The Bible is the Word of God written without error and is our absolute guide for doctrinal teaching and godly living.
2. We worship and serve the One True God who revealed Himself in the Bible as three persons sharing one indivisible essence in the mystery of the trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus Christ is the unique person having two natures -- the perfection
of both God and Man. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life but suffered and died in the place of sinful man, was buried and resurrected, ascended bodily into Heaven, and is preparing to return bodily to earth a second time.
4. The Holy Spirit is God who is actively at work in the world. He dwells permanently in every Christian, helps us to pray, equips and empowers us to serve God, strengthens and molds us to be more like Christ, and protects us to guarantee our eternal life.
5. Angels are the innumerable and unseen creatures who serve the causes of God and His people. Satan and demons are fallen and doomed angels who, with the help of other evil spirits, promote wickedness and oppose God's purposes.
6. Man is God's creature who bears His image and was originally sinless but through the first man Adam, all mankind sinned, became separated from God, and totally unable to gain God's favor of forgiveness and eternal life by self-effort.
7. Salvation is God's act of forgiving sins, reconciling people to Himself, and giving eternal life to those who believe in Jesus. Salvation is not a reward for good works but a free gift of God received by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
8. The Church is the universal Body of Christ consisting of all born again Christians made one by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. To join a local church like GCF, a person must have undergone baptism by immersion, agree with the covenant of membership, partake of the symbols of Christ in Communion, and pledge to help fulfill the church's mission to make disciples of all nations.
9. Jesus Christ will come again to reign on earth and to reward God's people with life with Him forever in the new Heaven and Earth and to judge unbelievers with eternal separation from God and suffering in Hell.
10. Christians have a duty to honor and pray for those in government authority, to pay taxes, and to help promote the general welfare of society. Ethos
The GCF ethos is the characteristic spirit of the community of believers in GCF Peel, as manifested by its aspiration to know Christ and make Him known through excellence in life and service by God's enabling grace and for His glory. For easy recall, the acronym G.R.E.E.N.H.I.L.L.S. is used to describe the 10 attributes of GCF church life in which satisfactory results are essential to ensure the health of GCF Peel. The focus is not on numerical growth, but on improving the health of the satellite, with the understanding that when a satellite is sufficiently healthy, numerical growth will follow. The proposed 10 key attributes of the GCF Peel ethos are as follows:
G = Gifts-based ministry
R = Responsible stewardship
E = Effective structures
E = Empowering leadership
N = Needs-oriented evangelism
H = Holistic growth groups
I = Inspiring worship
L = Loving relationships
L = Life-enriching preaching
S = Sustainable spirituality
Affiliation
GCF-Peel is a member of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario & Quebec (CBOQ)
