Our Identity
We believe that God has created and called us to be Gospel People in Gospel Community on Gospel Mission. That is to say, that we believe we are to be people whose lives (and not just their eternal destinies) are transformed by the Gospel because the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection is not just what we need for salvation, it is what we need for sanctification and all of life. We believe that when God “saves” someone that he has adopted them into his family and has not left them as fatherless orphans. So fundamentally to be Christian, means to be in God’s family and living as family in community is not an option – it is an identity. Further, we believe that God has called us to live on His mission (the missio dei) which is to say that God has invited us to participate in his redemption of the whole world through Christ’s work on the Cross. So when we say we are Gospel People, in Gospel Community on Gospel Mission we are saying that we are:
A family on mission sent by God to serve our world and continually learn how to walk in his ways.
Our statement of faith
We have chosen to describe our doctrinal distinctions through a series of paradoxical statements that we believe encapsulate the truths that we hold dear:
The Infinite became finite. The Creator became a creature
Deity and humanity of Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. He exists eternally as God. Two thousand years ago, He was born of a virgin named Mary and became a man. He lived a sinless life, died on a cross for the sins of mankind and rose from the dead on the third day in order to bring glory to the Father and reconciliation to mankind. (John 1:1, 20:28; Acts 20:28; Heb 1:8; Titus 1:3, 2:13).
By the sin of one, death was passed to all.
Original sin and separation from God: We believe humanity was created in the image of God, but that this image was deeply distorted due to the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden. As a consequence of Adam’s rebellion, every person is born into sin with a nature that is totally depraved, meaning, that humans are helpless to obtain salvation apart from God’s sovereign grace (Gen 1:26, 2:1-17, 6:5; Rom. 3:10-19; Eph 2:1-3).
By the death of the One, Life was passed to all
Christ’s substitutionary death for mankind’s sin and His bodily resurrection: Mankind’s sin eternally separated mankind from God’s perfect holiness. The only hope for the reconciliation of mankind to God was for Jesus Christ, who had committed no sin, to take the punishment that mankind deserved and become the propitiation (the payment to appease God’s wrath in place of man’s punishment) for the entire world. In His literal physical death, Jesus took on the sin of all of mankind and the wrath of God as punishment for that sin. Three days later, He arose bodily and in doing so, defeated death and appeased God’s just requirements for mankind’s sin. (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8, 10:9-10).
1+1+1=1
The Trinity: There is one God who is eternally existent in the Persons: The Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. Each of these three Persons is fully God, yet there are not three gods but One. The Triune God is eternal, uncreated and has no beginning, nor end. The Trinity is holy, sovereign, gracious and just. (Matt 28:19-20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acs 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb 1:1-3; Rev 1:4-6)
The Rejected Christ will be the Returning King
Return of Jesus: We believe in the personal, imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Church.
(I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Philippians 3:20; Matthew 24:15-31; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 20:1-6; Ez. 37:21-28; 2 Tim 3:1-5)
The Infallible inspired the incapable to write the inerrant
Inerrancy and authority of Scripture: We believe that the Bible is without error in its original form and that it is the church’s absolute authority for faith and life. We believe that the Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to draw people to faith in Christ and to develop people to become more like Him to the glory of God. (Mark 12:26, 12:36, 13:11; Luke 24:27; 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)
Those Born Once, Die Twice. Those Born Twice, Die Once.
Necessary salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone: We believe that a person is only saved from the effects and condemnation of sin by placing their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith is a gift from God and it is given because no one could obtain salvation apart from the grace of God or by their own good works (John 14:6; Rom 5:1-21; Eph 2:8-9;1 Cor.15:1-4)
Mortals are immortal and Found Lost people can never become Lost Found People
Eternal nature of all humans and the eternal security of the believer: We believe the souls of believers in Jesus Christ do, at death, immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming for the Church, when soul and body reunited will be associated with Him forever in glory. We believe the souls of unbelievers remain after death in constant misery in Hades until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord (Luke 16:19-26; 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).
We believe that once a believer is drawn to God and places their faith in Jesus Christ they will always be saved from God’s wrath and will have forgiveness of sins. Scripture tells us that not everyone who professes Christ is sincere, but each person who genuinely places their faith and trust in Christ will never lose their salvation. We also believe that genuine faith and genuine conversion always produces genuine life change. The same faith that God gives to save a believer is given to enable believers to become obedient to God’s commands and conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. (John 5:24; 10:28, 13:1, 14:16-17, 17:11; Rom 8:29; 1 Cor. 6:19; Heb. 7:25