We believe the Holy Bible, in its original, inspired, written form, including both the Old and New Covenants, is the only God-breathed and inspired literary work. The Holy Bible is the only source whereby all mankind can discover the will of God for their lives and be reconciled to Him through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, we believe that the Holy Bible is the final authority for which God has commanded His Church to be built. In the Old Covenant, He commanded both Moses and David to build according to the “pattern” or blueprint that He gave to them. In the New Covenant the Lord Jesus said that He would build His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. [Exodus 25:9, 40; Exodus 26:30; Numbers 8:4, 1 Chronicles 28:11,12,19; Matthew 16:18; Acts 7:44; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; Hebrews 8:5; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21; and others]

We believe that every human is born into sin, and is, therefore, considered to be a sinner by God and separated from Him. We also believe that because of the sin nature in every person they are incapable of living life free from sin. Therefore, every person is in bondage to sin. Man without God is lost and undone, without God, and / or hope in this world, and in desperate need for a Savior. [Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10,19-26; Romans 6:6,16-18,23; Galatians 3:22-26; Ephesians 2:1,2,12]

We believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is both fully God and fully Man. He is known throughout the Scripture as the Son of God, and the Son of Man. He is both Divine and Human. Therefore, we believe that He is God who came in the flesh to reveal the Father’s heart of redemption for the whole world. He is, therefore, the only mediator between God and man. We believe that Jesus lived and ministered as a human in right relationship with God the Father and was led totally by the Holy Spirit. [Daniel 3:25; Matthew 8:20,29; Matthew 14:33; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1,14; John 14:1-3; Matthew 12:32; 1 Timothy 2:5 and many others]

We believe in the saving (Greek-sozo/sode-zo à forgiving, healing, and delivering) power of the blood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We believe in His imputed righteousness and wholeness to everyone who will believe in, adhere to, rely on, and places their complete trust in Him. [Romans 10:9,10; Romans 5:1-11; Ephesians 3:1-15a; 1Peter 1:18,19; Acts 4:10,12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23]

We believe in the bodily death, burial, resurrection, ascension to heaven, and return to earth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. [Luke 23:1–Luke 24:53; Acts 1:1-11; Zechariah 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18]

We believe the only way for mankind to be reconciled to God is through a personal faith in, and relationship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This can only be achieved by faith, but is proven out by the fruit of good works. The redeemed of the Lord will spend eternity with Him in heaven, and the accursed [those who reject God’s free gift of life] will spend eternity separated from Him in hell. [Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9; James 2:14-26; Romans 4:1-8; Romans 5:1,2; John 14:15,24 and others]

We believe that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is local, universal, and eternal.  This means that there are members of His Church here on earth, and in heaven, that have a personal faith in, and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and if at all possible, have followed Him into the waters of baptism. The goal of the Church should be the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace with each other, and the total annihilation of the kingdom of darkness. The cross of Jesus abolished every division that would seek to separate the members of Christ’s Body. The cross is our rallying point and the central theme of the Church of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We believe that local church government is ordained of God and should be honored as if honoring Jesus Himself. The Church is to assemble regularly to worship God, and serve Him with gladness, as well as to carry out His Great Commission under the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit. [Matthew 16:18; 28:19-20; Hebrews 12:1a; Hebrews 10:24,25; Psalm 100:1-4; Ephesians 2:14; Ephesians 4:3]

We believe that the two ordinances of the Church are water baptism, and communion. [Lord’s Supper] [Matthew 3:15,16; 28:19-20; Acts 8:38; Romans 6:1-4; Luke 22:13-20; John 6:48-69] Because water baptism is for those who have placed their trust in Jesus as Lord, we will not baptize infants. Children will be water baptized unless they understand sin and personal salvation. We will dedicate those to the Lord who do not understand sin and personal salvation. Water baptism is a prophetic act where we associate ourselves publicly with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

Sanctification means separated from to be separated to. We believe in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that begins the moment a person is born again by the Spirit of God. We believe this is a life long process, and is greatly helped when the person cooperates with the working of the Spirit. We believe that God is committed to complete every work that He begins in the life of the believer. We believe that every believer should seek to live a life worthy of the calling with which he or she has been called in order to bring glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. [John 16:7-11; Romans 12:1-3; 1 Corinthians 3:16-18; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; 1Peter 1:16; Philippians 1:27; Ephesians 4:1; Philippians 2:13; Philippians 1:6]

We believe in a literal and physical heaven and hell. Heaven is for those people redeemed by the blood of Christ. Hell is for the devil and every free moral agent that follows in his footsteps in rebellion against the Lord and His Anointed. [Matthew 25:34,41,46; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:1-3; Revelation 20:11-15]

We believe the 5-fold gift offices that Christ gave to His Church should be recognized, honored, accepted and implemented into the life of local churches. The apostle Paul made it very clear that Christ gave these grace gifts to His Church to equip the individual members for service in the Kingdom of God. This equipping will result in many positive things in the life of the believer and the church. One of the most significant results will be maturity and conformity to the life and ministry of Jesus, the Head of the Church. [Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:28]

We believe in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Who is the third Person of the triune Godhead. We believe in His work involving conversion, regeneration, and sanctification, and gifting. His work includes, but is not limited to, convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He leads the believer into all truth. He reminds believers of things that Christ has spoken to them. He releases spiritual gifts to the believers as He wills. He empowers believers to be witnesses of Christ and continues to do the works that Jesus did while He was on the earth in human form. He glorifies Jesus by taking what is His and giving it to us. He searches the deep things of God. He prays for us when we do not know how to pray. We believe the evidence a person has been baptized in the Holy Spirit is that he or she will have been endued with power from heaven. [John 14, 16; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12, 14; Hebrews 2:4 Amplified]

We believe in the laying on of hands for imparting spiritual gifts, the gifts of healings, and for ordination of candidates for ministry, especially the five-fold grace gift ministries. [Matthew 8:1-3; Acts 6:6; Acts 13:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:6]

We believe that the Holy Spirit has nine supernatural gifts that He releases through born again, Spirit filled and Spirit led believers, as He determines is best. We do not believe that these are all of the gifts that should be present in a local church, but that they are the gifts that the Holy Spirit possesses and disperses as He wills. [1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Hebrews 2:4 Amplified]

• Special faith  Is the supernatural ability to believe God for the impossible. All doubt and unbelief is emptied out and the Spirit-led believer is filled with this overcoming faith. This faith is the supernatural gift of faith that the Holy Spirit releases for a specific, usually impossible, situation. It is not the measure of faith that all believers are given, nor is it saving faith that is given to unbelievers.
• Miracles  Is the supernatural ability of God, released through a Spirit-led believer that transcends and / or violates the natural laws in order to accomplish the impossible.
• Healings  The supernatural healing power of God released through a Spirit-led believer that releases people from sickness, disease, oppression, or torment.
  

• Prophecy Is the supernatural utterance from God through a Spirit-led believer in a language that the believer knows. The purpose of this gift is to bless others through edification [building up], exhortation [cheering or stirring up], and / or comfort [helping up]. It is never to be used to judge, condemn, correct, etc. It is always to bless people and glorify Jesus.
• Tongues  Is the supernatural utterance from God through a Spirit-led believer in a language that the believer has never learned. This supernatural utterance can be in a heavenly language or an earthly one. [1 Corinthians 13:1] The purpose for this gift is the same as for prophecy. Tongues has two distinct usages. First, for the believer’s own personal devotion [prayer, worship] and secondly public communication [gift of tongues with interpretation]. Anytime we communicate with God it is prayer or worship. Anytime God communicates to us it is a gift. [1 Corinthians 14:2,4a,5,6,13-15,18]
• Interpretation of tongues Is the supernatural utterance from God through a Spirit-led believer in a language that the believer has learned. It is an interpretation and not a translation. [1 Corinthians 14:5]
 
 
• Divine health We believe it is the Father’s heart for people to walk continually in wholeness. When some type of dis-ease attacks a person, we believe it is His will to release health and wholeness to the person hurting. Healing is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus modeled the Father’s desire over and over again in the Gospels. The early Church continued this as well through the Book of Acts. The Old Covenant is replete with references to the Father’s heart in this matter. As far as we are concerned, it cannot be proven that God wants people in bondage to sickness at any time. He never puts it on people or allows them to contract it in order to teach them something, or to work out some problem in their life. If it was the Father’s will for us to glorify Him by getting and remaining sick, even for a moment, then Jesus would have modeled that for us. He is the perfect representation of the Father. We believe that wholeness in every area, and relationship in life is the goal of the redemption of Christ on the cross of Calvary.

God is the Healer. He may choose to heal sovereignly, without any human involvement, or He may choose to use people through prayer, the laying on of hands, or even through the medical profession. No man can heal regardless of what method is used. God is the Healer! In many ways God created the human body with the ability to heal itself. It is interesting that the very first covenant name that God gave to the Israelites, after they had been freed from bondage in Egypt [a type of conversion] was Jehovah Rapha. This covenant name means – ‘I am the Lord your wholeness, health, healer, physician, etc.’ He did not call Himself the Lord your Redemption [Jehovah Tsidkenu] or the Lord your Sanctification [Jehovah M’kaddesh]. He called Himself the Lord their Healer. [Exodus 15:26; Isaiah 52:14-Isaiah 53:5; Psalms 103:1-5 [the believers benefit package]; Mark 16:18; James 5:14-16; Matthew 4:23-25; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 10:1,7,8; Acts 4:10,12; Acts 5:15,16 and a multitude of others]

We believe that every born again believer is a priest unto God. Every believer has access to Him whenever and wherever he or she chooses to come into His Presence, through the only mediator between God and man, is the Man Christ Jesus. This does not mean that we can approach God disrespectfully. We should consider well Who we are coming before. Priests stand before God on behalf of man, and stand before man on behalf of God. Every born again believer is therefore in full time ministry regardless of their vocation. [Exodus 19:6; Ecclesiastes 5:2; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6]

We believe the government for a local church should be local. Therefore, we believe in the autonomy of the local church. God ordained local church government to be apostolic and prophetic in nature. By apostolic we mean it should have vision and forward mobility. By prophetic we mean the government should have the ability to see into and live out of the unseen, superior, spiritual world. A church cannot be apostolic without an apostle nor can it be prophetic without a prophet. There must be regular influence from these two foundational gift offices to accomplish this. The Bible teaches that there were city churches in the New Testament. God does not see a divided church. He sees a unified church. We believe the pattern, or blueprint, that God, and the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ ordained for Their Church requires the foundation to be built on the ascension gift offices of the apostle and the prophet. Ephesians 4:11 tells us that Christ gave to His Church, prior to ascending into heaven, five gift offices that were to govern, and equip the Church. Those gift offices are: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. Theses are commonly referred to as the five-fold ascension gifts of Christ. Their purpose is to equip the believers to do the work – of ministry. Verses 12 – 16 tell us what will happen when this team does its work effectively. The Body will be equipped, mature, grow and love. We believe that all five offices are needed and required for Ephesians 4:12-16 to be accomplished. The text says they are to be active “UNTIL” these things are completed.

In this passage of Scripture there is no mention of the gift offices of pastor or evangelist. This does not mean they are less important. They have their special functions in the equipping of the saints. Pay special attention to the gifts God Himself appointed for His Church [the word ‘appointed’ is an interesting word]. We find it in a story that Jesus told and was recorded in both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels. This teaching can be found in Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 6:46-49. You can read both of these texts later. Please take notice of two specific words. First, is the word ‘laid’. This word can be found only in Luke’s account [Verse 48]. It is the Greek word tithemi and it means to place, appoint, ordain, set, sink down, commit, lay down. It is the same word that is translated ‘appointed’ in 1 Corinthians 12:28.  The second word that is also unique to Luke’s account of this teaching is the word ‘without’ (Verse 49). It is the Greek word choris and it means at a space, separately or apart from, and beside. This teaching was about wise and foolish builders. The wise builder dug deep and laid his foundation on the rock. The foolish builder built his house in the sand ‘without’ a foundation. What made him so foolish is that there was a foundation present for him to build on. He simply chose to build beside it. The same storm hit both houses. The wise builder’s house stood strong throughout the storm. The foolish builder’s house crashed.
 
Paul told the Ephesian believers the foundation of the house of God is the apostle and prophet gift offices (Ephesians 2:20). The psalmist wrote in Psalm 11:3, “If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do?” Jesus said a foolish builder builds beside the foundation. We should obey God and have as our foundation the gifts of apostle and prophet sitting on Christ the Rock, or Head of the Church. In doing this, we will ensure the survival of the church no matter what storms may assail it.

We believe that God’s design for supporting the work of ministry in the local church is through the giving of tithes and free will offerings. We believe that God delights in people who give cheerfully and not under compulsion. The word tithe literally means a tenth, or ten percent. The tithe should go to the local church [storehouse] where believers are fed and ministered to on a regular basis. It is the starting point for an exciting life of faith and trust in God’s provision for their lives. Tithes and offerings are about stewardship and trust. They are not about money! They involve money. We believe the scriptural way to give the tithe is to tithe on the gross amount of your pay. Proverbs 3:9,10 says, “Honor [be rich towards] the Lord with your possessions, and [be rich towards the Lord] with the firstfruits of all your increase; so [that] your barns [material provision] will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine [spiritual provision]” Free will offerings [that which is above the tithe] are the seed that is sown by the believer that enables him or her to reap a harvest. The harvest depends on the amount of seed sown. [Exodus 35:21-36:7; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 23:23; 2 Corinthians 9:1-12; Galatians 6:6-9] 

We believe in Body ministry. That is, every part of the Body of Christ must function where they were created to function. Otherwise, the Body will be lacking and will not fully develop. We are all living stones being built up into a spiritual house. This is so we can offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ. We believe that our seat of servanthood can become our throne of destiny if we are faithful to serve the Lord with gladness at whatever our hands find to do. He is the One responsible for our promotion. He will not promote the slothful. Every member of our local Body is expected to serve in some capacity, even if that means serving in an area they do not feel called to. We encourage everyone to find a place of service until they find their place of service. [Psalm 110:2; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 3:17, 23; 1 Peter 2:4, 5]

We believe that marriage is a covenant that God ordained between a man and a woman, for life. The sanctity of marriage is to be honored among all the members of Christ’s Body [Hebrews 13:4]. We do not condemn anyone who is presently living a lifestyle that is not in accordance with the sound doctrine on marriage. In the case of divorce, it is clear that while God hates it, He never hates the person who is divorced [Jeremiah 31:3; Malachi 2:16]. We believe that God not only hates divorce, due to its destructive nature, but that He also hates destructive marriages. Marriage should be a blessing, and a safe place. It is always our responsibility, as the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to work toward holiness in all of our relationships. The marriage bed is to be undefiled, which means it is a special place of honor and not dominion or perversion [Hebrews 13:4]. The Scripture is very clear. Believers are to have nothing to do [socially] with an immoral person that claims to be a Christian. [1 Corinthians 5:9-11] Scripture is also very clear that a believer is not to be yoked together with an unbeliever [2 Corinthians 6:14]. Jesus condemned internal and external immoral behavior by stating that lust in the heart makes someone just as guilty as the person that is intimately involved with someone other than their spouse [Mathew 5:27-30]. Jesus, and the early Church elevated womanhood by stating that for the believer, divorce should not be an option. Even in cases of infidelity the goal should always be reconciliation. Jesus lived and ministered in a culture that held womanhood in very low esteem. A man could divorce his wife for any reason or for no reason. Women had no rights and could not provide for themselves or their children, apart from their husbands. Divorce resulted in many unhealthy lifestyle choices for women. Jesus was trying to eliminate no-fault divorce. [Matthew 5:31,32] [See also Genesis 1:18, 21-25]  The apostles Paul and Peter spoke frankly about marriage. They promoted the idea that husbands and wives should love and respect each other. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. A wife would have no problem honoring and respecting her husband if he loved her that way. [1 Corinthians 7; 1 Corinthians 13; Ephesians 5:21-33; 1 Peter 3:1-12] This is a huge subject that cannot be dealt with adequately here. Please know that we intend to show honor and respect to all, especially those who have been abused in relationships. NOTE: God hates divorce [Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:8; Malachi 2:16] but not people who are divorced. The reason God hates divorce is because He is a divorcee. God initiated a divorce from His bride, Israel. He also hates destructive behavior in marriage - He loves people!!! And so do we!!! If a choice has to be made between a person's life, or their marriage, we choose life. God knows what it is like to be in a bad marriage and to go through a divorce. That is why He hates it.

The word “church"  was mentioned 2x by Jesus in the New Testament [Matthew 16:18; Matthew 18:17] and a total of 111 times in the King James Version. The first reference Jesus said He would build it and the second reference had to do with disciplining a member.  The Greek word is ekklesia [ecclesia]. This word means “those who have been called out for a specific purpose.” It comes from the Greek word kaleo, which means to call, to call forth. It carries with it the idea that with the call comes the divine enablement [grace] to become what you are called, and to accomplish what you are called to do. Peter said, “we have been called out of darkness and into His marvelous light” [1 Peter 2:9].  The church is not a place. The church is a people. Although an individual believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Church is made up of many individuals. We understand the church to be more than a single believer. This is so none of us will think we are an island to ourselves, and can function independent from the Body as a whole. We need one another. It is not healthy to remain separated from our brothers and sisters in Christ. A local church should be autonomous and self-governing. It is wise for every local church to have relationship with someone or group that can speak truth into it and that has real, but limited authority as well. [Proverbs 18:1; Matthew 18:20; Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-21; Romans 12:4, 5]