God

The one true God is the source of all life and all love. He is good, all-powerful, and intimately connected with
all He has made. He is Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, Lord over all, and friend. He is simultaneously beyond
our ability to fully understand yet completely knowable. He has chosen to reveal Himself as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit and has opened the way for mankind to walk in an intimate relationship of love with Him — our
highest privilege and priority.

Father

God as Father is tenacious in His protection of all He made, yet tender with our hearts. He is not distant or
angry, but His perfect love casts out all fear. He speaks to, leads, protects, comforts, and matures us as a
great “daddy” does with a child he adores. Indeed, He is the very picture and definition of fatherhood: every
‘good’ image we’ve seen of a dad comes from Him. He is the father of the fatherless and stands with arms
wide open.

Jesus Christ

Jesus is the eternal Son of God: fully God and fully man. In love, He chose to empty Himself and take the full
form of humanity when He came to earth to be born of the virgin Mary. During his life on earth, he came as the
second Adam and the firstborn of the new creation. He walked in intimacy with God, his Father, only doing
what the Father told him to do. His miracles were not merely acts of deity, but rather of submitted sonship and union
with the Father. This is why he said anyone who walked with him would do the same things he did. Jesus
lived free of sin and on the cross paid the price for every sin, disease, penalty, and perversion. He resurrected
from the dead, ushering in the present Kingdom of God whereby mankind can reign alongside him as a new
creation. Jesus ascended into heaven and will return to establish the fullness of His Kingdom forever.

 

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the eternal Spirit of God and friend of mankind. It is the Spirit (breath) that first breathed life
into humanity and the Spirit who breathes upon each beloved son or daughter as they are born again. The
Holy Spirit dwells in believers from the moment of salvation, teaching them all things and reminding them all
they may have forgotten (John 14:26). The Spirit is a “called alongside friend,” fully enabling mankind to walk
with God. The Spirit enables believers to fulfill their calling from God through Fruit (Gal. 5:22) and Gifts (Rom.
12, 1 Cor. 12, Eph. 4). All of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are active and important, and we encourage the
exercise of the Gifts in a fitting and orderly way (1 Cor. 14:40). The most obvious evidence of someone being
filled with the Holy Spirit is a life that exhibits the Fruit of the Spirit, especially love (Gal. 5:22, 1 Corinthians
13).

The Bible

The Bible is God's revelation of Himself and His relationship with humanity. It was given through men divinely
inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is fully trustworthy — the authority by which all of our beliefs should be tried. The
Bible has been used by many as a weapon to divide people made in the image of God. Its passages have
often been lifted out of context and used in a way the Divine Author never intended. Therefore, the Bible is
only profitable to the degree the person holding it is yielded to walk with and love like God. It is a “living
book,” only seen clearly in active union with its author. As people yield, they discover the Bible as a treasure
of intimacy, hope, and joy beyond anything they could ask or imagine.

Mankind

God created mankind in a special and unique relationship to Himself. We were created in God’s image so we
would be able to walk in a relationship of love with Him and each other. We were made to be like God so we
could reign with Him. God’s first action to us revealed His heart: He “blessed” us — a word meaning “to bend
down from a high place to a low one, to lift the head, to look in the eyes with delight, and to furnish with
everything we need.” In Eden, we had all we needed and were all we needed. But, through the choice to listen
to a lying serpent, we fell away from God and welcomed sin, disease, death, and brokenness into the world
God made. From the foundation of the world, God purposed to be made into the image of man He created so
He could rescue us and restore us to our original image and union. The sacrifice of Jesus and grace of God is
fully sufficient to fully redeem and transform all who look to Him. In Christ, man is given a new heart and new
nature — invited to live in union with God in peace, victory, joy, and hope as beloved 'saints'!

Grace & Salvation

Man is saved from his sin and brought into relationship with God solely by God’s grace. We can do nothing to
earn God's favor or salvation, other than accept Jesus as Savior. By faith, man accepts the free gift of
salvation from sin that God has made available through His Son, Jesus. Any person who receives Jesus as
their Savior becomes a new creation and will never fall away from their state of grace and forgiveness. We will
be with Him and reign with Him forever!

The Christian Life

Walking with Jesus is our greatest privilege and priority. The goal of all of life is summed up in the command
to love God with all of our hearts and, from that relationship of love, to overflow in a love for our neighbors
that is consistent with how we now love ourselves. As the Holy Spirit comes to indwell every believer, He
completely transforms our nature: we are a new creation, pleasing to God and created to walk with Him. Man
does not need to jump through hoops to please God, but simply to choose to walk in continual intimacy with
the God that delights in them. All fruit in the Christian life does not come from effort, but as a byproduct of
abiding in Him. As we abide, we bear fruit.

In Christ, man is given victory and a lifestyle of sin becomes unnatural — no longer true to our nature.
Followers of Jesus no longer ‘need’ to walk in sin, but nonetheless can find themselves facing struggles from
past or present mindsets. Sin is always a reflection of what one believes in their heart. In any place a believer
wrestles with sin, there is no condemnation, but rather the invitation to walk with Jesus and uncover the lie
they are believing and to receive the freedom Jesus already purchased for them. Often, the wisdom and love
of other brothers and sisters in Christ in the Body of Christ is a great help to align our lives with the truth and
freedom that is already ours.

 

The Church

Christ built the church as a family who walk in devotion to Him and each other as they overflow His hope, love,
joy, freedom, and life to the entire world. Life was never meant to be lived in isolation, but in the joyous
celebration of our communion — our common union with Christ and each other. In the church, God raises up
the offices of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher to equip the saints for the maturing function of

these graces everywhere they go. Believers are encouraged to be committed to a local family they share their life

with — a family where they grow together and go together to release God’s love to everyone, everywhere.

Eternity

The present realm we see in the “here and now” is only here now. We are eternal beings, invited to live forever
with God in a glorious heavenly realm more real than anything we’ve yet experienced. Heaven and hell are
actual places. God's heaven is perfect and therefore cannot permit sin into heaven. Those who accept Jesus
as their personal Savior are forgiven of their sin, allowing them to have eternal life with God in heaven when
they die, or when Christ returns. For those who refuse to accept Jesus as Savior, they will stand in judgment
in a place God never desired they go. In light of this, we are to be diligent in prayer and action to help people
know Jesus.

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