Summary of Beliefs
*Hover cursor over the Bible verse to see that verse reads
Our Heavenly Father: We believe that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) but that in some mysterious way, He exists as three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit; see Matthew 3:16-17). Each have their own roles but they remain in perfect unison with One another. (John 17:21)
Jesus: We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God’s Son who “put on” human flesh to come to earth. He lived a perfect, sinless life and died on a cross for the purpose of forgiving our sins. We believe that after three days, Jesus rose from the dead and that same power is at work in Christians today. (John 1:1-14, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Ephesians 1:19-23)
The Holy Spirit: We believe the Holy Spirit is living within each Christian (Acts 2:38, John 14:16-17). As we yield to Him, He guides us, grants us peace and wisdom and empowers us to live a Godly life (Galatians 5:22-25, Philippians 4:7). He is also active in the world convicting it of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11).
The Bible: We believe that the Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God, given to us as God’s complete and final revelation. We believe that because of Jesus, we are no longer bound by the Old Testament form of worship and salvation and that we now live under the New Covenant of grace. (2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 8:13, Colossians 2:14)
Worship: It is essential that we give praise and adoration to God. We can do that in many ways but one of them is corporate worship (Church service). At Gaston Christian Church, we gather every Sunday to give God the first part of our week, to sing songs of praise, to learn from His Book, to share in communion with Jesus and each other, to pray, and to benefit from the friendships we have with one another because of Jesus. (Acts 2:42, Hebrews 10:25)
Salvation: We believe that salvation is a gift from God (grace, Ephesians 2:8), but that, just like people in the Bible, each person must accept God’s gift of grace. Acceptance means believing (having faith, Acts 16:31, 1 John 5:1), confessing (our sin, 1 John 1:9, and Jesus’ authority in our lives, Romans 10:9-10), repentance (changing our allegiance and behavior, Matthew 3:8, Mark 1:14, Acts 17:30), and being born again (baptism, John 3:3-5, Acts 22:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17). The born-again Christian then grows and matures and lives faithfully (Titus 2:11-14, Revelation 2:10).
The Church: We believe that the church was established by God. There are many metaphors used in the Bible to describe the Church (a body, a bride, a family, a temple, etc.), but at the end of it all, God instituted the Church as both a place for Christians to worship and grow and as an organism to reach out and serve. As such, we love the Church and hope others will too. We aren’t perfect, but we do worship the perfect God and we are trying to be more like him in how we think, act and love.
Love: We believe that God loves each and every person and that His greatest desire is for us to love Him back. Sin ruins that relationship, but God, through Jesus, took away our sin. (John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Romans 6:23)
What kind of church are we? We want to be “just Christians.” No denominational name or affiliation and no man-made creed to govern us. We want to pattern ourselves, as best we can, after the Church that we find in the Bible (the Book of Acts has much to say about this). Although there are thousands of Independent Christian Churches in America and throughout the world with whom we have fellowship, we simply believe that we are part of Christ’s Church. He prayed for unity (John 17:11) and that is our desire, that we may all be one in Jesus; simply and only.
