| First Grace Brethren Church of Altoona
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OUR BELIEFSPLEASE NOTE: (First Grace Brethren Church of Altoona is affiliated with Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches) The members of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, in harmony with our historic position, believing the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible to be our infallible rule of faith and practice, and feeling our responsibility to make known the divine message of the Bible, present the following articles as a statement of those basic truths taught in the Bible which are common to our Christian faith and practice: Section One Covenant - The sovereign congregations which are members of this corporation are united in accepting the Holy Scriptures as the sole guide and authority in all matters of faith, doctrine and practice. Section Two Statement of Faith - The Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches has a corporate commitment to a basic body of beliefs founded on God's revealed truth. The Statement of Faith is the current expression of a never ending effort to clarify an understanding of the primary doctrines we accept. It is the understanding of this Fellowship that, although individual Grace Brethren Churches remain distinct, autonomous legal entities, congregational church government relates alone to the incidental affairs of the local congregation and not to doctrinal practices or tenets which must be general or universal the same in all congregations. The basic doctrines of one congregation shall be the same as the basic doctrines in every other. Accordingly, the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, Inc., believing the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible to be the infallible rule of faith and of practice and feeling the responsibility to make known the divine message of the Bible, presents the following articles as a statement of those basic truths taught in the Bible which are common to our Christian faith and practice. The Bible - The Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, verbally inspired in all parts, and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God (II Tim 3:16; II Peter 1:21) God - The One True God Existing eternally as three persons--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14) The Lord Jesus Christ - His preexistence and deity (John 1:1-13), in incarnation by the virgin birth (John 1:14; Matt. 1: 18-23) ; sinless life (Heb. 4:15), substitutionary death (II Cor. 5:21), Bodily resurrection (Luke 24: 36-43), ascension into heaven and present ministry (Heb. 4: 14-16), and coming again (Acts 1:11) The Holy Spirit - His personality (John 16:7-15); and deity (Acts 5:3-4); and His work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9); and filling (Eph. 5:18) to empower for Christian life and service (Eph. 3:16; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23) Man - His direct creation in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Gen. 3:1-24, Rom. 5:12), and the necessity of the new birth for his salvation (John 3:3-5) Salvation - A complete and eternal salvation by God's grace alone, received as the gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; I Peter 1:18-19) The Church - One true Church, the body and the bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (I Cor. 12:12-13); and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for world-wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4:11-16) The Christian Life - One true Church, the body and the bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (I Cor. 12:12-13); and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for world-wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4:11-16) Ordinances - The Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are: (1) baptism of believers by triune immersion (Matt. 28:19), and (2) the threefold communion service, consisting of the washing of the saint's feet (John 13:1-17), the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34; Jude 12), and the communion of the bread and the cup (I Cor. 11:23-26) Satan - His existence and personality as the great adversary of God and his people (Rev. 12:1-10), his judgment (John 12:31), and final doom (Revelation). Second Coming - The personal, visible and imminent return of Christ to remove His Church from the earth (I Thess. 4:16- 17), before the Tribulation (I Thess. 1:10; Rev. 3:10), and afterward to descend with the Church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Rev. 19:11-20:6) Future Life - The conscious existence of the dead (Phil. 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Rom. 14:10-12; II Cor. 5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:15 Resolutions (1) Sanctity of Human Life (a) Human life is worthy of respect and protection at all stages from the time of conception. The sanctity of human life is established by creation (Gen. 1:26-27), social protection (Gen. 9:6) and redemption (John 3:16). (b) We sympathize with the plight of childless married couples who desire offspring, but who are unable to conceive. We oppose, however, new fertilization techniques which do not respect the unique worth of each new conceived life and which cheapen life by treating it as simply the property of another. (2) Religious Freedom (a) We commend the efforts of our governmental leaders, which strive to preserve the free exercise of religion guaranteed in the First Amendment of the Constitution. (b) We express our strong objection to those efforts in government which would move the state away from "benevolent neutrality" to religion toward a secularistic "anti-religion" attitude, and which would reshape our nation as a secularist state. (c) We believe the free exercise of religion includes such activities as: (i) Freedom to meet in public places and in private homes for worship, Bible study, prayer, and evangelism, including freedom for our children to have equal access to the use of public school facilities for such purposes. (ii) Freedom to operate private schools to instruct our children in the relation of our faith and values to all life. (iii) Freedom to determine the qualifications for membership in our churches and schools and to exercise discipline on the basis of these qualifications. (iv) Freedom to determine the standards for employees of our churches and schools, and to discharge employees who fail to maintain these standards. (v) Freedom to offer personal and family counseling according to the teachings of the Bible to those who seek it, without being licensed by a state agency, and without fear of reprisal from those who do not agree with the counseling. (vi) Freedom to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others both publicly and privately. (vii) Freedom to teach and practice what we believe the Bible teaches about morals, sexuality, personal relationships, private and public conduct, and all other matters that come within the scope of our religious concerns. (viii) Freedom to strive to influence public policy from the perspective of our Christian values. (3) Personal Commitment (a) We resolve as a national fellowship of churches, as local churches, and as individuals: (i) To make four personal commitments. 1. To spend quality time with Jesus Christ in the Word and in prayer. 2. To fellowship with and minister to the body of Christ. 3. To present the gospel to our friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors. 4. To live this day as though Christ would return momentarily. (ii) To make four prayer commitments. 1. To pray daily for spiritual revival. 2. To pray daily for five unsaved people. -"Handful for Christ." 3. To pray daily for our pastors, missionaries, and other spiritual leaders. 4. To pray daily for those in authority. (4) Homosexuality (a) We do not believe that the practice of homosexuality excludes anyone from the fundamental rights and respect that are properly due to all persons because of their inclusion in the human race (as image-bearers of God) or because of their citizenship. (b) We believe that the practice of same-sex sexual relations is contrary to the pattern of sexuality created by God and directed by his commandments. (c) We affirm marriage to be a monogamous and heterosexual covenant entered into before God and man. We oppose same-sex marriage and legally constituted "domestic partnership" arrangements that act as substitutes for the marriage covenant. (d) We oppose all governmental and corporate coercion that requires secular employers and religious organizations to acknowledge "domestic partnerships" in order to be full participants in civic or business affairs. No person or organization should lose rights because they do not support homosexual rights. (e) We oppose the introduction of "speech codes" or the forbidding of so-called "hate speech." Such restrictions on speech lead to prohibiting, intimidating or discouraging people from expressing their convictions on homosexuality or being able to discuss or debate the issue in a reasonable way. We oppose the use of civil authorities to monitor such "hate speech." (f) We affirm that it is virtually impossible for those in public education to discuss homosexuality (or other issues of human sexuality) in the absence of some kind of ethical framework. Educators should not presume that their policies and teaching are "value neutral" or "only health issues" and should approach such topics sensitive to and with a reasoned analysis of the ethical and religious issues involved. |
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