Beliefs

STATEMENT OF FAITH

About the Bible 
We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the Divine and final authority for Christian faith and life.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17; cf. I Thessalonians 2:13; II Peter 1:19-21).

About God 
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all (II Corinthians 13:14; cf. Matthew 28:19; John 14:26; John 15:26; I Peter 1:2).

About Jesus Christ 
We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary.  He died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures.  Further, He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He is now our High priest and Advocate.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...In Him was life, and the life was the light of men...And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 4, 14; cf. Luke 1:35; John 2:1; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 4:10-12; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 4:14-16).

About the Holy Spirit 
We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14; cf. John 15:26; John 16:8).

About Man and Sin 
We believe that man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is therefore lost.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world , and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all  sinned (Romans 5:12; cf. Romans 5:17-21; Hebrews 9:14-22; John 1:12; John 3:3; Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 1:31; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Ephesians 2:1-9).

About Salvation 
We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His subsequent resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe, repent of their sin, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit, and thus become children of God.

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14; cf. Hebrews 9:15-22; Romans 5:17-21; Acts 4:10-12; I Corinthians 15:3; Ephesians 2:4-9).

About the Church 
We believe the true Church is composed of all such persons who, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ of which He is the Head.

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13; cf. I Corinthians 5:6; John 3:5).

About the Ordinances of the Local Church 
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ gave his Church two ordinances.  These two are Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In obedience to the command of Christ every Christian is to be immersed in water as a public testimony of his personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and as a sign of his identification with the visible Body of Christ.

So then, those who had received his word were baptized...And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:41a, 42; cf. Acts 8:36-38; I Corinthians 11:23-28, Matthew 28:18-20).

About Last Things 
We believe in the personal, premillenial and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this “Blessed Hope” has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.

This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven (Acts 1:11b; cf. II Peter 3:10-13; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:16; Revelation 21:1-7, Revelation 20:4).

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the believer to the everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment.

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:26-27).

All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible ® Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.

PRIORITIES OF CHRIST COMMUNITY CHURCH

In the Bible, God has outlined priorities for the local church.  He has told us, as a local church, how we are to spend our time, what we are to value, and what we are to seek after.  Here are the priorities that we strive to maintain at CCC:

1. Worship
Romans 11:36 says, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”  This passage teaches us what true worship involves. Worship is an expressing to God..

• our understanding of who He is and what He does;
• our appreciation for who He is and what He does (all things are from Him);
• our complete dependence upon Him (all things are through Him); and
• our commitment to serve Him exclusively for His pleasure and glory (all things are for Him).

We should also express these things to God with our lips as well as through a manner of living which is honoring to Him.  Hebrews 13:15-16 says, “Through Him [Christ] then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.  And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

We seek to maintain worship as a priority.  Our times of corporate worship are not for the sake of “tradition.”  Rather, we eagerly and carefully worship God through testimonies, prayer, Scripture reading, preaching, singing, and faithful living.

2. Instruction
Acts 2:42 says the believers in the early church “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching.”  It is God’s will that we prioritize teaching and instruction in the life of the church.

Teaching must be biblical.  It must truly be the “apostles’ teaching.”  The church needs God’s truth as delivered to us through His apostles.  The church does not need the opinions of men or the “wisdom” of men.

Teaching must be authoritative.  Teachers in the church have authority only so far as they are communicating the Word of God.  The teacher has no authority in and of himself, but he does have God’s Word which is authoritative.  Paul told Timothy to “prescribe and teach” the Scriptures (1 Timothy 4:11), and he told Titus to “speak and exhort and reprove with all authority” (Titus 2:15).

Teaching must be received in humility.  James 1:21 says, “…putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word…”  The mere opinions of men need not be accepted, but the truth of God as revealed in the Scripture must be received.  Paul said to the Thessalonians, “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Teaching from the Bible should be given both publicly and privately.  Paul said to the church at Ephesus, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20).  Both public and private (counseling/discipleship) teaching  should be biblical and authoritative.

3. Fellowship
Acts 2:42 says the believers in the first church “were continually devoting themselves to…fellowship.”  Verse 44 says, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common.”  Fellowship involves sharing.  Believers share together in Christ.  Each Christian is a member of the Body of Christ, and all members are therefore drawn together.  They truly have “all things in common.” 

Not only do believers have fellowship (or, share in) Christ, but all believers in the local church are to devote themselves to fellowship with one another.  They are to share the blessings of the Christ with one another as they are members of one body.

Scriptural commands, often referred to as the “one anothers,” help us understand the responsibilities and privileges of fellowship in the local church.  Christians in the local church must continually devote themselves to…

• Loving one another
• Showing hospitality to one another.
• Meeting the needs of the saints
• Praying for one another
• Forgiving one another
• Teaching one another
• Confessing faults to one another
• Admonishing one another
• Encouraging one another
• Serving one another
• Stimulating one another to love and good deeds
• Many others.

These commands involve mutual responsibilities.  Consider the command to love one another.  God intends that each Christian show love to fellow believers in the local church as well as receive love from his fellow believers.  Every Christian must be tightly knit together with members of the local body so that others can fulfill their responsibilities to him.

4. Evangelism

Every Christian is an ambassador of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).  He has been given a message (the gospel), and he must live to proclaim it to the world on behalf of Christ. 

Christ has commissioned all believers to make disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).  This necessarily includes sharing the gospel, fishing for men, and pleading with unbelievers to “be reconciled to God.”

Members of the church family should know the gospel well and consistently seek to speak the truth of the gospel in love to the lost. Outreach to the community should be gospel-centered.

DISTINCTIVES OF CHRIST COMMUNITY CHURCH

Expository preaching
We are committed to preaching the whole counsel of God through practical verse-by-verse preaching and teaching of the Bible.  Expository preaching means that (1) the main point of the Scripture text is the main point of the sermon; (2) the outline of the sermon reflects the grammatical outline/logic of the Scripture text; and (3) the sermon is filled with exhortation and application.  Application is required since the preacher is responsible to teach others to observe Christ’s commandments (not merely “understand” His commandments) and to “prescribe and teach” (1 Timothy 4:11).  The goal of expository preaching is to explain what the Scripture means by what it says.

Biblical counseling
We confidently believe the truth of the Bible, applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, is sufficient for all matters of life and godliness for those who truly know Christ as Savior (2 Peter 1:3).  God’s Word is living and active, can expose our hearts (Hebrews 4:12), and is able to equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  There are no personal or interpersonal problems that the Bible fails to address either through general or specific principles.  Our counseling involves giving loving biblical instruction and making practical application of the truth to each person, with the goal of becoming more like Jesus Christ.

A plurality of spiritual leadership
CCC is led by a plurality of elders who are considered to be true equals. Each elder is a pastor with varied shepherding responsibilities within the body. The function of elders is to lead, oversee, teach, and shepherd the flock of God under the authority of the Lord Jesus. This leadership must come with input and accountability from the congregation. The elders direct the affairs of the church through prayer, study and teaching of the Word, and careful communication with the congregation. The office of elder is reserved for men. The central passages that teach this are: Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Hebrews 13:7, 17, and 1 Peter 5:1-5.

Deacons are also raised up by the Lord to assist the elders in caring for the body of Christ. See Acts 6:1-6 and 1 Timothy 3:8-12.

Teaching the whole gospel of Christ
As ambassadors, stewards, heralds, and servants of the gospel we are responsible to teach others the message given to us by God.  To be faithful, we must be careful in our presentation of the gospel to avoid watering down the truth or leaving out certain truths that might not be easy for people to receive.  Our proclamation of the gospel must include more than an explanation of God’s love, mercy, and grace.  It must include more than the gospel as a “free gift.”  In our proclamation of the gospel we must also explain the God-glorifying truth that He is holy, righteous, and just.  We must explain that men are sinful, lawless, and helpless.  Though the gift of eternal life is free in the sense that he cannot earn it, it is also true that it costs everything.  A man must deny himself, take up His cross, and daily follow Christ, His Savior and Master.  Our goal is to teach the whole gospel of Christ in order that the brilliant glory of Christ would cause men to worship Him!

Fully training Christians for effective, practical ministry
Pastors/elders are responsible to equip the saints for the work of service.  It is essential that pastors are both gifted to teach and exemplary in character in order that they may be able to fully train others for the work of the ministry.

Elders must “prescribe and teach” Scripture as well as show themselves to be examples for others to follow (1 Timothy 4:11-12).  They are to take the truth about the gospel and the ministry of the gospel and “entrust [this truth] to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).  He is to reproduce himself in his training and equipping of others.  “Everyone, after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).  Fully training others to teach, counsel, and shepherd others is the objective for shepherds of God’s flock.  This highlights the importance of having spiritual, Christ-like leadership.  Elders must be able to say, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).  The ultimate goal of ministry is to help people be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 1 John 3:2).

Our shepherds devote themselves to the Word and to prayer with the goal that they might reproduce their Christ-like character in others.  We want to fully train faithful men (and women) to exposit the Scriptures, to effectively counsel the hurting, and to faithfully shepherd the sheep though patient exhortation, reproof, and encouragement.

CORE VALUES

A high view of God
God is portrayed throughout the Scriptures as being Holy (Lev. 11:44; Isa. 6:3; 1 Pet. 1:16; Rev. 4:8); Righteous (Psa. 11:7; Zep. 3:5; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 2:23; Rev. 16:5); and Just (Deu. 33:21; Isa. 30:18; Psa. 146:7; Tit. 1:2).  Therefore, the ministry of the church should not only promote the holy, righteous, and just attributes of God, but it should also encourage the imitations of these attributes in the lives of those within the church (1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 4:1; 2 Thess 2:14).

Practical application: Failure to have a high view of God will lead to a high tolerance of sin and rebellion, changing the focus of the ministry to being man-centered, rather than God-centered. 

The church must teach with a primary focus on promoting God’s holiness (2 Tim. 3:1-5, 4:3).  Offering hope and comfort through the gospel must never be done at the expense of exalting God’s holiness.  The church must practice biblical reproof and restoration (Mat. 18:15-20; Rom. 16:17; Titus. 3:10; 2 John 1:10). The church must have a reverence and fear for the person of God (Deut. 10:12; Psa. 34:9; 1 Pet. 2:17; Rev. 14:7).  The church must not compromise truth in an effort to please people, “maintain the status quo,” or to seek unity with those who do not embrace the gospel of Scripture (Gal. 1:8-10; 1 Thess. 2:4).

A high view of the Word of God
God’s Word is supreme and established forever (Psa. 119:89; Isa. 40:8, 55:11; Mat. 24:35).  God’s Word is also authoritative and must be obeyed (Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 4:12; Jam. 1:22).  The precepts of God are relevant to every situation (Psa. 19:7-14; Rom. 12:1-2, 15:4; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).  The Word of God is sufficient for every circumstance (John 6:63, 68; 2 Pet. 1:3).  It must be studied and taught within the church as the objective Word of God (Ezra 7:10; 2 Tim. 2:15, 4:1-2).  

Practical application: Failure to have a high view of the Word of God will lead to man’s thoughts and opinions being “supreme” and “established” in the hearts of people.  Man’s opinions will be considered “authoritative” and that which must be “obeyed.”  God’s truth will be considered relative or irrelevant.  Also, it will be considered insufficient for life’s circumstances and situations. 
 
The church must humbly and willingly submit to the authority of the Word of God.  The church must pattern and conform their lives to God’s Word.  The church must teach the Word of God in such a way that people can apply it to their lives.  The church must turn to the Scriptures in order to find the answers to people’s problems.

A biblical view of man
All men are totally depraved, unable to do any good to save themselves (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:10-26; Tit. 3:5).  Man was created to glorify God, but because of sin, he seeks to glorify himself (Gen. 3:17-19, Rom. 1:18, 3:10-23).  Due to his depravity and sin-tainted heart, man seeks fulfillment from the world’s evil system (Jer. 17:9-10; Mar. 7:21; Eph. 2:3; 1 Pet. 4:2; 1 John 2:16). 

Practical application: Failure to have a biblical view of man will lead to the belief that all men are not sinners and contain some aspect of “good” within them.  Christ will not be seen as the only solution to man’s most essential needs.  The church will try to provide promising fulfillments that are actually failing substitutes.  The “felt needs” of man will be the only target of the church, instead of his real need of God and His provisions.  The church will therefore produce people who do not live for the glory of God but for self.

The goal of the church’s teaching must be to confront sin and to see God change lives rather than merely to please people.  The leadership of the church must model lives that reflect total dependence on God.

A biblical view of leadership
The leadership of the church ought to reflect Christ-like characteristics, being an example to the church of God (1 Tim. 1:16, 4:12; Tit. 2:7; Heb. 13:7).  The leadership of the church is responsible to equip the church to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12; 1 Thess. 5:11-14).  They are also responsible to reproduce themselves (1 Corinthians 11:1), discipling and entrusting ministry work to others in the church (2 Tim. 2:2, 4:5; 1 Thess. 2:4-12; 1 Pet. 5:1-3). 

Practical application: Failure to adhere to a biblical view of leadership will lead to unbiblical models of leadership in discipleship as well as skewed ministry priorities.  Ministry will be entrusted based on the skill and ability of the man rather than on the godly principles prescribed in the Bible.  Also, failure to uphold the qualities of godly character within the life of the church leadership will result in a toleration of disqualifying sins.  Furthermore, a lack of biblical leadership will result in an inadequate equipping of the church and will lead to instability in the lives of the people in handling life’s difficulties (Matt. 7:24-27).  Lastly, a failure of biblical leadership will result in a lack of disciple-making. 

The church’s model of leadership and must be firmly based on Scripture.  Church leadership must meet biblical qualifications. The church leadership must have a plan for training the next generation of church leaders.

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
The sovereignty of God in the salvation of men is seen as all members of the Trinity work to bring it about.  God the Father chooses certain men to be saved (Ephesians 1:4), and His choice is unconditional.  That is, He does not first look ahead into the future to see if a man would choose Him.  God’s choice is not on the basis of the efforts/ work of men (Romans 9:11, 16; John 1:12-13), but is instead according to the counsel of His own will.  His choice is designed to bring Him all of the glory (Ephesians 1:5-6)

Practical application: The church must be moved to worship God for every man that is saved.  Ephesians 1:14 says that redemption is for the “praise of His glory.”  When people are saved through the ministry of the church, there should be joyful praise and thanksgiving to God!

The church must recognize the sovereignty of God in salvation in all efforts of evangelism.  The servant of God presenting the gospel must find his hope and confidence in the God who saves, not in methods, their own skill in presenting facts or arguments, or in their ability to convince a guilty sinner to pray a prayer.  As well, he must serve His Lord prayerfully.  As he prays for the salvation of souls, he expresses his complete dependence on God to grant a sinner repentance. 

The Primacy of the Gospel Mission
The primary mission of the church is to take the gospel to the ends of the earth for the salvation and sanctification of men (Matthew 28:19-20).  The gospel is spread through the preaching and teaching of the Word (whether presented to groups or individuals) (Romans 10:13-17). 

Practical application: All evangelistic ministries of the church must have as their primary efforts the teaching of the Word (whether by the written or the spoken Word).  All other efforts, such as the bettering of the community, social activism, etc., must work only to serve the primary effort: to proclaim the gospel.

The Centrality of the Local Church
Christ promised that He would build His church (Matthew 16:18).  He is doing that right now.  The church is God’s chief institution through which He spreads His gospel throughout the world.  The local church is the “household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

Practical application: Christian ministries must encourage a greater appreciation for and commitment to the local church.  While not all parachurch ministries are wrong, church members should guard against being drawn away from the church in order to participate in other parachurch ministries.  Christians must have a strong affection for the church, commit themselves to a specific local church, and consider the other members of his local church to be his family.

CHURCH COVENANT

The church covenant is a commitment that each member makes to one another as to how they will conduct their relationships in the body of Christ. We believe that it is vital for our members to understand and be absolutely committed to the ‘one another’ commands in Scripture. Without this commitment a church body cannot grow properly.

Every member of CCC makes the following commitments:

• I will make every effort to make the Bible, not my own or anyone else’s opinions, not my preferences or feelings, the standards by which I will govern my life.
• I will faithfully study the Scriptures and seek to preserve purity in practice and beliefs in my own life and in the life of the church.
• I will be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in this local church by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, and being intent on one purpose with Christ-like humility.
• I will seek to exercise my God-given spiritual gifts in order to build up the believers in this local church and do all I can to stimulate them to love and good deeds.
• I will diligently seek to advance the cause of Christ through this local church by my regular attendance, financial contributions, and the sacrificial giving of my time, talent and resources to meet the needs of others in the church family.
• I will commit to teaching biblical truth to my family and acquaintances, as God gives me opportunity, with a desire to see them come to trust Jesus Christ and be saved.
• I will commit to faithfully praying for the ministry leaders, people and ministries of this local church.
• I will respect, support, cooperate with, obey and submit to the loving leadership of this church as they exercise their biblical responsibilities of shepherding the members of this church in accordance with Scripture.
• I will commit to receiving love, encouragement, teaching, admonishment, comfort, and exhortation from members of my church family with a genuine desire to grow in the knowledge of Christ and His Word.