The Bible
2 Timothy 3:16-17 | 2 Peter 1:20-21 | Proverbs 30:5 | Romans 16:25-26
The Bible is God’s word given to us. It is a true story of love and redemption. It is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. Written by human authors, inspired by God, the Bible is infallible and inerrant. Because it is inspired by God, it is the ultimate source of truth and is relevant to our every day life.
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The Trinity
Colossians 2:2-3 | 1 John 5:7 | Genesis 1:26 | Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19 | Deuteronomy 6:4 | Hebrews 3:7-11 | Isaiah 9:6 | Luke 1:35
God has existed since the beginning of time. He exists as three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even though each member of the Trinity serves different functions, they each have equal power and authority.
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The Father
Exodus 3:14 | Numbers 23:19 | Leviticus 11:44-45 | Psalm 11:4-6 | Colossians 1:16-17
God is all powerful, all knowing, ever present and He never changes. He is Holy and He deserves all of our trust because He is faithful to His promises. He is a loving, compassionate Father and wants a relationship with his children.
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The Son
Isaiah 7:14 | Matthew 1:18-23 | Romans 5:8 | John 3:16
God loved people so much that He sent Jesus, His son, to earth to give us a visible picture of God. Jesus Christ is completely human and completely God. Born of a virgin, He lived a perfect life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all men by dying at the cross. But He didn’t stay dead! He resurrected—rose up— from death to demonstrate His power over sin and death. Because of this, we can have a relationship with God and we can live our lives with destiny and purpose.
The Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16 | 2 Corinthians 3:17 | John 16:7-13 | John 14:16-17 | Acts 1:8 | Ephesians 1:13, 5:18 | Galatians 5:25
Soon after Jesus rose from the dead, as promised by God the Father, Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to empower the church and give spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit assures us of our relationship with God. He guides us into truth, comforts us, and convicts us of sin when we get off course.
Spiritual Gifts
Hebrews 2:4 | Romans 1:11, 12:4-8 | Ephesians 4:16 | 2 Timothy 1:5-16, 4:14 | 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 14:1-40 | 1 Peter 4:10
The Holy Spirit is demonstrated through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the church and confirm the power of the Gospel. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Scriptures and should never be used in violation of Biblical guidelines.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Joel 2:28-29 | Matthew 3:11 | Mark 16:17 | Acts 1:5, 2:1-4, 17, 38-39, 8:14-17, 10:38, 44-47, 11:15-17, 19:1-6
Given at Pentecost, it is the promise of the Father, sent by Jesus after His Ascension, to empower the church to preach the Gospel throughout the whole earth.
Eternity
John 3:16 | 1 John 5:11-13 | John 14:2-3 | 1 John 2:25 | Romans 6:23 | Revelations 20:15
We were created to live forever, not just a few short years on earth. Our forever can be spent in Heaven with God when we choose to have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus. Or we can choose to reject Him and be separated from Him forever. Heaven and Hell are real places in eternal existence.
Humanity
Genesis 1:27 | Psalm 8:3-6 | Isaiah 53:6, 59:1-2 | Romans 3:23-24 | Colossians 1:27
We were created in God’s image and the masterpiece of all of His creation. Every person in humanity has dignity and value and is worthy of love and respect. God created us for a relationship with Him, but we became alienated from Him through disobedience. Each of us is born with this tendency, which is referred to as a ‘sinful nature.’ No matter how good we try to be, we can’t regain our relationship with God on our own.
Salvation
John 14:6 | Acts 16:31 | Romans 10:9-10 | Ephesians 2:8-9 | Galatians 2:16, 3:8 | Titus 3:5 | Hebrews 9:22
Salvation is God’s gift to us. It comes when we accept Jesus and the sacrifice that He made as a payment for our sin. Salvation comes to us when we place our life in His hands. We can’t earn it; it is a gift of God’s grace.
Repentance
Acts 2:21, 3:19 | 1 John 1:9
Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ. Through repentance we receive forgiveness of sins and salvation.
The Christian Life
2 Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18 | 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 4:3 | Romans 8:29, 12:1-2 | Hebrews 2:11
Obedience and the Christian life is the ongoing process of yielding to God’s Word and His Spirit in order to complete the development of Christ’s character in us. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
The Church
John 17:11, 20-23 | Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22, 4:16 | Hebrews 12:23
The church is a community of diverse people-- from different races, cultures and backgrounds--unified through faith in Jesus Christ. The Church is committed to the teachings of Jesus, and it exists to shine the message of God’s light and hope to the world so that everyone can know Him in a personal way. Jesus is the hope of the world; the church is now His body that brings His hope to the world. The church is not a building to walk into; it’s a family to belong to.