The Bible, Prayer, the Church and the life of faith

 1.     We believe that the Bible is God’s Word, given to us by God word-for-word, through human writers.  (2Peter 1:21; John 17:17; John 10:35)

 2.   The Bible’s main purpose is to work faith in Jesus in our hearts.  Its secondary purpose is to teach us how to live lives which give glory to God, lives which say “thank you” to God for what He’s done for us.  (John 20:31; 2Timothy 3:16-17)

 3.    We believe that the Bible’s entire message, Old and New Testament, focuses our attention on Jesus, the Savior of the world.  (John 5:39; Luke 24:44; John 20:31)

 4.   We believe that two messages flow throughout the Bible.  a) the law, which leads us to see our sinfulness and our need for a Savior and   b) the Gospel, which tells us that God has sent the Savior to this world, and that by His life, death, and resurrection, we have been saved.  (Romans 3:9-24; Luke 2:8-14; Matthew 1:21)

 5.    Because we believe that the Bible is God’s word, we let Scripture be its own interpreter.  Additionally, we consider the context of each passage, so that we don’t try to make the Bible “say” something it doesn’t really say.  (2Timothy 3:16; 2Peter 1:21)

 6.    We believe that the believer, after God has worked faith in his heart and motivated by God’s love for him, will want to say “thank you” to God.  God guides that life of faith through His Word, particularly through the 10 Commandments.  Love – for God and for our neighbor – is the fulfillment of God’s law.  We believe that our life of faith earns us nothing at all; rather, it’s our way to say “thank you” to God for all He’s done for us.  (Psalm 119:105; Romans 12:1; Matthew 22:36-38; Exodus 20; Luke 17:10; Isaiah 64:6)

 7.    We believe that prayer is a wonderful privilege given by God to His believers, by which God allows His believers to speak directly to Him.  We believe that God always answers the prayer of the believer, and that God will always answer in the way that’s best, even if that means saying “No” to the request made by the individual.  (James 5:16; Psalm 50:15; Matthew 7:7-11; Romans 8:26; Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 5:1-2)

 8.    We believe that God desires His people to gather regularly for worship and study.  (Hebrews 10:24-25; 1Peter 3:17-18)

 9.     We believe that God wants His people to grow in their knowledge of the Word, and to spread the good  news message of salvation to the ends of the earth.  (Matthew 28:19-20)

10.    We believe that marriage is a life-long union of one man and one woman.  (Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew  19:2-9; Malachi 2:16)

11.    We believe that each believer has at least one spiritual gift by which he both gives service to God and to  his fellow men.  (Rom 12:3-8; 1Cor 12)

12.    We believe that every life is precious, from conception to grave, because life has been given by God, and  because Jesus paid for each life when He died on the cross.  (Psalm 31:15; Exodus 20:13)

13.   We believe that both the church and the state are instruments which God created, but that each have their own sphere of responsibility.  The state has been given the “sword,” the right to punish, in order to keep order in society.  The church has been given the Gospel – the good news that Jesus is the Savior – in order to make disciples for all eternity.  Each Christian is a citizen both of the church and of the state, and has a role and/or responsibilities in each sphere.  Care should be taken that the church doesn’t become a political organization, and care should be taken that the state not meddle in the affairs which correctly belong to the church.  (Romans 13:1-7; Matthew 22:21)