Does what we believe really matter?

Absolutely!  What we believe about the Bible, Jesus and what we teach has to be the same thing Jesus taught the original followers.  The Church is Jesus' body - He died for her - and so it's extremely important that we live, teach, and share life the way Jesus showed us.

We want to pass on what we believe in a simple, yet concise way, so you know exactly what we believe as a church. Let's do that in two ways: a quick version and a in-depth version.

Quick Version

God exists. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and the undisputed King of the Universe. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created everything you know and everyone you'll ever meet. To God, every person matters profoundly to him. Everyone has sinned, therefore, everyone needs Jesus, who died for our sins, rose again from the dead on the third day, and is coming back. Salvation is by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and you enter into that relationship ship through water baptism (immersion), where your sins are washed away, and you are raised to new life (Rom. 6:3-14).

Heaven and hell are real. Angels and demons, including Satan are real. The Holy Spirit lives in every baptized believer and gifts each with talents to live and serve the Church. The Bible, which is God’s Word, is both true and powerful.  Communion is a memorial celebration to Jesus’ death. Jesus started the church before His death, protects it through every age, and commissioned the church to tell the world about Him. 

The Detailed Version

God and Salvation

  • We believe in one God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:16,45; 6:1,4,8,9; James 1:17/John 1:1; 14:9 / Genesis 1:2; John 4:24; 14:16-20; 2 Peter 1:21)
  • We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of all things visible and invisible (Genesis 1:1; Acts 17:24-28; Hebrews 11:3)
  • We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son, the one and only Savior (John 1:14; 1 John 4:9 / John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:18)
    • Who was born Jesus of Nazareth, both fully human and fully divine, conceived of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary (Matthew 21:11; John 19:19 / John 1:14; Romans 5;15-17; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 1:1 / Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26-38)
    • Who suffered and was crucified under Pontius Pilate (Luke 23:1-46)
    • Who died and was buried, and Who rose again bodily from the dead on the third day (Luke 23:44 – 24:8; John 20:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
    • Who ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father (Luke 22:69; Acts 1:1-9; Colossians 3:1)
    • Who will return to judge both the living and the dead(Matthew 24:36-42; John 14:1-3, Acts 1:10-11; 10:39-42; 1 Peter 4:5)
  • We believe in the Holy Spirit
    • Who is an active and operative part of the triune God (John 16:5-15; Acts 1:7-8; Romans 8:26-27)
    • Who indwells every baptized Christian (Acts 2:38;1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:14)
    • Who enters every believer at the time of baptism (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11;Luke 3:21-22;Acts 2:38)
  • We believe in the Bible—We believe God inspired the autographs (original writings) of the Scripture and those autographs are consequently without error (Mark 12:36; John 14:26; 16:12-15; Acts 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:14-16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
    • We accept the Bible as the final authority for all matters of faith and practice (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18; 24:35; Romans 15:4; Hebrews 4:12)
  • We believe the Bible teaches that man, created by God, willfully sinned against God and is consequently lost and without hope apart from Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23)
  • We believe the Bible teaches that salvation—the forgiveness of sins—is only by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7)
    • We believe the Bible teaches that one receives God’s grace and new life by putting faith in Christ, repenting of sin, confessing Christ and being immersed into Christ in water baptism  (Romans 5:1-2 / Luke 24:45-47; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9 / Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11; 1 John 4:15 / Acts 2:38, Romans 6:1-7; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21)
  • We believe in the Church of Jesus Christ, founded on the Day of Pentecost and consists of all Christians everywhere (Matthew 16:13-18; Acts 2:14-47)
  • We believe the Bible teaches that the elders are to exercise authority over the local congregation (Acts 20:28; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4)

Worship

We practice A Capella Worship
As is our tradition and practice, we prefer to sing our hearts to God.  We do not seek to make a dividing issue over this, but as a congregation, we have chosen to rely on the simple and pure worship of the human voice and heart.  As such, you won’t see any musical instruments used in the worship services.

The Lord’s Supper (Communion)
We believe that the New Testament shows that the church took communion on at least a weekly basis, on the first day of the week (Sunday) as reminder of God’s great love shown through Jesus Christ.  (John 20:1; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 20:7)

Every Week during our worship gatherings we meet around the table to celebrate and remember our Lord Jesus with our brothers and sisters in a demonstration of love, unity, and commitment to our Savoir.  (Matt. 26:17-30;Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)

Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality

We believe the term “marriage” has only one meaning:  the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated by Scripture (Gen. 2:18-25). 

·We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, and these distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Gen. 1:26-27). 

We believe rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.

We believe any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 15:18-20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10).

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 6:9-11).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31).  Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Crosspointe Church of Christ.