Holy Week Schedule Good Friday 6 PM, Easter: Sunrise 8 AM, Brunch 9 AM, Egg Hunt 10 AM, Worship 10:30 AM

Beliefs

What we believe at Faith Church about Jesus, the Bible, and the Church

Our Beliefs

The Bible

We believe the Bible is inspired and revealed to us by God. We believe it is without fault or error in all its teaching. The Bible governs our life and teaching. 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20.

God – THE TRINITY

We believe there is one true and living God, the Creator of all that exists. He is perfect in his power, knowledge, love, and holiness. God eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. Matthew 28:19, John 14:10, 26; John 15:26.

Jesus

We believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He became human without ceasing to be God, and so we consider him both fully God and fully human. We believe in his sinless life, his miracles, and his teaching. Jesus was crucified on the cross and died as the substitute to pay the penalty for our sin and the sins of the whole world and he physically rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Romans 1:16, I Cor. 15:1-8, John 14:6, Acts 4:12

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to convict the world of sin and to empower and guide all believers. By His powerful work, the Spirit regenerates spiritually dead sinners awakening them to repentance and faith. The Holy Spirit lives in every Christian and gives them spiritual gifts to be effective in carrying out the mission of the Church. John 14:16-17, 16:8, (I Corinthians 2:10-16, John 16:13-14, Ephesians 1:19-20.

Creation and Humanity

We believe people are created in the image of God and so human life is sacred from conception to natural death. God created humanity for a great purpose, but we rejected that purpose and our world has been broken ever since. Our wrongdoing separates us from the life God intended for us and brought suffering and confusion to our world. Instead of finding our purpose and identity in God, people now try to answer the great questions of life, who am I? why am I here? where am I going?, in their feelings and achievements. This only adds to our confusion and our suffering. But! even though we are hostile to Him, God continues to pursue us. When someone believes and follows what Jesus has done for them, they receive a new nature and the Holy Spirit begins the process of healing and transformation. Genesis 3, Psalm 51:5, John 3:16, 2 Cor. 5:17.

The Gospel

We believe the Gospel is the story of what Jesus has done for each of us. By his perfect obedience to the Father’s plan, including his death on the cross, he satisfied the demands of the Law and his righteousness can now be credited to us. When we believe the message of the Gospel we experience the forgiveness of sins and the transforming power of the presence of God. John 3:14-16, John 5:24, Romans 1:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Galatians 2:21, Ephesians 1:3, 11, Ephesians 2:4-10, 1 John 5:1, 1 John 1:9, John 14:6.

The Church

We believe the church is made up of everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ. It is not an institution or an organization, but a people called into existence and sustained by Jesus Christ. The Church was created to live and grow as a community who makes disciples of Jesus Christ by baptizing and teaching people to obey the teaching of Jesus. Local churches are the visible form of the Kingdom of God on earth. Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:38, Acts 2:42-47, Romans 6:3-4, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Baptism

We believe that baptism is not simply a religious ritual, but a means God uses to bring his presence and forgiveness to those who believe. Since even babies and children are born sinners, we welcome Christian parents to bring their “little ones” to baptism, too. While we believe that God gives the gift of faith in baptism, we do not teach that baptism saves a child forever, but that children who are baptized need to come to a conscious faith when they are able. We encourage adults who are not baptized to be baptized after they come to faith. Matthew 18:1-6 19:14, Romans 6:3-4, Ephesians 4:5, I Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38.

Last Things

We believe the history of the earth will end with the personal and bodily return of Jesus Christ. At that time, He will complete God’s plan to bring justice to the world and reestablish his righteous rule over all humanity. At Faith we emphasize Christ’s return and coming judgment, but leave people to come to their own conclusions regarding how and when. Matt. 24:29-31; Revelation 20.

Tradition

We believe that our connection to the historic and early church is important. We believe that the three ancient symbols, the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed are accurate descriptions of biblical teaching. We also believe and practice the teaching found in the unaltered Augsburg Confession, and Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Faith Church encourages people of all beliefs and persuasions to investigate what the Bible teaches. Many who are part of our community are searching and investigating what the Bible teaches and their understanding of it. But this is our understanding of the core message of the Christian Faith.

Our Denomination

Faith is a member of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations. A church like ours is independent of outside control, but we cooperate with other churches to accomplish what we can’t do ourselves.

The video below provides an overview of what that looks like. For more information visit the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations website: www.aflc.org

AFLC - Who We Are