Simplicity

Romans 14:2-6 (NASB) 

2 One man has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
3 Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.

Charity in Disputable Matters

Our primary calling is to communicate the Gospel to everyone in our generation and nurture disciples.  Nothing must divert us from carrying out our Lord’s Great Commission until His glorious return to reign in righteousness.  Therefore, we choose to agree on a core set of common beliefs, allowing for charity in disputable matters.

Statement of Faith

1. The one living God, who eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, loves everyone.
2. God uniquely revealed and inspired the Bible, so that it alone is God’s Word written, hence the Holy Scriptures are the only inerrant authority for what we believe about God’s moral law, salvation from sin and how we should live.
3. Since the disbelief and disobedience of Adam and Eve, all humans have failed to obey God’s two major laws summed up by the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have failed to love God with our whole being and we have failed to love our neighbors as ourselves.  People have become slaves to selfishness and are alienated from God and one another.
4. Jesus’ death in our place reconciles us to God.  His atoning sacrifice provided redemption from the power of sin, forgiveness for our guilt, and reconciliation to Himself and others.  We become acceptable to God, or justified, not by works, but by God’s grace alone, through faith in Christ alone.  We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, death on the cross to provide for our redemption, bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven, present ministry of intercession for us, and His return to earth in power and glory.
5. The Holy Spirit draws sinners to repentance, belief in the Gospel and trust in the risen Christ of whom it speaks.  The Holy Spirit then assures believers of salvation, gives them gifts for servant ministries, and empowers them to meet the needs of the lost, the poor, and the oppressed.
6. All believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are members of His one international, multi-ethnic and trans-cultural body called the universal church.  Its unity is displayed when we reach beyond racial and denominational lines to demonstrate the Gospel’s reconciling power.