Statement Of Faith
Churches have lots of different ways of stating the core of what they believe. Sometimes they focus on very detailed theology, sometimes doctrine, sometimes on social issues, and often in other ways. We chose to use, for our statement of faith, an “Historic” statement of faith that expresses the intent of the official statement in our church constitution. It is our hope that thi
s serves to focus us on
the things that UNITE us, rather than all of the ways we may be different. That means that we are mostly made up of people from a variety of backgrounds, some of them very different from each other. At our church we want to focus on Jesus, not all the trappings of church that can often keep Christians from working together for the Kingdom. Some of you might wonder why we chose the “Apostles Creed”, rather
than the more detailed “Nicene Creed” (if you really ARE interested, talk to pastor Chad, he wants to get to know you better!). The answer is simply that we wanted to make sure it was something that could be remembered by everyone, which is part of the beauty of the original intent of the Apostles Creed. In a time when books were non existent, and none but the educated few could read, the church fathers set down in writing a simple way for people to know if what they were hearing from all these “new teachers” was “Christian”. Here is what they said...
What we believe:
We believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting. Beyond this simple, yet deeply historic statement of faith we also affirm the following as a basic summary:
Carbonado Community Church Affirmation of Faith
1. The Word of God
We believe that the Bible is the word of God, fully
inspired and without error in the original manuscripts,
written under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it
has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
2. The Trinity
We believe that there is one living and true God,
eternally existing in three persons, that these are equal
in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct
but harmonious offices in the work of creation,
providence and redemption.
3. God the Father
We believe in God, the Father, an infinite, personal spirit,
perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe
that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men,
that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves
from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus
Christ.
4. Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son,
conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin
birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. We believe in
His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection,
ascension into heaven, perpetual Intercession for His
people, and personal visible return to earth.
5. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the
Father and Son to convict the world of sin,
righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate,
sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit Indwells every believer in
Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and
guide.
6. Regeneration
We believe that all men are sinners by nature and by
choice and are, therefore, under condemnation. We
believe that those who repent of their sins and trust in
Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy
Spirit.
7. The Church
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body
of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons
are members. We believe in the local church, consisting
of company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a
credible confession of faith, and associated for worship,
work and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon
the members of the local church the primary task of
giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.
8. Christian Conduct
We believe that a Christian should live for the glory of
God and the well-being of his fellowmen; that his
conduct should be blameless before the world; that he
should be a faithful steward of his possessions; and that
he should seek to realize for himself and others the full
stature of maturity in Christ.
9. The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed
two ordinances to the local church; Baptism and the
Lord's Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the
immersion of a believer in water into the name of the
triune God. We believe that the Lord's supper was
instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We
believe that these two ordinances should be observed
and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
10. Religious Liberty
We believe that every human being has direct relations
with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters
of faith; that each church is independent and must be
free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political
authority; that therefore church and state must be kept
separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its'
duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
11. The Last Things
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord
Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His
kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the
final judgment, the eternal felicity of the righteous, and
the endless suffering of the wicked.
