WHAT WE BELIEVE
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The CityChurch Statement of Faith
CityChurch provides a safe community of grace where all people can believe and thrive in Jesus. We welcome all people and love all people wherever they are in their spiritual journeys. And all people are welcome to our services and programs, even if they do not believe what we believe. We do encourage people to consider and embrace these core beliefs about Jesus and his church movement. And we do ask those in key leadership, teaching and volunteer roles within the church to affirm these beliefs and to live within the moral boundaries established by Jesus.
GOD
God is an Eternal and Personal Being and the only true God. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present everywhere at all times. God is holy (Leviticus 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16). God is love (1 John 4:7-8). God is spirit (John 4:24). God exists as Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:2-26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Exodus 3:14; Psalm 8:4; John 8:58; John 10:30; John 14:16-17)
JESUS
Jesus is God the Father’s only son. He was born of the virgin Mary. He performed many powerful miracles to prove he is God’s son. He lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus established a movement he called “the Church” to extend God’s kingdom on the earth. He called for people to believe in him (John 3:14-16). He also called for people to follow him (Luke 9:23). His primary and guiding commandment is to love one another (Matthew 22:37-39; John 15:12, 17). Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. He rose from the dead on the third day. Then he ascended into heaven. The resurrected Jesus currently lives with God his Father in heaven until he returns to the earth one day. (John 1:1, 14; Matthew 27-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 23-24; John 19-21; Acts 1:1-11; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 4:10)
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit living in all believers to commune with them, to lead them, to produce Godly character in them, to impart spiritual gifts to them and to empower them for service. (Acts 1:4-5, 8; 1 Corinthians 12:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:22-23)
ANGELS
Angels are spirit beings created by God to serve his will and his kingdom. Fallen angels (or demons) are those spirit beings who followed Satan’s rebellion against God and work against God’s kingdom by tormenting and oppressing people. (Luke 10:17-20; John 10:10; Ephesians 6:10-12; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 12:9-12)
HUMANS
God created human beings in His own image. Humans have a body, soul and spirit. Humans exist to fellowship with God and to govern over His creation. God loves all people. Believers in Jesus become children of God and temples of God’s Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:26-28; John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Revelation 3:20)
SALVATION
Jesus came to offer his life as a ransom to pay for the full sin debt of all people who believe he is God’s Son and trust that his death on the cross has paid their sin debt. All people are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. (Matthew 20:28; John 3:15-18; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:15-16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 2:13-14)
THE CHURCH
Jesus’ church movement exists to help all people believe and thrive in Jesus. The church is expressed on earth through multitudes of local communities of believers who gather for worship, prayer and Scripture study to equip them to serve all people. Jesus said the ultimate goal of the church movement is to make disciples of all nations by baptizing people and by teaching them to obey Jesus’ commands. (Matthew 16:13-19; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12-13; Ephesians 4:11-13)
THE SCRIPTURES
Because of historical, literary, archeological and experiential evidence, CityChurch believes the Jewish and Christian Scriptures are inspired by God. They reveal truth, provide moral boundaries and show the path to a relationship with God. The Scriptures are also beneficial for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting and for training in righteousness. (Psalm 119; Matthew 5:17-19; John 5:31-47; 2 Timothy 3:14-17)
THINGS TO COME
Jesus will one day return to the earth in his resurrected body to establish his earthly kingdom. He will bring with him dead believers and resurrect their bodies. He will transform living believers to have eternal bodies. He will judge and reward faithful followers. He will eventually condemn unbelievers for refusing to believe. (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10-12; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 20-22)
MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY
CityChurch embraces the moral teachings and boundaries expressed in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures regarding sex and marriage. We believe God created sex as a good and pleasurable gift to humanity. We believe Jesus and the first Christian leaders reserved sexual intimacy to be enjoyed between one man and one woman bound by the covenant of marriage. (Genesis 2:21-24; Matthew 19:1-12; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:40)