“Where Jesus Christ is Lord and You Matter”
About
What We Believe – Our Statement of Faith
The Living Word Church and Fellowship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a non-
denominational Ministry that believes as follows:
The Lordship of Jesus Christ
There is only one Living and True God, manifesting Himself in the three Persons of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – equal in every perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of Redemption.
(Matthew 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
We accept and believe in the deity, virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, physical resurrection, and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – that He is the very God and Creator of all things!
(Luke 1:26-35; 1 Peter 1:18-21; Luke 24:1-7; Colossians 1:12-17)
We discover our relationship with God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ only and seek to serve Jesus as Lord through the whole of our lives.
(Acts 1:36, Phil.2:9-11)
The Power of the Holy Spirit
We believe in the infilling and overflowing baptism of and by the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 2:1-4; Acts 19:1-6)
We seek the empowering of the Holy Spirit as essential enablement for ministry that bears witness to Jesus. As a body of believers, we seek to develop in the operation of all the nine manifestations, the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, recognizing that the Holy Spirit is The Gift given by God. The nine manifestations of the Holy Spirit are God’s supernatural equipping for the on-going ministry of Jesus through us, effected through our accepting and encouraging the Nine
Gifts of the Holy Spirit, including teaching, healing, prophecy, words of wisdom and knowledge, discerning of spirits, and speaking in tongues as the Holy Spirit gives utterance.
(Acts 1:8, 1 Cor. 12:7-11, 2 Cor.3:2-6)
Concern for All People
We are committed to ensuring that the teaching of Scripture is available to all people regardless of status and circumstances – to fulfill the command of Christ to “preach the gospel to all creation” including those special people in God’s sight whom the Bible refers to as “the poor”.
(Mark 16:15, Matthew 11:5)
The Authority of Scripture
We accept the Bible as the full revelation, inerrant word of God and seek to approve all things according to the Word of God. The Bible is therefore the only authoritative and binding rule of faith and practice. We are committed to believing God to fulfill every promise contained in Scripture.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
Salvation
Salvation is only through Jesus Christ, by believing in Jesus Christ and confessing the samecoupled with a determination to REPENT (to turn one’s self around from sin), and follow JesusChrist!
(John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 3:19)
The Uniqueness of the Ministry
We value the ministries of the apostolic church as seen in the book of Acts, and seek the
restoration of the ministry gifts. We desire to see the Body of Christ equipped to exercise these ministries through the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Eph. 2:20, 3:5, 4:11-12)
The Centrality of Praise and Worship in Prayer and Songs
Believers are encouraged to whole-heartedly express vocal praise and worship, unto and before the Lord, in corporate assembly, and also individually in private. (Psalms 148, 149 and 150) We value worship, as we seek to respond to God’s desire for a people who worship Him in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:23-24)
The Unity of the Spirit and Unity of the Faith
As part of the Body of Christ, we seek unity with and through the Holy Spirit with every believer, and unity of the faith with all church-vineyards that confess faith in Jesus Christ. We desire to co-operate with the churches in our region, throughout the continents of North and South America and overseas in order to proclaim the gospel to every person.
(John 17:21, Eph. 4:3 and 13)
In Water Baptism by Immersion,
We believe in water baptism by immersion, not as a means of salvation, a rite, a merely external ritual, or a “sacrament,” but as a voluntary act of faith and obedience by a believer in Jesus Christ, having first repented of sin (Acts 2:38).
(The original Greek word for baptism in this passage is “baptizo,” meaning “to be dipped or immersed.”)
The Command of Jesus to Make Disciples
Our Lord gave the great commission to His Church to evangelize the world. We are committed to fulfill the great commission given by Jesus to the church, to preach the gospel to every person, seeking to draw them to become His disciples. This includes active evangelism and training of others in evangelism and is multiplied through planting churches.
(Matthew 28:18-20)
The Pursuit of Holiness
The universal depravity of man can only be forgiven and cleansed by Grace through Faith in the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(Romans 3:9-26; Ephesians 2:8-9)
Sanctification and holiness, as fruit of Repentance, follow a believer’s commitment to Jesus Christ – being set apart from the world, and leading a holy life, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
(Romans 12:1-2;2 Corinthians 7:1)
We are committed to becoming like Jesus. We desire that our personal lives and our relationships generally will reflect more and more of His character.
(1 Peter 1:15-16, Rom.8:29-30, 2 Pet.1:4)