Family Life Assembly is at the heart of an exciting movement that the Holy Spirit is bringing to the contemporary church as God raises up a host of like-minded family-integrated churches across the land. These churches work from the biblical mandate of helping equip parents to disciple their children. Rather than dividing families at the door, the family engages in the church experience together, as a unit. Pastors / Elders walk alongside parents who have discovered God’s call upon them to make the home the primary place of discipleship for the entire family.
Alarmed at the rate at which the Church in America is losing its children to the world, there is an obvious need to reform the church – to restore the biblical relationships and mandates of both church and home. Emphasizing the householder’s crucial role in discipleship, the church is responsible to create an atmosphere that magnifies the home as an effective center for discipleship. Every Household of Faith congregation works toward these priorities. We recognize God’s mandate for every household to become an effective embassy of the kingdom of God as every family member is equipped to become a dynamic Ambassador for Christ.
Emphasizing the householder’s crucial role in discipleship, the church is responsible to create an atmosphere that magnifies the home as an effective center for discipleship. Family Life Assembly congregation strives to work toward these priorities. We recognize God’s mandate for every household to become an effective embassy of the kingdom of God as every family member is equipped to become a dynamic Ambassador for Christ.
At FLA, fathers, embracing their biblical callings, are growing in their roles as shepherds, theologians and disciplers of their own families. Godly mothers are walking alongside their husbands with a fresh sense of security, joy and purpose. Children are encouraged knowing that their best spiritual mentors are the ones who know them the best.
Why Family Integrated?
Lets take a look at a passage from J. Mark Fox’s book “Planting a Family Integrated Church”
We are family-integrated, mainly, because we believe that’s what the Bible clearly teaches about the church. Think about it with me, for a moment. Why did Paul write his letters to the churches? So that those letters would be read in the churches, right? He certainly did not expect the elders of each church to meticulously copy each letter they received from Paul by hand and disseminate a copy to each family! This was an oral-based culture, after all, and the people expected to be taught by hearing. Paul wrote each letter and sent them by courier to the churches. Then a leader of the church would stand on the next Lord’s Day and read the letter to the congregation. If you can stipulate that for me (to use a legal term), then we can proceed with the argument. If that is so, then it stands to reason that everyone whom Paul addressed in his letters would presumably be present in the church meetings. Right? OK, so somebody get a Bible. Got it? OK, look up Ephesians 6. You will remember that Paul addressed wives and husbands in chapter 5. He gave them both some very important instructions. Now look at whom he is addressing in chapter 6, right off the bat: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. What? Why does Paul put that in the letter, when he knows good and well that the Ephesian church is cutting edge? They have the rockingest children’s program in the whole region! People come from miles around every Sunday to drop their kids off at the Ephesus KidZone, where they are absolutely blown away by the stage show, the special effects, the fun, the food, the whole thing. I mean, those kids come out of there stoked every Sunday, and it’s hard for the parents to get them to even leave the building. They just want to keep hanging with their friends and with their children’s ministry arts director. What was Paul thinking? That maybe the pastor would leave the ‘big church’ and walk all the way over to the ‘Dungeon’ (that’s what the youth pastor at Ephesus named the hang-out place for teens) and read the letter from Paul again? To the kids? They’re not going to want to listen to the pastor. He is boooring. He is old-school. He is with the parents, the old people, the ancient ones, the blue-hairs…. No. The fact is, the Ephesian church was family-integrated. Ephesians 6:1 is proof positive that there was no children’s church. Same with the church in Colosse (reference Colossians 3:20). There were families and singles gathered under one roof, worshiping the Lord together. For more about this, I would point you to my first book on the subject, Family-Integrated Church (Xulon Press, 2006). In that book, I explain more about our biblical reasons for doing church as we do church. Let me close this chapter with another quote from John Piper: Parents have the responsibility to teach their children by their own example the meaning and value of worship. Therefore, parents should want their children with them in worship so the children can catch the spirit and form of their parents’ worship. Children should see how Mom and Dad bow their heads in earnest prayer during the prelude and other non-directed times. They should see how Mom and Dad sing praise to God with joy in their faces, and how they listen hungrily to His Word. They should catch the spirit of their parents meeting the living God. Something seems wrong when parents want to take their children in the formative years and put them with other children and other adults to form their attitude and behavior in worship. Parents should be jealous to model for their children the tremendous value they put on reverence in the presence of Almighty God.
Fox, J. Mark (2008-11-28). Planting A Family-Integrated Church (Kindle Locations 156-174). Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.
Today, many churches have usurped, and many families have abdicated, the God-ordained responsibility of parents to raise their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Along with hundreds of other Family-Integrated Churches, Family Life Assembly is reforming this trend by intentionally equipping heads of households to shepherd their own families.
As a body, Family Life Assembly, is committed to strengthening families and individuals by teaching the Word of God in an expository fashion. We are complimentary in our theology, meaning, we believe the Word of God teaches that men and women were created and designed to fulfill different roles in the church, home and society, and by doing so, present a whole example of the beauty and nature of God. We desire to see multi-generational faithfulness in the worship of Jesus Christ, and we believe the Word of God has mandated that parents be the primary conveyors of truth to their children. Therefore, as a church, we will not undermine or usurp authority away from the parents through age segregated ministry and programming, but rather, we will create a culture of parental authority and will engage in the natural biblical model of family integration during our worship gatherings.
Overview of Polity and Culture.
Family Integrated churches are like other mainstream evangelical churches in many ways. There are, however, many things about our polity and culture that distinguish us from other churches in our nation. For this reason we have this important page readily available as a resource for informing visiting families of some of the unique things about Family Life Assembly that they might observe in the first few visits.
Sunday – Our Weekly Holiday
At Family Life Assembly (FLA) we celebrate our Lord’s Day each week as a delightful holiday for the family of God. The atmosphere of our weekly gathering is intended to be a wonderful family reunion, full of joy and loving concern for one another. Because this is our only service each week, we like to “make a day of it.” Our gathering is age-integrated. That means all ages participate together in worship, Bible teaching and fellowship. Our worship is doctrinally sound and musically appealing to all ages. Likewise, our Bible teachers make every effort to feed all ages on sound, soul-stirring expository preaching. Following our service we host a weekly Shared Meal where we come prepared to show our love for God by the way we love and serve one another. (Visitors are always welcome as our guests!!) This extended time together once each week accomplishes two things: First, it allows our members to really reconnect with one another. Second, it leaves ample time each week for everyone to “Be doers of God’s Word, and not merely hearers” (JAMES 1:22). Rather than multiply church services, we encourage our members to live a life-style of ministry hospitality: hosting times to pray and worship together, Bible study groups, and organizing “work-parties” for one another. In times of crisis for our FLA families we expect everyone to flex their schedules and squeeze their finances to pitch in and help out by preparing meals, caring for one another’s children and helping one another make it through hard times.
The Great Commision LIfestyle
All this provides the biblical backdrop needed for effective evangelism. Our love for one another “adorns the Gospel.” (Titus 2:10) But living this life-style is a family adventure. In order to serve God effectively as a team of ambassadors for Christ we must equip each family together as a team. Then every home can become an embassy of God’s kingdom—a place where others “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). What you are seeing here today is our weekly “support group meeting” for this godly life-style.
Walking With The Wise
“Those who walk with the wise become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm” (PROV. 13:20). Many families and churches today are losing their children to the world. This is because they fail to be truly converted to Christ and knit into the body-life of the church. But by God’s grace, at FLA, we are not losing our children. This is partly due to the fact that we do not offer a Sunday School or a Children’s Church. Instead, we put our efforts into equipping our member parents to include their children in their lives at home and in the church. In our services, the children sing the same songs as their parents, hear the same teaching and feel the same awe as God moves among us in the gifts. As a visitor with children, please don’t feel embarrassed if your children seem uninterested. Help them to understand that their eternity is at stake. Train them to enjoy being included. Coach them in worship. This approach is not easy, but it is well worth the effort.
Moving In The Gifts Of The Spirit
“Each one has a song, a teaching, a revelation…” (1 COR. 14:26). During our worship/sharing/testimony time the Holy Spirit may prompts believers to build up one another by means of spiritual gifts. This “body ministry” is welcomed, provided it is offered in keeping with the guidelines laid down by Paul in 1 COR. 14:12-19 & 26-35. However, all that is said will be evaluated by the leaders and other men of the church as to its faithfulness to the Bible. A gentle rebuke may take place if what is said is contrary the word of God. Time may not permit everyone to share. Allow the Worship Leaders to pace the flow of this ministry, and defer to one another.
Devoting Ourselves To The Apostles Doctrine
The main course of our time together each week is spent devoting ourselves to the Word of God. We practice Expository Teaching which means we allow the Bible to direct the content of our sermons. We will often spend several sermons studying a single book or topic of the Bible. During or after the sermon there may be opportunity for the men to discuss the message in the context of the whole assembly. This is not a time for divisive comments, argumentation over words, or “rabbit trails”, but rather to build one another up with the gifts God has given us. We also want to put you at rest about being too concerned with the noise level of your children. We are all in the process of training our children as well and those teaching are very comfortable with the occasional squawk of our little ones.
Our Lord’s Supper
Communion is celebrated at the beginning of our gathering each month. Tables of bread and wine are set up where we welcome the believing head of each household (whether male or female) to serve our Lord’s Supper to the believing members of his or her family and guests. Use this special time to draw closer to God and closer to one another in Christ. Examine yourselves. Confess your sins to God and renew right relationships with one another. Forgive. Embrace. Then partake together. As a visitor feel free to join.
Our Sunday Afternoon Shared Meal And Fellowship Time
“…They were taking their meals together with gladness” (ACTS 2:46). Our Shared Meal (please, don’t call it a “pot luck!”) is much more than a social activity. It is an offering to God that is given to one another in Jesus name. It is our time for making new friends who we trust enough to begin sharing our lives with throughout the week. Expect to be included, but even as a visitor, invite yourself to join another family. Spend our Sunday evening meal and fellowship time in age-integrated activities. Tell an interesting story that illustrates the truth of God’s Word. Enjoy one another’s company. Welcome all ages into your activities.
Productive Fellowship
“And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.” (TITUS 3:14) We all have may have major projects hanging over us that need to be tackled. At FLA, instead of doing these jobs on our own, we encourage our members to work with one another. Yard work, spring cleaning, painting, remodeling, building projects, landscaping, moving parties, and such can all be accomplished much faster in the spirit of the old fashioned barn raisings and quilting bees. All ages can learn valuable work skills and make new friends while getting the work done. Hosts are asked to provide a generous lunch during a break or after the work is completed. Have lunch, have fun and enjoy a time of family-inclusive recreation. To schedule a “work party” for any FLA member in need of help, our members have only to call one of our leaders.
Storehouse Tithes and Offerings
At FLA we teach New Testament “grace giving” under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament God’s people were required to “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house” (MALACHI 3:8-10). In the New Testament, giving continues to supply the church’s ministers, members, and missions, but it is no longer divesting oneself of money, but rather of investing in far safer opportunities which yield far better returns (Phil. 4:17). Every Christian is commanded to love others and to give in proportion to (i.e. as a percentage of) his actual income (2 Cor. 8:12-15 &1 Tim. 6:17-19). All such giving is to be done cheerfully, from a willing heart, without compulsion (2 Cor. 9:6-8). God does not need our money. He already owns everything. But our fellow members will have need of occasional charity. Identify where you would turn for assistance in times of crisis, and then do your part to make it financially strong for everyone. At FLA we do not take up offerings or pass the plate. Instead, we ask our members to place their tithes and offerings in the Offering Basket which is located on the podium. Please give discretely and without fanfare.
Your Hospitality Budget
“… go to the place that the LORD your God chooses and spend [an annual tithe] for whatever you desire… And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.” (see DEUT. 14:22-26) The spirit of this Celebration Tithe continues in God’s command that we practice hospitality toward one another. Hospitality, and especially sharing meals, is an offering of worship toward God expressed by loving one another. On this basis we encourage all our members to set aside a generous percentage of income each year for use in celebration. Bring ample quantities of quality food for our Shared Meal each week. Celebrate worthwhile holidays with family and friends. Live well as Ambassadors for Christ. Make your home an embassy of God’s kingdom. Practice hospitality toward new friends. As your income allows, consider taking a vacation or going on a short-term missions trip. Invest a reasonable amount of money each year in rejoicing with your family and friends. By sharing your celebrations you adorn the Gospel of Christ, and allow others to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8)
Keeping The Fire In The Fireplace
“Reformed in Doctrine, Charismatic in Ministry, Evangelical in Mission”
These three phrases are emblazoned across the top of our website. But what do they mean? How do they affect the way we live and serve as a local church? Why do we believe that all three must be championed in our day? The following article by Greg Harris attempts to explain.
For many years the Bible has been treated like a deck of cards. Denominations behave like players in some doctrinal card game where each church holds only a few cards in its hand as it competes with other churches for new members. Every church has its own “doctrinal distinctives” or emphases which may even be reflected in the church’s name (e.g. Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) In addition, churches are grouped into larger camps, based on over-arching values (e.g. Reformed, Charismatic & Evangelical). Such divisions rob every church of its heritage in the whole counsel of God. Generally speaking, Reformed churches hold tightly to the cards (i.e. the passages of Scripture) that pertain to “the doctrines of grace.” They also emphasize the need to guard sound doctrine from error. Charismatic churches hold the cards that relate to the Holy Spirit and His gifts. They emphasize supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Evangelicals hold on dearly to the cards that teach the Great Commission, personal evangelism and world missions. They emphasize winning the lost to Christ. Our analogy breaks down of course, because no true church is void of all interest in the doctrines championed by the others. But over time, these three camps have drifted farther and farther apart. Today they seem mutually exclusive of one another. What is worse, as each has overemphasized and overreacted to each doctrine, errors have occurred on all sides. As each church pushes its favorite truth to an erroneous extreme, the other churches attempt to distance themselves from those errors and all but abandon some key doctrines. “We don’t emphasize election here.” Or, “We are not ‘seeker sensitive.’” Or, “We won’t stand for Holy Spirit wildfire.” In this way major passages of God’s Word are being abandoned to other churches who, in their zeal, distort them and make them the primary basis of their church’s identity. By being taught without the balance that comes from knowing and believing the other doctrines, every church loses out. It Takes All Three! The situation today requires a Christian to attend three churches just to receive a balanced diet of what the Bible actually teaches— one to enjoy expository Bible teaching and basic Bible doctrine (e.g. a sound Reformed Church), one to experience supernatural ministry (e.g. a sound Charismatic church) and yet another to be equipped to live the Great Commission (e.g. a sound Evangelical church). As long as every church holds only its own limited denominational “hand,” no church is “playing with a full deck.” The whole counsel of God has become divided, disjointed and out of balance. HOFCC is an attempt to bring these three camps of Bible doctrine back together in one local church. We strive to be biblically Reformed, biblically Charismatic and biblically evangelical in order to enjoy the benefits and avoid the errors of all three. We want everything that the Bible teaches, but nothing more. Strengths Can Become Weaknesses The strength of the Reformed pastor can become his weakness. He has such confidence in the truth of the Bible and the sovereignty of God that he distrusts the Spirit of God and becomes fatalistic in his approach to missions. He is cold and academic in his teaching. He closes all opportunities for God to move with power in the church. He “despises prophesy” as “adding to the Scripture.” He “forbids speaking in tongues,” dismissing it as “wildfire.” He is like a man with a massive stone fireplace made up of sound Bible doctrine. But he would rather sit in a cold, dark, empty house than take any chance that the fire might get out of the fireplace, or that careless guests might damage his fine stone work. He does not understand that his precious fireplace has been designed by God to safely hold the blazing fire of God’s Holy Spirit for the benefit of many yet to be saved. A fireplace needs a fire. On the other hand, the strength of the Charismatic pastor can also become his weakness. His confidence in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can undermine his motivation to do the hard work of Bible study and sound doctrinal preaching of the Gospel. He believes he need only read a passage and “pray through” until he “feels the anointing.” Then he steps into his pulpit to serve up half-baked ideas to an ever-enthusiastic, but doctrinally famished congregation. This pastor is like a man who builds a bonfire in the middle of his living room floor. Though a wonderful stone fireplace stands just a few feet away, he thinks that any attempt to regulate the moving of the Spirit, to limit the use of tongues in the service or to evaluate the content of a given prophesy, (as the Bible clearly commands us to do in 1 Cor. 14:26- 33), would somehow “quench the Spirit.” He also presumes upon the Holy Spirit in evangelism, failing to explain what God has accomplished for the sinner through Jesus Christ, not taking seriously the fact that the Spirit of God works through the proclamation of the Gospel to save sinners. Fire belongs in a fireplace. In a similar way the Evangelical pastor’s strength can become his weakness. His desire to reach people for Christ is admirable. But when he compromises God’s Word by dumbing down the Gospel and despises God’s Spirit by resorting to a “repeat after me” sinners prayer, all in order to get more people to make a decision for Christ, he does everyone a disservice. In his attempts to be “culturally relevant” and “seeker sensitive,” he is ashamed of the Gospel, attempting to offer a Savior who is not Lord. Lacking zeal for sound doctrine for fear that God’s truth will offend visitors, and lacking faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to convict and convert the lost through the foolishness of the Gospel message, such pastors serve up a diet of short, fluffy, topical messages that produces many false conversions. This is the cause of “nominal Christianity,” seen in the growing number of people who attend evangelical churches, but who have yet to be born again, who have only false assurance of salvation, who bear no spiritual fruit, are not zealous for good works and who in fact know very little Bible doctrine! Such an Evangelical pastor does not understand that without the fireplace of sound doctrine to display God’s Truth there can be no knowledge of sin, no true repentance, nor saving faith. Without the fire of the Holy Spirit to confirm God’s Word with power in the new birth, there will be no lasting fruit. It is this combination of the fireplace and the fire that provides an ideal context for effective evangelistic ministry. The Balance of God’s Truth in each camp, the remedy is found in the doctrines monopolized by the other two camps. The entire Bible is for the entire church! What has been lost is the integrity of Truth itself. The major doctrines referred to by the terms Reformed, Charismatic and Evangelical, interact in dynamic ways to check the excesses of one another and maintain proper balance. By keeping the fire in the fireplace we create a beautiful backdrop of God’s power in confirmation of God’s Truth as an expression of God’s Love. Here we find God’s people showing their love for God by the way they love one another. Here we experience passionate worship toward God that is both “in spirit and in truth,” and here we discover a confidence in the Gospel that allows us to boldly speak God’s truth in love. All of the Bible doctrines now monopolized and distorted by the three major camps of Protestant Christianity are found in every Bible. They have always been there. They comprise an integrated whole. One group’s misunderstanding or misapplication of a doctrine cannot justify the rest of us in ignoring that part of God’s Word. All of God’s truths are intended to be understood, believed and obeyed in relation to one another by the entire Body of Christ. In this sense, every church is intended to be “a full deck church” with all of the crucial checks and balances in place. FLA is an attempt to be just that. Thus far we find the combination to be both refreshing and effective.
The Purpose Of Christ Church
Christ’s church exists to worship God corporately, to nurture fellow believers in the obedience of faith and to proclaim the Gospel of God’s grace to the world. These three purposes are accomplished under the oversight of a plurality of local Elders and Deacons. Church leaders are not intended to do the works of ministry on behalf of the people of God (EPH. 4:11-14). (Elders are called “overseers,” not “over doers!”) Instead, leaders are to use their offices to equip God’s people to provide the ministry as a life-style. (1THESS. 4:9- 12).
A Plurality Of Local Elders
“Be examples to the flock…” (1 PETER 5:3) The most important ministry of Elders is to be examples of sound doctrine in action. This is why the qualifications for church Elders (1 TIM. 3:1-15) are based on a man’s ability to manage his own household well. In the context of that life example, through ministry hospitality, each Elder is best able to teach sound Bible doctrine.
The Importance Of The Christian Household In The Local Church
The Christian household is the primary embassy of the kingdom of God and the primary training ground for local church leadership. It is also the social and economic vehicle God has chosen to plant new local churches at home and abroad. As such, it becomes strong by exerting itself in a life-style of ministry. Unfortunately, for most families in the developed nations, the home has become a place to go when nothing else is open. Responsibilities that God intended to be fulfilled by each household, such as child-training, education and hospitality, have been transferred out of the home into churches, schools and businesses. In the churches Sunday schools, youth groups, and other age-segregated programs attempt to do for families what God intended each household to do for its own members. This further weakens families by allowing them to avoid the very activities that would make them strong and effective for God. Families are restored by returning obediently to their responsibilities.
Why Does FLA Focus So Much On Maturing Husbands And Fathers?
At FLA we hold the “complimentarian view” of gender roles. Men and women are wonderfully different by God’s design. A man is the head of his wife just as Christ is the head of the church and God the Father is the head of Christ. There is nothing demeaning or abusive about these complementary roles of loving headship and respectful submission. We teach that men need to be respected by the women in their lives in order to play their strategic part in God’s plan for the good of all. Likewise, women need to be loved, cherished, protected and provided for by the men in their lives in order to play their parts in God’s plan for the good of all. In this, God is not putting women down, but He is raising men up for the good of all. We find in Scripture and in practical experience that most men by reason of their role in the home can influence their families in ways that most wives and children are unable. When a family man is converted he often brings his entire household with him to Christ. Sometimes his entire social network as well. As he grows in grace and becomes more the man his wife and children have always needed and wanted him to be, he begins to provide the ministry and leadership his family so badly needs. Therefore, the best and most biblical thing we can do for the salvation and pastoral care of women and children in any community is to save the souls, inspire the hearts and inform the minds of all the men in their lives. Truly Christian men turn faithfully to serve their wives and children as God intended— and in doing so our evangelism succeeds, our church culture becomes all the more exciting for men and loving toward women, and our entire local church thrives under the Lordship of Jesus!
The Scriptures:
We accept the Bible, consisting of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, as the written Word of God. The Bible is the only essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God the Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally given, the Bible is free of error in all that it teaches.
God is Triune:
There is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth and love. In the unity of the one godhead there are three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These are coexistent, coequal, and coeternal, yet loving one another in dis-tinct roles of headship and submission.
God the Father:
God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His Word and for His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world out of nothing. Through the same Word He daily sustains all His creatures. He rules over all and is the only Sovereign. His plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. He is good and faithful to every promise, working all things together for good to those who love Him. In His unfathomable grace He gave His Son Jesus for the redemption of His elect. He decrees that all creation will exist for the praise of His glory. He is to be loved, honored, and worshipped as God the First Person of the Trinity.
Jesus Christ:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father, is the eternal Word of God made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, just as the Old Testament prophets foretold.
He is perfect in nature, teaching and obedience. He is fully God and fully man. He was always with God and is Himself God. Through Him all things came into being and were created. He was before all things and in Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation and in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily.
He is the only Savior for the sins of the world having shed His own blood and died a vicarious death on Calvary’s cross. By His death in our place, He revealed the divine love and upheld the divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, on the third day He rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death and all the powers of darkness and He appeared to many witnesses performing many convincing proofs of His resurrection. He ascended into heaven where, now at God’s right hand, He intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all and one day He will return.
He is the Head of His body the Church and should be loved, adored, served, obeyed and worshiped as God the Second Person of the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Through the proclamation of the Gospel He brings about the new birth, indwells the regenerate, granting the desire and ability to believe the truth, repent of their sins, trust in God’s mercy and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. He unites all believers in faith to Jesus Christ whom alone He has come to reveal and glorify. He is the Comforter who is neither to be grieved nor quinched as He leads the Church into the one right understanding and application of of God’s Word. He empowers God’s people to bear spiritual fruit as they walk in the obedience of faith. He is to be loved, obeyed, and worshipped as God the Third Person of the Trinity.
Man:
God made man, male and female, in His own image, as the crown of creation, that man might enjoy loving fellowship with Himself. Tempted by Satan, man distrusted God’s goodness and rebelled against God righteousness. Being estranged from his Maker, yet still responsible to Him, man became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special work of grace, utterly incapable of returning to God. This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to his mind, will and affections. Unregenerate man lives in slavery to sin and Satan as an enemy of God. Fallen, sinful man, whatever his attainments in this world, is lost and without hope apart from salvation by faith in Christ.
The Gospel of Salvation:
The Gospel is the good news that the death of Jesus Christ was a once for all substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. Christ satisfied the demands of God’s holy justice and appeased His holy wrath. He purchased God’s saving grace for all who believe and justified God for His common grace of kindness toward all sinners who do not believe.
Jesus Christ is therefore the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name under Heaven by which anyone can be saved. Our ability to respond in faith to this Gospel is itself provided by the free and unconditional selection of God. The Gospel is therefore effective only in those who, by the grace of God, are born again and thereby willing and able to genuinely repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ alone to save them. This Gospel is to be sincerely preached to all people in all nations without bias or prejudice. True conversion is characterized by a new life of love that delights to walk in the obedience of faith and is zealous to do good works that are pleasing to God.
Salvation is the free gift of God. In it the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the sinner by God’s judicial decree. Thus justified by faith alone he is accepted by God and his debt for sin is forgiven. The believer is thus reconciled to God as Father and adopted as His child into His eternal family. He is liberated from the law of sin and death and empowered by the Spirit of God to walk in new life.
Sanctification:
The Holy Spirit is the indwelling agent in our progressive sanctification. As He shines God’s love in our hearts He produces His fruit in our lives. Our minds are renewed and our actions are conformed to the image of Christ. Though our battle with indwelling sin continues throughout our lives, as we are led by the Spirit, we are enabled to walk in the Spirit and so delight in God’s commandments that we truly endeavor to live in this world for the glory of God. All believers are warned by God to persevere in their faith, knowing that they will give an account to God for their every word and deed. The spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer, worship, giving, fellowship and confession of sin are provided by God as effective means of grace to assist us in our pursuit of holiness. Nevertheless, the believer’s ultimate confidence that he will persevere in the faith is based on the sure promise of God to keep all those who are His to the end.
Empowered by the Spirit:
In addition to effecting regeneration and sanctification, the Holy Spirit also empowers believers for Christian witness and service. All genuine believers are baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ at conversion. However, subsequent to conversion believers are also made to drink of the same Spirit in order to be repeatedly filled with the Spirit. Though the Holy Spirit may be resisted, grieved, and quenched by our sin and unbelief, by God’s grace He readily fills all who thirst with God’s love, joy, peace, wisdom and power. In this way He also imparts to His people supernatural gifts for the edification of the Body and witness to the world. All of the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in the Bible are still available for us today. They are vital for the mission of the church, and are to be desired and used within the guidelines of Scripture.
The Church:
God by His Word and Spirit builds His Church, calling sinful men out of every tongue, tribe and nation of the human race into the holy fellowship of Christ’s Body. By the same Word and Spirit, God guides and preserves His redeemed as a gathered community. It is not limited to any religious institutions or denominations. Rather, the Church Universal is made up of all who are born again followers of Jesus.
The Church exists in the world to worship God, to nurture fellow believers and to bear witness to the Gospel. New local churches are to be planted in the world for a visible evidence of God’s salvation. The Church’s mission is to make disciples through the preaching of the Gospel. Though social transformation is an indirect benefit of changed lives, it is not the primary focus of the ministry.
All members of the Body of Christ are to function as committed members of a local church. In this context they are able to walk in the obedience of faith working through love, as they show their love for God by the way they keep His commandment to love one another.
Elders, Deacons & Ministry Gifts in the Local Church:
The ascended Christ has given gift ministries to His Church (including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) for the equipping of Christ’s body for works of service. Thankfully, these gifts continue to function. However, the closed canon of Scripture now fulfills the place of authority originally held by its authors. No church leader is ever exempt from the biblical qualifications for church office (1 Tim 3:1-13). Those with gift ministries do not hold special athority over the local churches and in order to function in any official capacity every minister must meet the biblical qualifications of an Elder or a Deacon.
Likewise, though women play a vital role in the life of the church, in keeping with the teaching of Scripture, women are not permitted to “teach or to have authority over a man” (1 Tim. 2:12). All church officers must therefore be men.
Water Baptism:
Water Baptism is an initial act of the obedience of faith in Jesus Christ. It is intended only for those who have been born again. As a public testimony of one’s faith, it may be performed for the new believer by any trusted fellow believer, ideally in the presence of fellow church and community members. In it a believer should be immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a visual demonstration of the believer’s union with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. It signifies that one’s former way of life has been put to death, and that one has now been raised to new life.
The Lord’s Supper:
As with water baptism, the Lord’s Supper is to be partaken of only by those who are genuine followers of Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the New Covenant sealed by the shedding of His blood on behalf of His people. It is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life as a sign of participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s death. As the believer partakes of the Lord’s Supper with an attitude of faith and self-examination, he remembers and proclaims the death of Christ, receives spiritual nourishment for his soul, and signifies his unity with other members of Christ’s body. A common misunderstanding has been that this ordinance can only be effectively served in formal services by officers of the church. In the Bible we find believers often “breaking bread from house to house” (Acts 2:46). We therefore encourage all our members to rejoice in the priesthood of all believers by serving and partaking of the Lord’s Supper with one another whenever and whereever desired.
The Consumation:
The Consummation of all things includes the visible, personal and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of those alive in Christ into glorified bodies, the judgment of the just and the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. In the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside of Christ will be finally separated from the benevolent presence of God to justly endure eternal punishment in hell, but the righteous, in glorified bodies, shall live and reign with Him forever in heaven. Married to Christ as His Bride, the Church will live in the holy presence of God, giving Him unending glory by praising and enjoying Him forever.