Reiterating our purpose helps provide a good context for a discussion about what we believe. Our purpose is to provide a forum in which Christians can be encouraged in the Christian lifestyle. It is our intention to impact our community through the characteristics that come with that lifestyle, for example: Generosity, loving kindness, purity, integrity, humility, and servitude. It is not through fancy or well-orchestrated services, professional speakers and musicians, large programs, or beautiful facilities that we intend to provide our impact. Rather, it is through each of our lives, in the way we interact with our neighbors, our co-workers, strangers, and our enemies that provide a witness to the transforming and renewing power of God in our lives. Empowering the individual is where our thrust lies.
It is not that we believe ourselves to be better than anyone else. It is, however, that we are actually engaged in the battle between good and evil, personally. While we also fail at living the life that Christ wants us to live, what sets us apart is that we are aware of the battle in our own hearts, that pull between the selfish desires of the natural man and the transcendant call of our Lord. What makes us different is that we seek the Lord and we bind ourselves together in love to encourage one another in that lifelong pursuit.
We accept the Bible as our sole authority. From the Bible we determine all things of importance that God wants to communicate to us. We believe that logical thought and research can reveal what God intended to say in the Bible but that the Holy Spirit is often needed to make that truth pierce a rebellious heart. We accept into our fellowship those who have not decided that the Bible is verbally inspired. However, we do not entertain discussions on that point in any of our meetings. In other words, it is understandable that there may be very sincere Christians who have not reached the same conclusion on Biblical inerrancy. However, we do not want our studies to devolve into discussions about that point. We take the Bible as our authority.
We believe in the diety of Christ in the traditional orthodox sense, that he was crucified, buried, and was raised from the dead, and that he was the Messiah as predicted in the prophets of the Old Testament. We believe that his sacrifice serves multiple purposes, one being that of the ultimate and perfect sacrificial offering for the sins of man. We believe that while man cannot deserve salvation purely by his own merit, he does have some responsibility for how he reacts to that sacrifice, which is God's free gift. For example, we believe it is the responsibility of man to appeal to it for salvation and to make Christ his Lord. We believe that we have free will and that the universe is not fatalistically determined. In other words, we do not believe that God controls Satan and every action of mankind; we do not believe that all things are predestined. But, rather, we believe God is at odds with Satan who is in rebellion to him. We believe that mankind is engaged in that battle and that God seeks to win for himself a bride from mankind, the Bride of Christ, in other words, the Church. We believe that until Christ returns we are to labor in the battle of Good versus Evil to help win people to the Lord's side.
Our position on free will, the fact that we are engaged in a legitimate battle between good and evil, and the idea that God does not control Satan but is at odds with Satan, is an important fundamental position. It is actually a fundamental position for many people because it affects their view of God as well as mankind's ultimate purpose. While our organizational structure accommodates different views on non-essential topics, e.g., baptism, communion, etc., we view this position regarding the war between good and evil, free will, and God's war with Satan, as part of our core beliefs. There are branches of Christianity that have a fundamentally different view of the nature of God, a view that everything is within God's control, that even terribly wicked events are under God's explicit control. Their position is not compatible with our core beliefs because their position is a reflection on the very nature of God and, at the same time, it is errant and destructive. To learn more about why this is such an important topic, click here.
There are many other aspects of Christianity over which sincere Christians can disagree. We do not make those other, smaller, aspects part of our formal statements of beliefs. For example, we do not take a position on baptism, communion, the existence of contemporary prophecy, the end times, etc. That is not to say however that we do not believe in the absence of a correct position. We do believe in absolute truth and we believe it is worthwhile to pursue it. The discussion of these smaller aspects of Christianity is welcome in our meetings, but only if executed in a kind, respectful, and loving way. Also, the pursuit of these smaller truths must not take precedence over living the lifestyle we are called to live, which is a far more difficult task than pursuing some of these issues.
Small Groups are welcome to coalecse over certain doctrinal positions on these smaller topics. For example, a Small Group who believes in taking communion every Sunday is welcome to form while others, who prefer to share communion monthly at the Large Group meeting, can form separately. Likewise, parents who wish to baptise their children as infants can do so, but might wish to seek out other parents who share their beliefs to share that event. Small Groups can coalesce over styles of worship, ways of dealing with children, etc. The possibilities are endless. The key is that we pursue truth together under the bannar of Christ and following his example of self-sacrifice.
There are certain things that we believe are very bad for a church and we do not allow them. They are as follows: