Articles

STATEMENT OF FAITH

1.   We believe in the Trinity, in one God who is revealed in three distinct Persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity makes the Christian faith unique and distinct from all other faiths and belief systems, including Islam, the New Age Movement, Secular Humanism and the Nature Religions of Paganism and Pantheism.

 2.   We believe that the Father’s Eternal Plan from before the beginning of time embraces the beginning and the end (goal) of history (His Story), beginning with a marriage and ending with a marriage.  This plan  includes three overarching themes throughout the Bible—Creation, the Fall and Redemption.  Each one of these themes embraces every area of life—spiritually, psychologically, socially and ecologically.

 3.  We believe that at the core of the universe is a Father and a Son.  God is an intergenerational God who reveals Himself from father to son. 

 4.   We believe that through repentance (change of mind) and faith (in the gospel message) we enter the Kingdom of heaven through the new birth by which we are born from above with the life of heaven on the inside of us.

 5.   We believe that the Bible, properly interpreted, is not a mere social or human construct, but is the infallible revelation of God to man.  A biblical worldview encompasses God’s plan of salvation from the story of Creation, to the Fall, to Redemption.  The core of the gospel message is a revelation of the finished work of Jesus in His Death, Burial, Resurrection, Ascension and Appearing, and of our identification with that finished work. 

 6.   We believe in the sacraments of water baptism (the sacrament of identity), and of the communion table as partakers of Christ. 

 7.   We believe in the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit which may or may not take place at the time of initial salvation.  The new birth is the inflow of divine life, whereas the baptism is the outflow of divine life.  This can happen simultaneously, or on separate occasions. 

 8.   We believe that the gifts of the Spirit are for ministry, and can be exercised by any believer.  The fruit of the Spirit is more related to character, and it is character that allows the real life Jesus to be seen in a way that the Christian life becomes attractive to non-believers. 

 9.   We believe that the new covenant is a covenant of transformation which is an inside out process of change that takes place through the renewing of the mind.

 10. We believe that healing is in the atonement, and that it includes healing of broken hearts, healing of emotional pain (our griefs and our sorrows), healing of the mental suffering and torment caused by guilt, and healing of physical sickness. 

11. We believe that Jesus defeated the devil and all of his demons by the power of forgiveness, and disarmed them of their right to accuse, condemn and torment by dealing with the sin question at the cross.  Hell is a place of torment, and is a real place, but Hell is separation from God whereas Heaven is to be in the presence of God, a place where we are at Home with a fullness of joy, peace and rest.

 12. We believe that suffering is a part of the Christian life through the pain of transformation, which is a process of metamorphosis and change from the inside out.  Yet, in the midst of these temporal sufferings, the comfort of God’s Presence is more intense, and keeps our soul at peace and rest until we birth God’s Kingdom purposes.

 13. We believe that the Word and the Spirit work together when the Word is received by faith and implanted into the heart, and that we bring that Word to birth and manifestation through co-operating with the Holy Spirit in intercession.  We should expect a great movement of prayer and intercession at the end of the Church Age to prepare the way for the Second Coming of Christ, to bring our intercession into line with His which is for all people, and to bring the Kingdom of God into full manifestation for the Age to come.

 14. We believe that prayer, fasting and the giving of alms are a normal part of Christian practice.  Two other forms of giving are the tithe and seed faith giving.  The latter is Kingdom giving, and is a higher form of Spirit-led giving that results in multiplication and increase for the Kingdom of God.