BIBLE

The authority of Scripture and our submission to its living counsel.

GOSPEL

The good news is that God is ever-pursuing his original Creation mandate of human flourishing and perfect relationship, culminating in Jesus’ sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection.

SALVATION

The necessity of salvation by grace for a restored relationship with God and one another. This can only be attained by faith in Jesus that he came and lived a perfect life and died for our sins--rising three days later to conquer sin and death.

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

The Apostles’ Creed is the foundational creed of Christian churches. It has received this title because of its great antiquity; most of the creed dates from the early 2nd century. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Though many churches and flavors of Christianity throughout the ages have different interpretations of the Bible and embrace various doctrinal nuances, the essence of what the Scriptures teach is found in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

Therefore, we have fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ who profess their faith as follows:

We believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Creation

God’s creation was an uncorrupted place of human flourishing through union with God and one another.

Fall

Humanity rebelled against God, attempting to be our own gods, resulting in the corruption of creation.

Redemption

Beginning with Abraham and Sarah, God began a long story of redemption. Israel is a family line leading to Jesus, who fulfilled the promise of blessing all nations by making a way for all people to be redeemed through his death and resurrection.

Renewal

God’s plan is for the renewal of all creation, and the Scripture ends with heaven and earth restored as one.

SEXUALITY

One of the great difficulties in defining a biblical understanding of sexuality in our modern context is the unseen, inner pain a person often carries behind the question. In recent history, the church has mishandled the topic of sexuality from a variety of angles. The church’s witness has centered on what forms of sexual expression Scripture is against instead of the dignifying, freeing sexual expression Scripture advocates for. Jesus majored in the latter; the church has emphasized the former. More personally, while the church has historically held to an understanding of sexuality distinct from the surrounding culture, the application of that belief in recent history has become alienating to those whose sexual expression does not line up with the church’s. The tragedy of that shift has been that many have been made to feel alienated by the Christian church because of sexual practice and/or sexual orientation.

Because of the complexity presented by recent history, we will succinctly define both our belief and how we express our belief, which carry equal importance.

Belief

We believe in the historically Christian view of marriage and sexual expression; namely, that marriage is a lifelong one-flesh covenant union between two sexually different persons (male and female) from different families, and that all sexual practice outside of marriage is sin.

How We Express Our Belief

The expression of this belief is often the more important question to people in search of a spiritual home: Will I (or one of my loved ones) be welcomed at Lake Springs Church? And is there a barrier where that welcome is worn out?

Regardless of sexual practice and/or orientation, Lake Springs Church welcomes all to worship with us. Jesus is the head of the church, and Jesus was uncompromising in teaching and calling people to align with his beliefs, a pathway to “life to the full.” (John 10:10) Another group of rabbis, called the Pharisees, were equally convicted of the truth of their beliefs, and held many beliefs in common with Jesus. So why was it that those who felt alienated by the Pharisees also felt so welcome by Jesus? Because of how each expressed common beliefs: the Pharisees did so in pride, as their primary concern was being right, while Jesus did so in love, as His primary concern was compassion for the person and story behind the belief.

The church is called the Body of Christ. We are a communal expression of Jesus’ heart, so both our beliefs and our expression of those beliefs should mirror Jesus.

We reserve the right to limit the ability to serve as a member in our church to those who hold a different belief than the one we have laid out here.

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

The question of how men and women relate and engage in church leadership offices (particularly pastor and elder) has been a subject of significant debate at various points in church history. There are many considerations within the broader subject of men and women in leadership that are dealt with in the Bible. Here we have included a summary of things we see taught across the arc of Scripture that directly bear on our church’s position and practice.

We believe that women and men are created equal in the image of God.

We believe that full equality between women and men does not mean women and men are completely the same. There is goodness and beauty uniquely represented in each gender that profoundly reflects and glorifies God.

We believe God gives leadership in the church on the basis of grace, calling, spiritual gifts, obedience, and character.

We believe both women and men can and should lead, be able to teach, and serve within the church. We believe women and men doing this together will result in a more robust ministry of love and grace than one gender can sustain alone.

We believe that the Bible teaches that men are designated to be the primary leaders, serving in roles of pastor and shepherd of Christ’s church. Therefore we reserve the position of pastor and elder to men who fit the qualifications outlined in scripture. Primary in the life of a pastor or elder should be a Christ-like example, care and love for all people.

Lake Springs Church believes that men and women are equally gifted and qualified to lead and serve as co-laborers in the church. We do not simply permit, but expressly value, the presence of both men and women in these various facets of church leadership.