Northside Fellowship Church

What is Truth?

If there is one true God, then that God defines truth. We believe that the God described in the Bible is the one and only true God. The Bible testifies to itself as a record of God's words and works.

We believe the Bible is the ultimate authority for the truth about God, humanity, life and morality. We believe it is God's revelation, not a human explanation. In other words, in the Bible God makes himself known to us. The Bible was NOT conceived in the hearts or minds of the human writers as their explanation of God and human history. Instead, they recorded what they heard and saw in a process provided for and protected by God.

We believe that God speaks today in ways that are described in the Bible, such as dreams, visions, prophetic messages, the still small voice of the Lord, and the counsel of wise Christians. However, all of today's messages from God are open to human error and are to be tested against the Bible and according to Biblical instruction for accuracy, authenticity and application.

Who is God?

The one and only true God is the God revealed through the truth of the Bible. We believe the Bible teaches the classical Christian understanding that there is one God who is a Trinity, three persons in one being. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all involved in God's purposes in human lives and history.

What is our relationship with God?

We are created by God because of his love for us and desire to be in relationship with us forever. All of us sin, turn against God by our thoughts, words and deeds. While our lives may appear to be moral in comparison to others, sinning only once separates us from the perfect God. Our sin is like a declaration of war against God. It is our divorce from him in the spiritual realm. As we turn away from him, we lose the life that can come only in him and only in right relationship with him. There is absolutely nothing we can do to become perfect again, to earn our way back to a right relationship with God.

However, God is not satisfied with this condition, so he sent Jesus Christ to pay the price of our sin, his death paid for our peace with God. Just as God raised Jesus back to life, through what Jesus has done for us, we can be given new life, a new relationship through which we can receive the life God has always wanted for us.

God does not force this life on us. Through the Holy Spirit, we come to understand our need for forgiveness and that Jesus Christ is the only one through whom forgiveness and eternal life can come. The Holy Spirit helps us to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and to have the faith to receive Jesus as our Savior, but ultimately we have the freedom to reject Jesus Christ as Savior and refuse the life he has for us. When we truly receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we receive the gift of eternal life we can never lose.

How do we live the Christian life?

When a person receives Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit fills or indwells the new believer. This means that the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and empowers us to be more like Jesus Christ in our character and gives us the ability to do Holy Spirit powered deeds that demonstrate that Jesus Christ is alive.

We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit described in the Bible are still at work and available to believers in Jesus Christ today. These gifts are not given to bring attention to a person. Rather, they are to build up the body of Christ (the church) and to bring Jesus Christ the honor he deserves.

What is church's role in my life?

All of those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior belong to the one, true church. God has made us in a way that we are interdependent on others in the body of Christ. We need what the Lord brings to our lives through other believers, and other believers need what God has to give them through our lives. Therefore, it is vital to our life in Christ and to the health of the church that we become involved in open, honest and committed relationships with other followers of Christ.

We believe that denominations can be good or bad, depending upon the motivations, attitudes and actions of those within the particular denominations. We accept as brothers and sisters in Christ all who believe Jesus Christ as the one and only Lord and Savior.

We believe God wants his church to be one in truth, love and purpose. We believe God intends to bring reconciliation to the church across racial, ethnic, political, social and denominational barriers. We believe that baptism is the sign of entrance into the body of Christ and Communion is a meal of edification for those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Will Jesus Christ return?

We believe Jesus Christ will return just as he said: with his angels and in a way that all will know it is him. We believe Jesus Christ will return at the time he said: at an hour only the Father knows. We believe it is urgent that we follow his most important instructions related to his return: be ready. We believe that one day Jesus Christ will return. At some point God will bring justice. To those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God will give life forever. To those who rejected Jesus Christ, God will give life forever that they chose for themselves-separated from God forever. For those who "never heard" of Jesus Christ, God will hold them accountable for what they did know of God and judge them fairly according to his own character. We believe the finer details of the end times described in the Bible can be legitimately interpreted in a number of ways and we leave freedom for differing interpretations. We believe in the end that the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our God and King, and he will reign forever and ever.

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