Statement of Faith

WE CREATE TRANSFORMED DISCIPLES, THAT WILL TRANSFORM THE COMMUNITY OF MODESTO.

What We Believe


We believe church is a community of hope, healing, growth and transparent fellowship with passion for equipping people through God's word and demonstrating Christ's love to the world.





The Trinity


We believe in one God, creator and sustainer of all things, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that these are equal in every divine perfection and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption. We believe that the triune nature of God is proclaimed in both the Old and New testaments

(Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19).



God the Father


We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. (John 16:23-27; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:17-23). We believe that God, the Father, desires to have an intimate relationship with people (Romans 8:15).


Jesus Christ


We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son, and has precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections as God the Father and of the Holy Spirit. We believe further that He is not only true God, but true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin, Mary. We also believe in His sinless life, His substitutionary atonement, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, His priestly intercession on behalf of His people, and His personal, visible, premillennial return from heaven. (Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 24:1-8; John 1:1; John 1:14; Acts 1:11; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 7:24-25; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 1; Revelation 20)


The Holy Spirit


We believe that the Holy Spirit is God, not a force or an emotion. We believe in His work in regeneration, sanctification, and preservation. His ministry is to point people to Jesus Christ, and implement Christ’s work of redeeming the lost and empowering the believer for godly living and service. The Holy Spirit is a “deposit and seal” (Ephesians 1:13-14) giving us assurance of our salvation. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, guides and empowers believers, and imparts spiritual gifts to all believers to be used in ministry so that the church fulfills its mission of winning, building and sending more disciples of Christ

(Matthew 28:19; John 3:5 & 16:13; Acts 1:8, Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 6:11, 6:19, 12:4-13; Ephesians 3:16, 4:1-16)



The Church and Ordinances


We believe that the Church is the spiritual body of which Christ is the head. We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We believe the ordinances of the local church are believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.  We also believe in the interdependence of churches and the mutual submission of believers to each other in love. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, 2:41-47; Ephesians 5:21; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 10:24-25)



The Bible


We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, completed as the revelation of God’s will for salvation, and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21). We believe that the Bible’s primary focus is to reveal God’s exclusive plan of salvation for humanity through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is the supreme authority on faith and spiritual life (Psalm 119:5). In addition, We do not believe that time has taken away from God’s message of salvation as declared in the Bible today (Isaiah 40:8).



Humanity


We believe God created man, male and female, in the image of God and free from sin. We believe that Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and chose to disobey God, which brought original sin into humanity. We further believe that humanity, because of his connection to Adam is a sinner by nature and is therefore spiritually dead at physical birth, separated from God and in need of being born again. We also believe that those who turn from their sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior are completely forgiven of all sin and transformed into new spiritual creations by the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:27, 2:7-3:19; Romans 3:23, 5:12-21, 6:23)


Salvation


We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We further believe that this salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, and was purchased by Christ through his shed blood on the cross, and is received by man through faith, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual. Once a person truly trusts Christ for salvation, he or she is permanently adopted as a child of God, becoming a new creation with a new nature which enables perseverance in holy living, good works, and proper social concern (John 1:12, 3:3-7, 5:24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Timothy 2:5).


Christian Conduct


We believe that the supreme task of every believer is to love God with all his or her heart, soul and mind whereby God is glorified (Matthew 22:34). God has commanded believers to love others as they love themselves. Christ-followers are called to make discipleship a priority (Matthew 28:19) and invest our time, talents and treasure to do it (Romans 12:1-3). Christ-followers have a responsibility to choose to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh (Galatians 5; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 1:28; 1 Timothy 6:6-9; 1 Peter 1:14-15)



Marriage


We believe that marriage is a sacred institution ordained by God and intended by God for one man and one woman (Genesis 2). We believe that homosexuality is not congruent with the Bible’s teaching on marriage. We also firmly believe that God loves all people (John 3:16) and is responsive in extending grace and transforming power to all people for all manners of sin including sexual sin (Hebrews 4:15-16).



Last Things


We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and lost, the eternal existence of all men either in heaven or hell, in divine judgments, rewards and punishments. (John 5:29; 1 Corinthians 3:11 & 15, 15:51-58; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 John 8; Revelation 19, 20).