Introduction
| Whenever someone asks the question, “What Do You Believe?,” it is such a big, open-ended question that it can be difficult to answer. Therefore, we felt it would be helpful to list a short, brief summary of our beliefs – this is not a comprehensive list – but is meant to be a simple, helpful guide to answer some of the major questions you may have about what we believe. As always, we base our answers and beliefs on God’s Word, so we have provided scripture references for each belief. Additionally, each section has a short accompanying video you may watch, ranging from one to ten minutes long. |
God the Father
| We believe there is one Creator God – all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful, Who co-exists eternally in three persons: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Scripture references: Acts 17:24-27, Matthew 28:19, Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 6:4, John 10:30, Luke 10:21, 1 Peter 1:2 |
Jesus the Son
| We believe Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and fully human. He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, was raised from the dead on the third day, ascended to heaven, and will return again in power and glory. Scripture references: Acts 17:27, Ephesians 1:7-10, John 14:6, John 1:1-5, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 1:18-25, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:13, Luke 24:6, Acts 1:9, 1 Peter 4:5 |
The Holy Spirit
| We believe the Holy Spirit dwells within every follower of Jesus in order to counsel, equip, empower, guide, and transform each believer into the likeness of Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to mature and build up the church for the work of God in the world. Scripture references: Acts 2:37-38, 2 Corinthians 3:17, John 14:15-17, John 14:25-26, John 16:13, Romans 8:2-4, Romans 8:5-8, Romans 8:9-11, Romans 8:13-15, Romans 8:16-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 8:26-27, Galatians 5:5, Galatians 5:16-21, Galatians 5:22-25. The Holy Spirit has a three-fold purpose in the role of conversion; to convict a person of sin, of righteousness, and future judgment (John 16:7-8). The Holy Spirit also plays a vital role in confession (1 Corinthians 12:3). |
The Bible
| As God breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2:7), God has breathed life into the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). The Word of God is authoritative and has been given to man as the means to inform and provide instruction on how to become Christ-like and holy (Psalms 119:105, Hebrews 4:12). Through careful study of scripture, we can learn to discern God’s will for our lives (John 17:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13). |
Salvation
| Salvation is found only in Christ (Philippians 2:10-11, Acts 4:8-10, Acts 4:11-12, John 14:6). He represents the outpouring of God’s love to all of mankind (John 3:16) and is the unifying source of the deep spiritual needs of all of humanity (Ephesians 3:14-16, Ephesians 3:17-19). Obedience is an essential aspect of salvation (John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:10). Nevertheless, salvation is a free gift and cannot be earned by one’s own merit (Ephesians 2:8). Obedience is a response of love from the recipient of such an indescribable gift (1 John 5:2-3, 2 Corinthians 9:15). |
The Church
| Christ had a mission and a plan (John 6:38). In honoring the will of God, Christ established an eternal kingdom, the Church (Matthew 16:18). The Church is the members of the family of God who have placed their faith and future in Christ. The Church is the means by which God desires to grow the kingdom (Acts 2:42-45, Acts 2:46-47). Christ is the head of the church and the church is His bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). This union produces a child of God when the individual believer responds by faith to the invitation of Christ (Revelation 22:17) and is born anew into the family of God (John 3:5, Mark 16:16). Each and every time this new birth occurs, the family of God grows and the kingdom of Christ expands. |
Communion
| Jesus implemented the practice of communion (Matthew 26:26-30). It represents the spiritual necessity of an abiding relationship and dependency on Christ. He alone sustains us spiritually through His sacrifice and His redeeming blood. As was the pattern of the early church, we assemble each first day of the week to share communion (Acts 20:7). It is a celebration of community, a time of deep personal introspection and confession of our dependency on Christ for our salvation (1 Corinthians 11:23-32). |
Baptism
| Baptism is a beautiful command we follow that Jesus gave us (Matthew 28:19). It is not a work that makes us right before God, but rather the first necessary response of our faith that accepts the free gift of God (Galatians 3:26-27). It is the picture of dying to one’s self and rising to a new and better life in Jesus, because of His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). |
Commitments – GO & MAKE
| Finally, Jesus lived and taught that His mission is our mission – to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16). As a church family, we seek to GO and MAKE as Jesus did, in the following ways: 1) we are committed to making disciples; 2) we partner with faithful ministries committed to bringing God’s Kingdom to Earth; 3) we actively show and tell the world about the goodness of God’s love by meeting both physical and spiritual needs in the Rickman community and other places that God sets before us. |
