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III. OUR STATEMENTS
The reason we
exist as a church community, and what we believe the Bible teaches are very important to
us. This is why we have written down in Statement form what the Lord has called us to do,
and what we believe the Scriptures teach concerning our common faith. We take seriously
the apostle Paul's directive to the Philippians when he said that they should be
"like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."(9) The
first of these statements is what we call:
Our Vision Statement
Durham Covenant Life Church is comprised of
Christians who share a common vision of reaching people for Christ and discipling them
towards maturity in the faith.
Through our witness as a church community,
we seek to bring the influence of God's kingdom to the Region of Durham and surrounding
area in all that we do and say.
The basis of this vision is our covenantal
love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for each other, and our willingness to give of
ourselves to the cause of Christ in the world today.
The second part to this section on
statements is what we call:
Our Statement of Faith
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God.
- We believe in the unity of the Godhead and the divine co-equality of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity and Lordship of Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His
sinless life, in His miracles, in His atoning death through the shedding of His blood, in
His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His
return in power and great glory.
- We believe that Jesus Christ came into the world to reveal the Father. We further
believe that in Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form and that it is
impossible to know the Father without knowing the Son.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people to occur, faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are absolutely essential. We further
believe that a person's salvation is confirmed outwardly through repentance from sin and
water baptism by immersion.
- We believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift for all believers. We further
believe in the continuing ministry of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by His gifts and fruits
in the life of a believer.
- We believe in the doctrine of the laying on of hands for the purpose of the confirmation
and ordination of ministries, the impartation of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the
impartaton of spiritual gifts, the ministry of healing of the sick, and the blessing and
dedication of children.
- We believe in the Kingdom of God; in its present reality as demonstrated by those
believers who yield to the reign of King Jesus, and in its future coming when at the
return of Christ it shall be revealed in all its fullness.
- We believe that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been given to
the Church by the ascended Lord Jesus Christ to equip the people of God for service in
today's world.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved shall
be raised to eternal life, and they that are lost shall be raised to eternal punishment.
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