Unity isn't uniformity. Unity recognizes there is a 'shared theology' that we hold together as a covenant community.
It was A.W. Tozer that said 'what you believe about God is the most important thing about you.' We are inclined to agree! Our doctrine, both our essential beliefs as followers of Jesus and our distinctive that identify us as charismatic and Pentecostal, affects how we relate to God, influences our passion for Jesus, and deepens our dedication to His teachings and His Gospel.
1) The Bible : Our Guide
The Bible is God’s Word to all people and our highest doctrinal authority. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Because it was inspired by God, the Bible is truth without any mixture of error and is completely relevant to our daily lives. We believe that all of the divinely Holy Spirit inspired, inerrant, authoritative, sixty-six canonical books of the Bible reveal to us Jesus Christ. Because we believe this is God's word we hold that it is sacred and central and value it as such.
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, Psalm 119:11, Psalm 89, Psalm 105, Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 22:29, Romans 15:4, John 5:39, John 16:13-15, John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 1:1-2, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Peter 1:25, 2 Peter 3:16
2) The Trinity : God Is
We believe there is only one true God, who eternally exists as a Trinity of equally divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each member of the Trinity thinks, acts, feels, speaks, and relates, because each is a person and not an impersonal force. Each member of the Trinity is equally God, sharing all the divine attributes. Because love and community flow from the Trinity to us through the Holy Spirit, we seek to live in loving community with God and others.
Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 28:19, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 1:35, John 5:21-23, John 14:10, John 14:16, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Hebrews 1:8-10, James 2:19
3) Revelation : God Speaks
Revelation is simply a way of saying 'revealed.' We believe that God reveals Himself to everyone everywhere through general revelation. We believe it is only by special revelation that anyone comes to a saving knowledge of God. We believe God has supremely revealed Himself through Jesus Christ, the Son of God and his incarnate Word. We believe that every Christ follower is able to commune with God on a personal level. Because God is a loving Father who speaks, we seek to hear from Him and test everything by the Word of God.
Psalm 8:3-4; 19:1, 4; 139:13-16; Romans 1:19-20 Exodus 31:2-11; 35:30-35; Psalm 65:9; 104:14; Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17. Romans 2:14-15. Acts 10:1-7; Romans 2:7, 10; 10:15-18. John 1:1; Hebrews 1:1-2. 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21.
4) Image : God Loves
We believe that in love God created the first human beings, Adam and Eve, as male and female, equal in dignity, value, and worth, in order to mirror and reflect God as an act of worship and obedience and exercise dominion over the earth. We believe that human beings, as God’s sole image bearers, are under God and over lower creation, not to be pulled up like gods or pushed down like animals. We believe that human life begins at conception and that an unborn baby is an image-bearer of God. We believe that God created marriage solely for one man and one woman, and created sex only for married couples. Because God created human life and marriage, we value the sanctity of life and godly marriage.
Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; 5:1-3; 9:6; Romans 1:25; 1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9. Psalm 51:5-6; 139:13-16; Isaiah 49:1; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15. Genesis 2:18-25; Proverbs 5:18-19; Matthew 5:32; 19:9, 18; Mark 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-24.
5) The Fall : God Judges
Man is made in the image of God and is the supreme object of His creation. Man was created to have fellowship with God, but became separated in that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, man cannot attain a right relationship with God through his own effort. Because we are sinners in need of a Savior and new nature, we trust in Jesus Christ alone for new and eternal life and believe in the reality of spiritual warfare with Satan, demons and angelic beings.
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, Psalm 119:11, Psalm 119:89, Psalm 119: 105, Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 22:29, Romans 15:4, John 5:39, John 16:13-15, John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 1:1-2, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Peter 1:25, 2 Peter 3:16
6) Incarnation : God Comes
We believe that the eternal Son of God and second person of the Trinity became flesh, adding humanity to his divinity, and entered into human history as the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is one person with two natures, fully God and fully man. Jesus Christ is the Word, or Logos, of God because he is the personal, eternally existing Creator of the universe, distinct from, yet equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem to redeem sinful man as the only mediator between God and man. We believe that Jesus Christ, during the Incarnation, laid aside the continual exercise of his divine attributes and lived his sinless life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because He is both our Savior and example, we deeply love Jesus Christ and seek to live with and like Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:30-38. Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:18-23; 1 Timothy 2:5. Matthew 3:16; 4:1-10; Mark 2:1-7; Luke 4:1-2, 14-21; 10:21; Hebrews 4:14-16.
7) Cross & Resurrection : God Saves
We believe that Jesus Christ lived a perfectly righteous and sinless life, died in the place of sinners, fully absorbing the wrath of God, paying the just penalty for their sins and reconciling them to God. As our substitute, on the cross Jesus Christ suffered and died in our place to forgive us, love us, cleanse us, and embrace us as the punishment for our sins was diverted from us to Jesus. We believe that Jesus Christ arose bodily from the grave, physically alive. Through faith we are united with the risen Christ, raised with Christ, and granted the same Holy Spirit power that raised Christ. The benefits of Jesus’ resurrection include the forgiveness of sins, justification, sanctification, and ultimately glorification. We believe that justification through the work of Jesus Christ is possible by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. His righteousness is imparted to us at the time of saving faith, simultaneous with our justification, and brings us new life by the Holy Spirit, who regenerates us with a new nature and begins sanctifying us to become increasingly more like Jesus. Because Jesus died for our sins, we humbly confess them and actively put sin to death in our own lives, forgiving the sins of others and inviting others to believe in Jesus.
Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 53:5-6, Isaiah 55:7, Matthew 1:21, Matthew 27:22-28:6, Luke 1:68-69, Luke 2:28-32, John 1:12, John 3:16, John 5:24, Acts 2:21, Acts 4:12, Acts 16:30-31, Romans 1:16-18, Romans 3:23-25, Romans 5:8-10, Romans 5:6, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:12-13, Hebrews 9:24-28, Revelation 3:20
8) The Church : God Gathers
We believe that the local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and that the universal church is comprised of all God’s people in all times and places. In obedience to Scripture, Christians organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the sacraments of water baptism and Communion, are unified by the Spirit in love, are corrected for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the great commandment and the great commission as missionaries to the world. Because we are members of God's church we labor as a unique expression of His church while taking a Kingdom approach of co-laboring alongside other local communities of faith, thus building up and adding to God's family.
Matthew 16:18-19, Matthew 18:15-20, Acts 2:41-47, Acts 5:11-14, Acts 13:1-3, Acts 14:23, Acts 16:5, Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 7:17, 1 Corintians 9:13-14, 1 Corinthians 9:12, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 3:10-12, Ephesians 5:22-32, Colossians 1:18, Colossians 3:15, 1 Timothy 4:14, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Revelation 21:2-3
9) Our Life : God Empowers
The mission of every disciple and ultimately the Church is to make disciples of all nations and to present the saints complete and mature in Christ. We can be empowered through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and are given spiritual gifts which are activated by faith to show forth the power and love of God, secondarily validating our Gospel to unbelievers and God's character to believers and unbelievers alike. Our commission to make disciples remains a passionate pursuit because we give ourselves to a lifestyle of holiness. Because God has been generous to us with His Spirit and with His Grace, we seek to love and serve others as generous, wise and Spirit led stewards for God.
Joel 2:28-29; Matthew 3:11; Mark 16:17; Acts 1:5; Acts 2:1-4,2:17, 2:38-39, 8:14-17, 10:38, 10:44-47, 11:15-17, 19:1-6; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28-30; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 4:11.
10) Kingdom : God Reigns
God created humans with a spirit and body tightly joined together. Death is not natural, it's an enemy, a consequence of sin. Man's spirit was created to exist forever. It will exist either eternally separated from God by sin or in union with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is Heaven. Heaven and Hell are literal places of eternal existence. Upon Jesus’ second coming, there will be a bodily resurrection for everyone, to either eternal salvation or condemnation. The time between Jesus’ resurrection and our resurrection is a lengthy season of love, grace, and mercy as God's Kingdom expands through God's people, inviting sinners to repent of sin and enjoy the present and future salvation of Jesus Christ. Because our eternal home is in the Kingdom of God, as we journey home our mission is to joyfully invite others to join us while we throw parties, have fun, and make friends to practice for eternity.
Matthew 24:30, 26:63-64; John 3:14, 36; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 6:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; 1 John 2:25, 5:11-13; Revelation 1:7, 20:15