Where do you turn to when you are discouraged, in weakness, or confronted with failure? Christians are assured of the Spirit of God’s work to help them experientially comprehend the vastness of Christ’s love for them as they grow in spiritual maturity.
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts of the accepted 66 book canon, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter
1:20-21)
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, that these are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption. (Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 1:14,18; 14:11; 15:26; 1 Corinthians 8:4,6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 5:7)
We believe in God, the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of each person, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. (Psalms 95:3,6; Psalms 139:1-12; Isaiah 40:21-26; 48:12; John 7:37,38; Ephesians 1:3, 17-23)
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in his full divinity and full humanity. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth. (Isaiah 52:11-53:12; Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 9:35; Acts 1:9; Hebrews 1:1-4)
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide. (John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26)
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other, and were given to one another in marriage, a one-flesh union between one man and one woman that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for all men and all women. Marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. (Genesis 1:27-31; Matthew 19:3-9; Romans 7:2; Ephesians 5:22-33)
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and
forfeited his original blessedness, for himself and all his progeny, by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are spiritually dead, alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. We believe that all people are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under condemnation and subject to the just wrath of God. (Genesis 1:27, 31; 2:16; 3:6-24; 6:12; Psalms 51:5; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Isaiah 53:6; Ezekiel 18:19-20; Matthew 20:15; John 3:6; Acts 17:26-29; Romans 1:18,20,32; 2:1-16; 3:9-19; 5:12,15-19; 8:7; Galatians 3:10,22; Ephesians 2:1-3)
We believe that the supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself. We believe that God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, who humbled himself by taking the form of a man and living the perfect, sinless life that we could not live. God demonstrates His love for us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than that, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God which was satisfied through Christ’s death. We believe that those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit repent of their sins and trust by faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. They are thereby adopted as sons and daughters of God, given new life, new hearts, full righteousness in Christ, and become co-heirs of the Kingdom. (John 3:16; Acts 2:23; Romans 3:21-26; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:10-14; Ephesians 2:1-10; Hebrews 10:12-14; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 2:22-24; 1 John 1:9; 5:11-12; Romans 5:8; Phil 2; Romans 8:16-17; James 2:5)
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of an assembly of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe the scriptural offices of the church are elders (including pastors) and deacons. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of glorifying God by reflecting His gospel love to one another and to the world. (Deuteronomy 4:10; Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 9:31; Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Ephesians 1:12, 22-23; 4:12-13; 5:16-19,25; Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:19)
We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God and the well-being of others, that their conduct should be blameless before the world, that they should be faithful stewards of their possessions, and that they should seek to realize for themselves and others the full stature of maturity in Christ. (John 14:15, 23-24; Romans 12:1-3; 1 Corinthians 4:2; 10:31; 2 Corinthians 9:6-9; Colossians 1:9-10; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 John 2:3-6; Acts 4:32-37)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; Romans 6:4; 1 Cor 11:23-26, Mark 14:22-25, Matthew 26:26-29, Luke 22:18-20, Colossians 2:12)
We believe that every regenerate human being has direct access to God through Christ and is accountable to God in all matters of faith. We also believe that God has given to the church the responsibility of keeping one another accountable to confess our common struggle with sin and our mutual need for God’s mercy and grace; spur one another on toward maturity by encouraging and holding each other accountable to love, seek after, and obey God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength; and to love others as we love ourselves. (Deuteronomy 6:5; Hebrews 10:24-25; James 5:16; 1 John 1:9; Ephesians 3:16-19, Matthew 22:37-40)
We believe each local church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other. (Acts 4:13-20; 1 Timothy 2:5)
We believe that local churches can promote the cause of Jesus Christ by cooperating with one another in a denominational organization. Such an organization, whether it is the Conference or a district conference, exists and functions by the will of the churches. Cooperation in a conference is voluntary and may be terminated at any time. Churches may likewise cooperate with other local churches on a voluntary, independent basis. (John 13:34, Ephesians 4:13; 5:27)
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal joy and felicity of those made righteous by the blood of Christ, and the endless suffering of the unrighteous.
(Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-58; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15)
Lord willing, this ministry will restart back up again January, 2020 at New Field Elementary School – 1707 W. Morse Ave. Our ESL program offers a safe community for adults to build relationships and learn English skills for everyday life. Community members from all over the world have taken part in these classes, and everyone is welcome!
We resolve to be a church that proclaims and relies on the full counsel of God’s redemptive message of sovereign grace revealed to us in the finished work of Jesus Christ. This Gospel of good news enables and propels us through the power of the Holy Spirit to live a new, special relationship with God.
The Gospel compels us to love one another because God, who first loved us in Jesus Christ, has given us the ability to love others as ourselves. The Gospel creates a new family whereby authentic community, fellowship and discipleship occur out of the shared identity we have in Christ.
As a church we humbly work to bring all aspects of individual and corporate life under the rule of Christ – not by standing against the city, but as agents of God for the city and its welfare. The Gospel transforms all areas of life and flourishes the totality of a person, churches, communities and culture at large.
We desire to be a church that reflects the unified work of Christ and the richness of his body — where all God’s peoples are considered a gift to both our leadership and congregation, no matter their ethnicity, social economic status, educational background, or age.
As a church that sees God as a missional God who is engaged in His creation through his people, our desire as His called-and-sent people, is to live on mission in our local community and among the nations by sharing the Gospel, both with our lives and our words.
We long to be a church that exudes the joy that the Gospel of grace liberates us to have in Christ. Because God is faithfully and powerfully at work in us, through us, and around us, by faith we choose to celebrate what God alone deserves to receive glory for.
Prayer is more than just talking to God (although it certainly is that). Ultimately, prayer is about dependence upon God. We pray to confess that we need God. We pray to acknowledge Him alone as God. Prayer is a core value of Grace Family because we know that our vision and values can only be impacted if God’s sovereign hand and blessing is upon us. We pray because we know that only God can make our church and our city healthy. We walk by faith and in prayer. God accomplishes the work.