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*STATEMENT OF FAITH* “According to the Scriptures”

Section 1: *The Bible* We believe the Bible, which is comprised of the Old and New Testaments……..to be the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of (God). In faith we hold the Bible to be inerrant in the original writings, God-breathed, and the complete and final authority for faith and practice (Matthew 5:18); (2 Timothy 3:16-17). While still using the individual writing styles of the human authors, the Holy Spirit perfectly guided them to ensure they wrote precisely what (He) wanted written, without error or omission (2 Peter 1:21). Section 2: *God* We believe in One God, who is the Creator of All (Deuteronomy 6:4); (Colossians 1:16), who has revealed Himself in Three distinct Persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14), yet who is One in Being, Essence, and Glory (John 10:30). God is Eternal (Psalms 90:2), infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), and He’s sovereign (Psalms 93:1). God is Omniscient (Psalms 139:1-6), Omnipresent (Psalms 139:7-13), Omnipotent (Revelation 19:6), and Unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God is Holy (Isaiah 6:3), Just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and Righteous (Exodus 9:27). God is Love (1 John 4:8), Gracious (Ephesians 2:8), and Merciful (1 Peter 1:3), and Good (Romans 8:28). Section 3: *Jesus Christ* We believe in the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, He is God incarnated, God in Human form, the expressed image of the Father, Who without ceasing to be God, became Man in order that He might demonstrate who God is and to provide the means of salvation for humanity (Matthew 1:21); (John 1:18); (Colossians 1:15). We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary and that He is truly (fully God and Man) and that He lived a Perfect Sinless Life, and that all of His Teachings are True (Isaiah 14); (Matthew 1:23). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross for all humanity (1 John 2:2) as a substitutable sacrifice for us (Isaiah 53:5-6). We hold that His death is sufficient to provide salvation for all who receive Him as Lord and Savior (John 1:12); (Acts 16:31), that our justification is grounded in the shedding of His blood (Romans5:9); (Ephesians1:7), and…that it is attested by His literal, and physical resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6); (1 Peter 1:3). And that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven in His Glorified Body (Acts 1:9-10), and is now seated at the Right Hand Of God as our High Priest and Advocate (Romans 8:34); (Hebrews 7:25). Section 4: *Holy Spirit* We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Acts5:3-4). He regenerates sinners (Titus 3:5) and indwells believers (Romans 8:9). He is the agent by whom Christ baptizes all believers into His body (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). He is the seal by whom the Father guarantees the salvation of all believers unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). He is the Divine Teacher who illumines believer’s hearts and minds as they study the Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). We believe that the Holy Spirit is ultimately sovereign in the distribution of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). We believe that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, while by no means outside of the Spirit’s ability to empower, no longer function to the same degree they did in the early development of the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11); (2 Corinthians 12:12); (Ephesians 2:20); (Ephesians 4:7-12). Section 5: *Angels and Demons* We believe in the reality and personality of Angels. We believe that God created the Angels to be His servants and messengers (Nehemiah 9:6); (Hebrews 1:14). We believe in the existence and personality of Satan and demons. Satan…is a fallen angel who led a group of angels in rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12-17); (Ezekiel 28:12-15). He is the great enemy of God and man, and the demons are his servants in evil. He and his demons will be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Matthew 25:41); (Revelation 20:10). Section 6: * Humanity* We believe that humanity came into existence by direct creation of God and that humanity is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). We believe that all humanity….because of Adam’s fall, inherited a sinful nature, that all human beings…choose to sin (Romans 3:23), and that all sin is exceedingly offensive to God (Romans 6:23). And humanity is…utterly unable to remedy this fallen state (Ephesians 2:1-5); (Ephesians 12). Section 7: *Salvation* We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ’s death fully accomplished justification through faith for the redemption of sin. Christ died in our place (Romans5:8-9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). We believe salvation is received by…grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Good works and obedience are results of salvation, but are not sufficient or a requirement for salvation. Due to the greatness, sufficiency, and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice, all those who have truly received Christ as their Lord and personal Savior are eternally secure in salvation, kept by God’s power, secured and seal in Christ forever (John 6:37-40); (John 10:27-30); (Romans 8:1,38-39); (Ephesians 1:13-14); (1 Peter 1:5); (Jude 24). Just as salvation cannot be earned…by good works, neither does it need…good works to be maintained or sustained. Good works and changed lives…are the inevitable results of salvation (James 2). Section 8: *The Church* We believe that the Church, which is the body or the (bride) of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all believers of the present age (1 Corinthians 12:12-14); (2 Corinthians 11:2); (Ephesians 1:22-23); (Ephesians 5:25-27). We believe in the ordinance of believer’s water baptism by immersion as a testimony to Christ and identification with Him, and the Lord’s supper as a remembrance of Christ’s death and the shedding of His blood (Matthew 28: 19-20); (Acts 2:41-42,18:8); (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Through the Church, believers are to be taught too obey the Lord and to testify concerning their faith in Christ as Savior and to honor Him by Holy living. We believe in the Great Commission as the primary mission of the Church; it is the obligation of all believers to witness, by word and life, to the truths of God’s Word. The Gospel of the Grace of God…is to be preached to all the world (Matthew 28:19-20); (Acts 1:8); (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). Section 9: *Things to Come* We believe in the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), the personal and imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe in the visible and bodily return of Christ to the earth with His saints to establish His promised millennial kingdom (Zechariah 14:4-11); (1 Thessalonians 1:10); (Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16, 20:1-6). We believe in the physical resurrection of all men--the saints to everlasting joy and bliss on the New Earth, and the wicked to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire (Matthew 25:46); (John 5:28-29); (Revelation 20:5-6,12-13). We believe that the the souls of believers are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where they await their resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are united to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43); (2 Corinthians 5:8); (Philippians 1:23, 3:21); (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until their resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne of Judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire to suffer everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:41-46); (Mark 9:43-48); (Luke 16:19-26); (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9); (Revelations 20:11-15).

Disciples Of Christ Ministries

*The Arc & Covenant*

*Symbolism of Christ walking on Water*

*Symbolism of Peter walking on Water*

“A word from the Pastor”

(1 Chronicles 4:10) And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain! And God granted him that which he requested. (1 John 5:13)…These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may continue to believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:14…And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. (1 John 5:15)…And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions…that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:20)..And we know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. If we set ourselves to acknowledge God in all our ways we put ourselves under the divine blessings and protection of our Heavenly Father and…we will prosper accordingly. Prayer begins with God. God prompts His people to pray and then act in response to their prayers. Things happen or don’t happen because of prayer. This doesn’t mean…that God can be manipulated through prayer to do what we want…if what we want is contrary to His will. Instead, God reveals His will to us by His Word and works in us by His Spirit…so that we may know His will and pray in accordance with it. Then in response to our prayers, He accomplishes both His will and ours, and in the process, He involves us…(The Discipleship Journal).