Vision
Our vision is to build a family of faith, one person at a time, that is characterized by humility, total honesty, and a dependence on God along with a church full of compassionate friends.
Purpose
The purpose of our church is to evangelize the lost and edify the saints, calling them back to biblical Christianity. Here at Grace Bible Church, we teach the word rightly divided, emphasizing a verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter study to accomplish that purpose.
Mission
The mission and commission of the present Church Age is to proclaim the message of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:14-21) and to endeavor to make all men see the “dispensation of the mystery” (Ephesians 3:7-8.)
We are to strive to reach those in the regions beyond the good news of salvation where Christ is not yet named. (Romans 15:20; Il Corinthians 10:16.)
We are commanded to follow the pattern named. (Romans 15:20; II Corinthians 10:16.)
We are commanded to follow the pattern given by the risen Christ to the Apostle Paul through successive revelations which is distinct from that given to the twelve apostles for building the Kingdom. (Galatians 1:11-12.)
The Apostle Paul refers to this message as “the gospel of the grace of God” or “my gospel’, and instructs us to follow him as he follows the Lord in discharging the debt of witnessing to the lost. (Romans 1:14; I Corinthians 4:14; Philippians 3:17; I Timothy 1:11-16; Romans 11:13, 15:16, 16:25; Acts 20:24; Philippians 4:9, I Corinthians 14:37)
Statement of faith
We recognize the fundamentals of the Christian faith, including:
- The verbal inspiration of the scriptures.
- The doctrine of the Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
- The deity and personality of the Holy Spirit.
- The depravity of man.
- The redemption by grace through faith in the shed blood and finished work of Christ on the cross.
- The bodily resurrection of the dead, the eternal blessedness of the saved, and the eternal punishment of the unsaved.
Essentials of Faith and Practice
We believe that all expressions of doctrinal position and requirements of this Dispensation of the Grace of God must be in full accord with the Holy Spirit’s outline as stated below:
1. Redemption: God justifies ungodly sinners by His Grace, upon the grounds of the blood of Christ, through the means of faith. This complete salvation is bestowed as the free gift of God apart from man’s work. (Romans 3:24-28; Romans 4-5; Ephesians 2: 8,9)
2. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4: 1-6)
Doctrinal Statement
Introduction: While we realize that there are many differences in doctrinal position that do not affect either salvation or fellowship, the official doctrinal position of this church shall be as follows:
1. The Bible: The entire cannon of scripture in its original writings are verbally inspired by God and of plenary authority. (II Timothy 3:16-17; Il Peter 1:21)
2. The Godhead: There is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Ephesians 4:6)
3. The Person of Christ: Jesus Christ, who was in the form of God, was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He is the true God and true man. (Luke 1:35, Philippians 2:6-9,; Romans 1:3-4.)
4. Total Depravity: All men by nature are dead in trespasses and sin, and are therefore totally unable to do anything pleasing to God. (Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 8:7-8)
5. Eternal Security: All the saved are eternally secure in Christ. (John 10: 28-29; Romans 8:38-39; Colossians 2:9, 3:1-3; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 4:30)
6. Personality and Work of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. (John 16:8-14.) By Him the believer is regenerated, baptized and sealed, indwelt, enlightened and empowered. (I Corinthians 4:1, 2:7, 12:13-27; Romans 2:16, 12:4-5,16:25; Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:6, 4:4)
7. Gifts: The gifts in operation today for the Body of Christ are included in Ephesians 4:7-17 and Romans 12:6-8. All of the sign gifts of the Acts period such as tongues, healing, and prophecy,
being temporary in character, have ceased. (I Corinthians 12:31, 13:8-11; Colossians 1:25-26)
8. Walk: By reason of Christ’s victory over sin and the indwelling Holy Spirit, all the saved may and should experience progressive deliverance from the power of sin by dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit. We deny that man’s nature of sin is ever eradicated during this life. (Romans 8:37; II Corinthians 2:14, 10:2-5; Galatians 5:15-25)
9. The Lord’s Supper: The communion of the Lord’s Supper as revealed through the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 11:23-26 is for the members of the Body of Christ to observe “until He comes.”
10. Baptism: All saved persons have been made members of the Body of Christ by one divine baptism. Every member of the Body of Christ is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. In the light of the statement concerning the one baptism in Colossians 2:22, and the statement concerning one baptism in Ephesians 4:5, and Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 1:17, we affirm that the only baptism in God’s spiritual program for today is that divine baptism of the Holy Spirit spoken of in I Corinthians 12:13 by which all believers are made members of the Body of Christ.
11. Resurrection: Jesus Christ was resurrected bodily from the dead. (Luke 24: 39-43) therefore, all men will have a bodily resurrection, (I Corinthians 15:20-22) the saved to everlasting glory, and the unsaved to everlasting punishment. (John 5:29;Revelation 20:11-15)
12. Appearing Of Christ: The appearing of Christ for the Church will be personal and pretribulational. His appearing will be for the receiving of the Church unto Himself. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; ll Thessalonians 2:1-3, Philippians 3:21; Titus 2:13)
13. Second Coming Of Christ: Christ’s coming to establish His earthly millennial kingdom over which He will reign is in contrast to His appearing for the Church and will be post-tribulational. (Revelation 19:11, 20:1-6; Matthew 24:29-30)
14. State of The Dead: The scriptures never extend the hope of salvation to the unsaved dead but instead reveal that they will every continue to exist in a state of conscious suffering. By contrast, all the saved dead will ever continue to exist in conscious fullness of joy in the presence of the Lord. (Luke 16:23-28; John 3:36; Romans 1:21-32; Ephesians 5:5, I] Thessalonians 1:9, I] Corinthians 5:6-8, 12:3-4; Revelation 14:11, 20:14-15)
15. Mission/Commission: The mission and commission of the present Church Age is to proclaim the message of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:14-21) and to endeavor to make all men see the “dispensation of the mystery” (Ephesians 3:7-8.) We are to strive to reach those in the regions beyond the good news of salvation where Christ is not yet named. (Romans 15:20; Il Corinthians 10:16.) We are commanded to follow the pattern named. (Romans 15:20; II
Corinthians 10:16.) We are commanded to follow the pattern given by the risen Christ to the Apostle Paul through successive revelations which is distinct from that given to the twelve apostles for building the Kingdom. (Galatians 1:11-12.) The Apostle Paul refers to this message as “the gospel of the grace of God” or “my gospel’, and instructs us to follow him as he follows the Lord in discharging the debt of witnessing to the lost. (Romans 1:14; I Corinthians 4:14; Philippians 3:17; I Timothy 1:11-16; Romans 11:13, 15:16, 16:25; Acts 20:24; Philippians 4:9, I Corinthians 14:37)
16. Marriage: We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and in the church. Marriage is, and always has been, the union of one who was born a male and one who was born a female. (Genesis 1:26-28 and Ephesians 5:19-33.)
We believe that the statement of Genesis 2:20-25 establishes the normal relationship God intended for mankind, one born a male and one born a female uniting in marriage and establishing their own home as one flesh. This was never changed in the Word of God. Homosexuality is an aberration of this relationship and is uniformly condemned in the Scriptures as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah Genesis 19:1-29. This is a consistent position throughout the Bible, Romans 1:24-28; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; II Peter 2:4-7; I Kings 14:21-24; 15:11-12; II Kings 23:7; Luke 17:28-29 and I Corinthians 6:9.