We Believe...
01
...in one God, creator of all things, who eternally exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
02
...in Jesus Christ, God Incarnate—fully God and fully human—who alone paid the atoning sacrifice for our sins by dying on the cross, and offers salvation through His resurrection.
03
...in the Holy Spirit, who dwells with us, and continually guides, convicts, regenerates, instructs, empowers and gifts the believer for Godly living and service.
04
...in the Bible, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the infallible Word of God and the product of Holy Spirit-inspired authors. The Bible is complete revelation of God's will for salvation, the truth without error in the original writings.
05
...that humankind—both male and female—is created in the image and likeness of God. Though created righteous and moral, we fell into sin and inherited a sinful nature which separates us from God.
06
...that salvation is a free gift from God, by God's grace, received by placing faith in Jesus Christ. God calls us and we respond in obedience.
07
...that all true believers who are born again by the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ are assured of their salvation.
08
...that the enemy, Satan, is both real and personal—that he as the originator of sin is ceaselessly and ruthlessly attempting to destroy God's church and thwart God's plan for the world. Yet, Satan has already been defeated at the cross of Christ and will at the end of age, be defeated once and for all.
09
...that the local church exists to help people know and glorify God, to make believers mature in their faith, to empower and unleash all believers in the church for the work of ministry.
10
...that water baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two sacraments of the church to be observed until the time of Christ's return. They are not a means of salvation but are signs and seals of God's sanctifying grace and blessing to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
11
...in the equality and essential dignity of men and women of all races in classes. We believe in the family, celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in heterosexual marriage are the patterns God designed for us.
12
...that when the Christian dies, they pass immediately into the presence of Christ to enjoy conscious fellowship with the Savior as they await the resurrection and glorious transformation of the body. We also believe that when the unbeliever dies, they are consigned to Hades where they await the Day of Judgment when they will be punished with eternal separation from the presence of God.
13
...that Jesus Christ will return, in bodily form and take His people to Himself to spend eternity in heaven. His return is imminent, and this gives hope to all believers.
*To view New Life's full Statement of Faith with supporting Scripture references, click here.
So What Does This All Mean?
Outside of the core beliefs listed above, there is room to disagree. There are some doctrines on which two Christians may agree to disagree, even though they are in the same local church and part of the same leadership team.
Examples include: The dating of events in the book of Genesis, the order of events associated with Christ's return, the degree of separation from worldly practices, or which political party one should vote for.
When teaching in any such area, it is made clear these beliefs are not essential for salvation or leadership in the church. We may state the case for why the church or its leadership might lean one way, but we will also acknowledge that sincere and intelligent Christians hold different views.
Our Denomination
New Life Community Church is a part of a group of churches on mission together called the Alliance of Reformed Churches. This rapidly growing Reformed denomination founded in 2021 is a community of congregations, formed around our covenant-keeping Triune God, the Word of God, the sacraments of grace given to the church (baptism and communion), and Reformed theology. You can learn more about the Alliance here.
While denominational ties and a shared theology can be very important to a local church’s identity, the call to be in mission partnership with the Holy Spirit is the highest value in proclaiming the lordship of Jesus Christ to a fallen, broken yet valuable world. In light of this value, as New Life humbly identifies with and stands in its historical and theological heritage, but also invites participation and membership of people who come from other orthodox Christian traditions. God has called us to bear witness to the sure foundations of the faith, but not to break fellowship with other Christians who hold slightly different understandings.