God offers His love to all men and women through His Son, Jesus. Although in our very nature we rebelled and sinned against Him, He loved us. Sending His only Son as a sacrifice, God provided the gift of salvation and restoration for the entire world. The Bible teaches we only need one thing to claim His gift, FAITH!
Our faith has two distinct actions, saving faith and maturing faith.
1. Saving Faith: Saving faith is one’s personal commitment to Jesus, the Son of God, as Lord and Savior.
2. Maturing Faith: Maturing Faith is the continuing growth of one's faith through learning more about who God is and striving to be like Him.
The great fundamental charge to man is to worship the one true God. Central to worship is the understanding of who God is. The greater one's understanding of Him, the more one's heart burns with passion to worship. Therefore, the Christian should strive toward ever increasing and maturing faith.
Faith is an individual action. Others can influence you, but ultimately choosing to place your faith in Jesus is between you and God alone. Consequently, the Christian life begins with your personal choice of faith.
God, the creator and sustainer of all life, created the first man, Adam. Not wanting Adam to be alone, God also created Eve, the first woman. These two were given the command to become one and to populate the earth. As a result, the first family was formed under God's divine instruction. Similarly, the church is also a family; united through Jesus, believers enter the family of God. Today, the family is still God's primary institution for connection and development.
Family has two distinct purposes:
1. Connection: Family is the frontline of relational connection and Christian fellowship.
2. Development: Family is the primary vehicle for spiritual development.
The human family is God’s unique plan for the marital union of husband and wife, raising children, and caring for aging relatives. Though the responsibilities within the family unit are widespread, they are expressed in two categorical callings. First, the family unit is called to facilitate human connection through Christian fellowship and love. Second, the family unit is called to the task of spiritual development of its members.
The church family is God’s ordained arena for His heavenly family, those who through saving faith are born again into the family of God. Similar to the physical family, the church family shares the responsibility of connection and development. First, the church family is called to connect Christians through fellowship and love toward unity. Second, the church family is called to develop and disciple Christians in a maturing faith, equipping them for ministry through their divinely bestowed giftedness.
God’s call to love others as we love ourselves is foundational for good friendships. Through a basic understanding of love and the absolute truth of the Christian faith, the Christian is compelled to invest in the eternal well-being of others. The believer is commissioned to love our friends through the sharing of the faith and serving the need.
1. Share the Faith: The Christian is foundationally commissioned to spread the hope of “Saving Faith” in Jesus to the people of the world.
2. Serve the Need: Christians are divinely equipped and gifted to meet the needs of others and charged to do so with love.
