; Philippians 4:6-7)

God Speaks

We affirm that God speaks in diverse and countless ways including our “knower”; Holy Spirit “nudges”, dreams, visions, prophetic pictures, His speaking voice, angelic visitation and much more. To hear from God may be words heard, images seen or simply, communication from God. (John 10:27-28; Jeremiah 33:3)

Discipleship/Consecration/Transformation

A process for every individual to learn and grow to full maturity in Christ through personal investment/mentoring and in community through committed Bible reading, regular community interaction and one v one impartation from people that are seasoned in Christ to help you in your development. (Matthew 28:19; Romans 12:2; 2 Peter 1:3-4; Ephesians 4:11-17)

Spiritual Gifts

We affirm the Christ gifts to the church; the Holy Spirit gifts; and the motivational gifts that are given by God for us all. We believe the gifts are to be realized, celebrated and released for the betterment of our calling, the growth of the church and the community and world we live in. The church must release believers in all the God giftedness that we can for maximum fruitfulness. While many churches deny the relevance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and Christ gifts for today, we recognize and celebrate all of them. (Christ Gifts/Ministry Gifts: Ephesians 4:11-13; Holy Spirit Gifts 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Motivational Gifts: Romans 12:3-8)

Every Member Ministry

Jesus commissioned all believers; as a result, we seek to equip and support every member to function in our Divine design effectively. Every member ministry is based on Jesus’ command for all believers to ‘therefore go’, proclaim the Gospel, baptize believers, and be marked by signs such as casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, and healing the sick. (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-20)

Racial Healing

We feel led to be a community that is engaging in the healing divide that has been caused by slavery, Jim Crow, civil rights, discriminatory culture/systems and the continued struggle for healing across our land. Native Americans, African Americans, and other minority groups suffered greatly at the onset of our nation and even in our current climate. Instead of an “entitlement attitude” we want to take a stance like Daniel 9 and cry out for a touch from God to heal our broken land and our sins and our fathers’ sins. (Revelation 7:9; Daniel 9)

End Things

We believe in Jesus’ return and an eternal resting place for every soul. Heaven for the Christ lover, Hell for those who do not find a need for Jesus. (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10-15; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21 and 22)