Our Mission
GENESIS COMMUNITY CHURCH'S STATEMENT OF FAITH
Genesis Community Church is a non-denominational Christian church. We follow Jesus, we teach from the Bible, and we worship God as the creator and ruler of the universe.
Through our relationship with Christ we are healed, renewed, redeemed, forgiven, transformed, and loved. It's our passion to share this faith and hope with the world.
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GOD
God has eternally existed in three personalities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are coequal, are one God, and alone are worthy to receive all glory and adoration.
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. He came to earth in the form of a man, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, fulfilling the law of God; in doing so He satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf.
He was unjustly put to death by crucifixion. His death on the cross paid the price for sin, God's wrath falling on Him, and by bearing the full penalty for the sins of all who would believe in Him, Jesus reconciled sinful men to God.
On the third day following His crucifixion Jesus physically rose from the dead. His resurrection was the final and ultimate proof that He was who He claimed to be... the Son of God. By the resurrection Jesus broke the power of death, defeated Satan, and brought everlasting life to all His people.
Forty days after the resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven where, seated at the right hand of God the Father, He serves as our great High Priest. Someday, as He promised, He will return to earth to reign as King. Ultimately, everyone who has ever lived will bow their knee to Him and confess Him as Lord.
This story of Jesus reconciling sinful men to God is called the gospel...the "good news." Our faith consists of believing it and repenting of our sins.
SALVATION
Salvation means being saved from the penalty of sin.....eternal separation from God and punishment in a literal place called hell. It's the free gift from God, but we must accept it. There's nothing we can do to earn it; only by trusting in Jesus Christ can anyone be saved. There is one, and only one, way to heaven, and that is by faith in Him.
Saving faith, however, involves more than just "believing" in Jesus; even Satan and the demons "believe." Genuine faith is evidenced by changed lives, good works, and a heartfelt desire to be obedient to our Lord's commands. By our obedience we prove our love for Him.
THE BIBLE
The Bible is God's written Word to us. Though penned by men, it was supernaturally inspired by the Holy Spirit and, as such, is complete, without error, and the final authority in all things.
ETERNITY
People were created by God to exist forever. It is appointed unto man, once, to die for his sins, but we will exist eternally with God in heaven or without God in hell.
ORDINANCES
Baptism and observance of the Lord's Supper are the two scriptural ordinances to which we are called. Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In observing the Lord's Supper we proclaim His death and resurrection until He comes again.
THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit makes it possible for people to respond to the gospel. He brings spiritual life to those who have been spiritually dead, awakening them to repentance and faith. At the same time He begins to live inside the believer, guiding, instructing, empowering, and producing Christ-like characteristics in their life. He sovereignly and graciously gives spiritual gifts to believers, enabling them to serve one another and build up one another in the faith.
ETERNAL SECURITY
All who have been genuinely saved are forever secure in their status as citizens of the Kingdom of God. There are those who initially embrace the gospel and later fall away, but theirs was never a true, saving faith to begin with.
CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY
Though salvation and eternal life are free gifts from God to those who believe, faith carries responsibility. We are called to be witnesses to the world for Jesus Christ; we are called to be "salt" and "light" to those who don't know Him; we are called to make Jesus the Lord and Master of our lives, considering everyone and everything secondary to our personal relationship with Him.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we adhere to the two commandments that encompass all of them.....to love God with everything that is within us, and to love other people as we love ourselves.
THE CHURCH
All who have come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ have become God's adopted children. Though we are grieved that man's denominations have done more to divide Christians than unite them, we recognize that genuine believers everywhere are still part of the family of God, are united in Jesus, and together encompass the "bride" of Christ.
Christians everywhere are instructed by God to meet together regularly for corporate worship, prayer, teaching, fellowship, and the preaching of God's Word. Together we encourage one another and build up one another's faith.
THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS
Jesus Christ will return to earth at the end of this age.....personally, gloriously, and bodily. At that time He will judge the just and the unjust; those who refused to repent of their sins and believe the gospel will be cast into an eternal, conscious punishment in hell, and those who have repented of their sins and trusted Christ alone for salvation will experience eternal joy in His presence. In that final state all things that were corrupted by the fall of man will be renewed and restored. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, sin and death will be abolished, and of Christ's kingdom there will be no end.
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
In matters of doctrine not fundamental to our faith we have liberty. The apostle Paul, in Romans 14, tells us to "accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters." As Christians we are to make every effort to do that which leads to peace and to mutual edification, not that which causes a fellow believer to stumble; therefore, in non-essential doctrine Paul says, "So whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God.".