What We Believe

The Bible 

We believe that the Bible is inspired by God, and is His message to us, showing us who He is, what we should believe and how we should live our lives.

 

The Trinity   

We believe in the Godhead, often called the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  These three persons exist co-equally and co-eternally as the one true God, who is alone responsible for the creation and the destiny of all things.

 

The Saviour   

We believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son.  We believe that while He is fully God, He also became fully human, and being born of Mary, He grew up to live a sinless life, die on the cross as a punishment for all of humanity’s wrongdoing, and then rose again from the dead three days later.  He then returned to His Father’s side in Heaven where He awaits the time when He will return to Earth and receive His Church.

 

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit, and that God has given us His Holy Spirit to live with us.  We believe God the Holy Spirit is the One who helps us to see that we have separated ourselves from God, and He is also the One who enables us to be spiritually born again and reconnected to God.  We also believe that the Holy Spirit not only gives us a new life, but that He empowers us to live that life to a greater degree.  We call this empowering the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

 

Mankind 

We believe that all of humanity has been separated from God because of our own personal wrongdoing and disobedience of His will for our lives.  Because of this, we have made ourselves guilty and deserving of God’s punishment.

 

Salvation 

We believe that humanity can be saved from God’s punishment, by turning back to Him and asking to be forgiven and restored.  This is only made possible if the person believes that Jesus Christ, God the Son, took the punishment for our wrongdoing and paid the price when He died on the cross.  We believe this salvation is a free gift from God that we cannot earn or deserve and we can only receive it by believing that it is true, acknowledging that we need it and by then accepting it.  When this happens, it will become obvious by a change of heart, character and behaviour.

 

The Church 

We believe that everyone who is saved becomes a member of God’s church.  They are all united together like one big family.  God uses this big family to tell other people about Himself and to help those who are in need.

 

The Ministry 

We believe that God has chosen to use certain people for specific jobs:  Apostles to go and tell people about God in desperate places, Prophets to listen to God and deliver His messages, Evangelists to tell people about salvation and the good news of Jesus, Pastors to look after people in the church and care for them, and Teachers to teach people about what God has said in the Bible.  The Holy Spirit also gives people in the church certain gifts so that we can do His work more effectively.

 

The Ordinances 

We believe that new Christians should be baptised in water.  We do this because Jesus told us to do it, and because it is something we do on the outside which represents the way God has changed us on the inside.  We also share in Communion together, otherwise known as the Lord’s Supper.  Jesus told us to do this because it represents His death for us on the cross.  We break bread to represent His body, and share wine or juice to represent His spilled blood.

 

The Commission 

We believe that God calls those whom He has saved to go and share the good news of Jesus Christ with the rest of the world, and to serve them by bringing healing and deliverance, according to their spiritual and physical needs.

 

The Coming King 

We believe that Jesus Christ will return in a very personal, physical and visible way, and that He will reveal Himself in His power and Glory as God the Son.

 

The Future State 

We believe that in the future, everybody will be raised from the dead and judged by God.  Those who chose a life of wickedness and selfishness will be punished, but those who accepted God’s offer of salvation and the forgiveness made available through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, will live with God and receive His reward for them.