VCO, turning 70, you are my elder, so I will not disrespect you.....I will only say that I disagree.
I can deal with that. And I thank you for the courtesy. I still would like to know
WHAT TYPE OF CHURCH YOU GO TO, not the Specific Building you Fellowship and Worship at.
Like I said the Church that I attend, is a COMMUNITY, non-denominational, conservative, evangelical type of Church.
The Conservative part, means we are the opposite of Liberals, we do not ordain women, we believe that Tongues were an Apostolic Gift only for the Apostles, we spend MORE TIME Teaching and Expositing the WORD than any other part of our Service. One Hour Sermons, and 40 minutes on the rest. Here is a Doctrinal Statement of Faith, that I Totally agree with, but it in NOT my Church's Statement. Our STATEMENT is TOO long to fit hear.
1. Of the Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible, as originally written, was verbally inspired (II Timothy 3:16-17) and the product of Spirit controlled men (II Peter 1:19-21), and therefore, has truth without any error (John 17:17). We believe the sixty-six books of the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, and opinions, shall be tried (Jude 1:3).
2. Of the True Godhead
We believe that there is only one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; I Timothy 2:5), infinite in every excellence; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- yet one in substance and equal in every divine perfection (Isaiah 48:16; Matthew 28:19), and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of creation (Genesis 1:1) and redemption (John 3:16).
a. Father:
We believe in God the Father, not as being the one God, but merely one distinction of the True God. The Son has voluntarily elected to do the will of the Father in dependence upon the Spirit. He is the Father of creation (Malachi 2:10), Israel (Exodus 4:22), Jesus Christ (John 20:17) (not a relationship of derivation or inferiority), and the believers (Romans 8:15-16).
b. Son:
We believe that Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity is co-equal with God the Father, and all the attributes of God are manifest in Him (John 1:1). When the fullness of time was come, Christ became incarnate by a supernatural conception and virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14) for the purpose of becoming "the sacrifice for sin". By His vicarious death, He made possible a reconciliation of depraved man with a holy and just God (Hebrews 10:12). We further believe that He physically died and arose from the grave. Upon completing His post-resurrection ministry, He ascended on high where He is presently interceding for the believers (Hebrews 7:15), and shall subsequently return for the believers (I Thessalonians 4:15-17) and set up His earthly kingdom (Luke 1:33).
c. Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person (John 16:13), equal with the Father and Son and of the same substance and nature; that He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (II Corinthians 13:14), bears witness to the truth (John 14:16), is the Agent of the New Birth (John 3:6), and that He seals, endues (I Corinthians 12:7), guides, teaches, witnesses to, sanctifies, and helps the believer, indwelling every true Child of God (Romans 8:14-27).
3. Of Angels:
Angels are created (Colossians 1:16; Psalm 148:5), spirit-beings of various rank and order. This company of everlasting beings is super-human in intelligence and strength. They were created holy and good (Genesis 1:31), but due to sin many fell from their holy state and are now confirmed in wickedness (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28). Those who preserved their integrity are God's messengers (Hebrews 1:14), whereas the fallen angels execute Satan's desires in hindering God's work and afflicting God's people.
We believe in the distinct personality of Satan (Matthew 4:1-3), that he is the unholy god of this age (II Corinthians 4:4), author of all powers of darkness and sin, and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire (Revelations 20:10).
4. Of the Creation:
We believe that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1-2), including all life (Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3), "each after its own kind" (Genesis 1:24), by direct act, and not by the process of evolution (Psalm 33:6).
5. Of Man:
We believe that man in the person of the first Adam, was created in Innocence but by voluntary transgression fell into sin (Genesis 3), thus plunging the whole race into condemnation (Romans 5:12) and total depravity (Ephesians 2:1) in consequence of which all men are born sinners and are directed by their sin natures to willful acts of sin. Thus having knowledge of their sin and the manifestation of the power of God, are without excuse before God (Romans 1:18-2:1). Apart from God's work of grace all men would be on their way to eternal torment (Revelation 20:15). God enabling some men to receive the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, they are then passed from death to eternal life forever secure in Heaven (John 10:28- 29; Romans 8:29-39).
6. Of Salvation:
We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ, when He voluntarily took upon Him a human body and nature, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement sufficient for all sin (I John 2:2), that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the Just dying for the unjust (I Peter 3:18).
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again (John 3:3), that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and receives eternal life, the free gift of God (John 3:16; Romans 3:24); and are eternally secure in Christ. The new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life (II Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:8).
7. Of the Church:
We believe that the true spiritual church is a New Testament institution unknown to the Old Testament prophets (Matthew 16:18); established by Jesus Christ, who is its sole Head (Ephesians 1:22-23); revealed through the holy Apostles; empowered and perpetuated by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8); His "body" for service (I Corinthians 12:13-28); and His "bride" for glory. It began with Pentecost, after the ascension of Christ and will be consummated at the coming of Christ in the Rapture (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
We believe that there are two church ordinances: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water and is properly called "Believer's Baptism" (Acts 8:36-39). It sets forth in a beautiful and solemn way our faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with the effects of that faith in our lives as it produces death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Romans 6:3-5). Baptism is a prerequisite to the privileges of church relation (Acts 2:41). The Lord's Supper is the commemoration of our Lord's death until He come and our continual fellowship with Him, should be preceded by baptism and always careful self-examination (I Corinthians 11:23-32).
8. Of Last Things:
We believe in the bodily (Acts 1:4), personal (John 14:3), premillennial return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:11-20); that He will come before the seven year tribulation period (Revelation 3:10; I Thessalonians 5:9) to catch away His church, and that He will come with his church at the close of the tribulation to judge the living nations (Matthew 25:31-46) and to set up His kingdom on earth (Luke 1:33).
We believe in the resurrection of the bodies of the dead (I Corinthians 15:12-58) that believers who die in Jesus will be raised at the coming of Christ for His church and caught up with transformed living saints to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) and that the wicked dead will be raised at the close of the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:4-5), and stand in their bodies at the Great White Throne of judgment to receive their final doom (Revelation 20:11-15).