fbpx

Statement of Faith

Statement of Faith & Practice for Redeemer Church

The fundamental teachings of this Redeemer Church are reflected in the following, clear statements:

  1. We believe the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever!
  2. The plenary, verbal inspiration of the sixty-six books books of the Bible, equally in all parts and without error in its origin, as the accepted canon of the Scriptures (II Timothy 3:16; I Corinthians 2:13; II Peter 1:20-21).
  3. The Eternal Godhead who has revealed Himself as ONE God existing in THREE persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit; distinguishable but indivisible (Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14).
  4. The creation, test and fall of man as recorded in Genesis; his total spiritual depravity and inability to attain to Divine righteousness (Romans 5:12, 18).
  5. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of men, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, very God and very man (Luke 1:26-35; John 1:18; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6).
  6. Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day, and personally appeared to His disciples (I Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 4:25).
  7. The bodily ascension of Jesus to heaven, His exaltation and personal, literal and bodily coming again the second time for the Church (John 14:2-3; I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
  8. The salvation of sinners by grace alone, through repentance and faith alone in the perfect and sufficient work of the cross of Calvary alone by which we obtain remission of sins (Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12; Romans 5:11).
  9. The necessity of water baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in order to fulfill the command of Christ (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:36-39; 19:1-6).
  10. The Spirit of God upon conversion produces fruit in the lives of those who belong to Christ. We also believe in subsequent fillings of the gift of the Spirit of God with empowerment to Christian service and proclamation. (Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-17; 10:44-46; Acts 4:31,  Galatians 3:14-15).
  11. The operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as enumerated in I Corinthians 12:14, and manifested in the Early Church.
  12. The Spirit-filled life, a life of separation from the world and perfecting of holiness in the fear of God as an expression of Christian faith (Ephesians 5:18; II Corinthians 6:14; 7:1).
  13. The healing of the body by Divine power, or Divine healing in its varied aspects as practiced in the Early Church (Acts 4:30; Romans 8:11; I Corinthians 12:9; James 5:14).
  14. The Table of the Lord, commonly called Communion or the Lord’s Supper, for believers (I Corinthians 11:23-32).
  15. Eternal life for believers and eternal punishment for unbelievers (Mark 9:43-48; II Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10-15).
  16. The reality and personality of Satan and the eternal judgment of Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10-15).
  17. In reference to the church, we also hold that:
  • The biblical form of church government is plural eldership –  with a senior minister who is the first among equals, all of whom must qualify on the basis of I Timothy 3 in spiritual life, character, domestic life, and rulership ability.
  • The Church of Jesus Christ is the last instrument that God is using to extend His kingdom prior to the second coming of Christ (Ephesians 3:10; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 1:20-23).
  • The local church is completely autonomous; that is, it is self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating in its mature state free of any external authority or control.(Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
  • Every believer in Christ must be subject to God’s authority in a specific local church for spiritual protection and long-term fruitfulness (Hebrews 13:17).
  • The theological framework for understanding all of God’s dealing with mankind is to be found in Divine covenants revealed in Scripture.
  • We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of those who belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:25-27).
  • We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
  • We recognize water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as the scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
  1. In reference to human sexuality, we believe:
  • We believe in the sanctity of marriage as established by the Holy Scriptures and that God created marriage and the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.  (Genesis 2:24; Romans 7:2-3; I Corinthians 7:10-11; Ephesians 5:22-33).
  • The stated purpose and goal of the covenant of marriage is to model for the world the covenant keeping love of Christ for His church. (Eph. 5:28-30)
  • God has commanded that sex is to be confined only to two persons of the opposite sex who have entered into the covenant of marriage (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5,13; Genesis 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1: 26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).
  • Any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that an individual’s gender is determined by God, and no one should attempt to alter his or her gender by surgery or appearance (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen.18:1-30; Lev.20:13; Rom. 1: 26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9,10; I Timothy 1:8-10; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4).  Though Redeemer Church welcomes those struggling with homosexuality and other sexual sins, it does not affirm their lifestyles nor will it subscribe to any civil law pertaining to lifestyle choices that is contrary to the religious values espoused and animated by the Christian faith as revealed in the Holy Scriptures [The Bible].  Under no circumstances will Redeemer Church allow or perform any ceremonies (i.e. weddings, baptisms, dedications, etc.) involving non-heterosexual couples.

HEIDELBERG CATECHISM

The Heidelberg Catechism is our standard for teaching.
The only exception we find with this enduring standard of Christian theology is we do not baptize infants. We encourage everyone to read this wonderfully warm confession of our Christian Faith.

OUR VISION

The heart and soul of Redeemer is to introduce and connect people with the living God and help them grow in their relationship with Him. We are a redemptive community of regular people living generously in the context of our world.

When people experience the presence of a living, loving God, something significant always happens. When we read the Bible, we love the fact that people who were so unlike Jesus, loved to hang out with Him. And more incredibly, Jesus loved to hang out with them. Things haven’t changed. We’re all on that journey, and church ought to be a place were you can connect with God and find relationships that will walk with you on that journey.

So what are you doing this weekend? Stop on by one of Redeemer’s campuses. You’ll experience a relaxed environment where you can connect with God, some good coffee, great people, and easy exits if you change your mind.

So what are some of the building blocks for our church:

Presence God’s presence isn’t just a feeling we experience in worship or when a miracle takes place, but an abiding sense of God’s involvement in our lives and the life of our church. John 15 tells us that God is the vine and we’re the branches. The flow of His life and presence in our lives results in great fruit. The presence of God is a distinguishing mark on the life of every Christ follower, it’s about the life of God that marks our lives with faith, love, hope, peace and joy.

Relationships God never created us to do life alone. We believe in life together – unified, enviable, cause-centric community – teams of people accomplishing God’s purposes and growing together.

People If people matter to God, they matter to us. God came and hung out with people who were far away from Him. His life and message helped explain God. It made sense to a whole lot of people. Our desire is that each one of our lives would reflect the same value.

Growth Our goal is that we all become fully devoted followers of Christ. That means committing to the principles and practices of Christian living outlined in Scripture and using our gifts, talents and abilities to honor God and extend His Kingdom.

Stewardship Before we experienced God’s grace, our lives were consumed with ourselves and our desires. Now as devoted followers of Christ, God desires that we are consumed with His purposes and use our time, talents and resources to generously serve Him and others.

Generations We’re committed to providing effective ministry to take the reality of God to our children, students, young adults, singles of all ages and families. We’re committed to building a dynamic children’s ministry, and relevant ministry to junior high and high school students.

Missions As fully devoted followers of Christ, missions, in our community and around our world, isn’t just something we do, it is who we are…it is a lifestyle. Pray. Give. Go.