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Family Christmas, Part 2
Sunday, Dec 15, 2024
Series: Family Christmas
This Christmas, we remember that Jesus was born as a baby to invite us into his family. Christ’s love and forgiveness is for everyone! Let’s...
Friendship Church is a part of the Assemblies of God Fellowship.
4 CORE BELIEFS
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God and that it is infallible, inerrant, and eternally reliable in all matters of Christian faith and practice.
2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Samuel 22:31: Proverbs 30:5
Salvation
We believe that salvation is by grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ alone. To become a Christian, we must confess and repent of sin to God, turn to God, have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. God's purpose for human history is to redeem and transform all people into His image through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8-10; John 14:6; Acts 2:38; John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is for today and through the Holy Spirit, Christians are empowered to live a Godly life. We believe the Holy Spirit imparts to the believers the gifts of the Holy Spirit, empowering and manifesting them as He wills. And we believe that every believer must be filled continually with the Holy Spirit in order to live the victorious Christian life.
Matthew 3:11; John 14:1-17, 25-26; Acts 1:4-5,8; Acts 2:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12-14
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ will return soon for those who have believed in him and received His gift of salvation. Jesus Christ is the blessed hope for the church.
John 14:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
16 Fundamental Truths
This "Statement of Fundamental Truths" contains the 16 doctrines of the Assemblies of God. These are non-negotiable tenets of faith that all Assemblies of God churches adhere to:
1. The Scriptures Inspired
The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.
2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21
2. The One True God
The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10,11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22
3. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:
His virgin birth
Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31; Luke 1:35
His sinless life
Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22
His miracles
Acts 2:22; Acts 10:38
His substitutionary work on the cross
1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21
His bodily resurrection from the dead
Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4
His exaltation to the right hand of God
Acts 1:9; Acts 1:11; Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3
4. The Fall of Man
Man was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.
Genesis 1:26,27; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12-19
5. The Salvation of Man
Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God
Conditions to Salvation
Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal life.
Luke 24:47; John 3:3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5-7
The Evidence of Salvation
The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit.
Romans 8:16
The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:24; Titus 2:12
6. The Ordinances of the Church
BAPTISM IN WATER
The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded by the Scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Saviour and Lord are to be baptized. Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life.
Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47,48; Romans 6:4
HOLY COMMUNION
The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements --bread and the fruit of the vine-- is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4), a memorial of his suffering and death (1 Corinthians 11:26), and a prophecy of His second coming (1 Corinthians 11:26), and is enjoined on all believers "till He come!"
7. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.
Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.
Acts 8:12-17; Acts 10:44-46; Acts 11:14-16; Acts 15:7-9
With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as:
- an overflowing fullness of the Spirit, John 7:37-39; Acts 4:8
- a deepened reverence for God, Acts 2:43; Hebrews 12:28
- an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work, Acts 2:42
- and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost, Mark 16:20
8. The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.
Acts 2:4
The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but is different in purpose and use.
1 Corinthians 12:4-10; 1 Corinthians 12:28
9. Sanctification
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God.
Romans 12:1,2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12
The Scriptures teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord."
Hebrews 12:14
By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command: "Be ye holy, for I am holy."
1 Peter 1:15,16
Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by the faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 6:1-11; Romans 6:13; Romans 8:1,2; Romans 8:13; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:12,13; 1 Peter 1:5
10. The Church and its Mission
The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven.
Ephesians 1:22,23; Ephesians 2:22; Hebrews 12:23
11. The Ministry
A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the fourfold purpose of leading the Church in:
Evangelization of the world.
Mark 16:15-20
Worship of God.
John 4:23,24
Building a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.
Ephesians 4:11-16
Meeting human need with ministries of love and compassion.
Psalms 112:9; Galatians 2:10; 6:10; James 1:27
12. Divine Healing
Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.
Isaiah 53:4,5; Matthew 8:16,17; James 5:14-16
13. The Blessed Hope
The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the church.
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51,52
14. The Millenial Reign of Christ
The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand years.
Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 19:11-14; Revelation 20:1-6
This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel,
Ezekiel 37:21,22; Zephaniah 3:19,20; Romans 11:26,27
and the establishment of universal peace.
Isaiah 11:6-9; Psalms 72:3-8; Micah 4:3,4
15. The Final Judgement
There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned to the everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8
16. The New Heavens and the New Earth
"We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."
2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21; Revelation 22