New Life Church An Oasis of Love
with Pastor Marti and Jessica McGrail
ANSWERS CHURCH JESUS ALWAYS WENT TO WORSHIP: (Luke 4:16) WORSHIP IS VERY IMPORTANT: (John 4:21-24) THE FIRST BELIEVERS AND THE FIRST CHURCH: (Acts 2:42-47) THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST ON EARTH: (Romans 12:4-21) DON'T NEGLECT CHURCH ATTENDANCE: (Hebrews 10:25) WHAT IF CHURCH IS BORING: (Hebrews 10) THE PURPOSE OF THE TITHE (Deut. 14:23 (TLB)) ''The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives.'' When we Tithe (Tenth) the Bible teaches that we are blessed for obdience to God's Word, thus honoring Him for giving us the provisions in the first place. Without God's promised blessing we wouldn't even be able to tithe. The ''Tithe'' is God's ''fee'' for the provision he has given you. When we give our ''Offering'' the Bible teaches we are blessed on the seed we have planted in faith. So, when you ''Tithe'' you are giving God what is his. When you give an ''Offering'' you are giving a portion of your provision and God blesses us richly when we bless others. The ''Tithe'' and ''Offering'' is intended to be used for the work and expenses of the church ministry. We ''Tithe'' to our home church and give ''Offerings'' when visiting with other ministries. A church that ''Tithes'' and gives ''Offerings'' is a rich church regardless of its size. ''The Church'' is not the organization - it is ''The People'' united as the living Body of Christ. The church belongs to Jesus and the ministry is the work assigned to each person in that body. HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE The concept of key verses, or spiritual glasses, should be easy to understand for anyone who wears glasses. Many of us at one point during our life will develop poor vision. We might even find that we can stumble around in the dark and find a few things that are always kept in the same place, but most of the time we'll need to turn the light on and put our glasses on to find anything important. And Bible study is a search process. We are looking for information from God, and if we do not know what we are looking for, or what God is trying to provide to us, we will have a hard time finding it. Just as physical glasses allow us to see farther, and keep things in focus, knowing the main point of God's message allows us to see His Word.
There are two methods often used to study the Bible. One way is to go to the Bible to prove what you have already decided is true. This method is useless, because our search process will ignore any teaching which does not fit with what we believe. When this type of study is done, we believe the same as we did when we started, and usually we have learned nothing. A better way is to read the Bible to discover what God is trying to say to us. If that is our goal, verses that explain a part of God's message, or why God does something, or shows us the big picture of what everything is about, become very important. These verses are scattered randomly through the Bible, and finding them are like finding gems. The above examples show how to understand the following concepts:
The purpose of a Book: Job is a hard book to read. After a couple of simple chapters it bogs down in an endless debate between several friends that are getting increasingly angry with each other. It is a good book to illustrate how quickly we often lose our compassion for people who are suffering. And the book of Job does not seem to show God caring much about Job. But James throws a different light on it. James is talking to people who are suffering, and he points them to Job as an example of someone who could not see why God was not showing his love. But Job endured, and God blessed him afterward. James says that during the suffering we have no way to understand the heart of God. We have to trust God to bless us when the situation is finished, as he did with Job.
The purpose of punishment: Our society does not like to admit to being wrong, nor are we willing to accept the consequences of our mistakes. Therefore some people simply believe that a ''good'' God would never punish man, or if they see God bringing punishment upon a nation they believe that he is cruel. But the end of Chronicles, which concludes several hundred years of Jewish history, the author addresses this issue. He said that God wanted a relationship with his people, and that he repeatedly tried everything in his power to get his people to be reasonable. But God has a limit to his patience, and wrong will not go unpunished. We see here a God who is both merciful and just.
Central message of the Bible: When Jesus makes a comment that a way of acting toward each other is a summary of what the law and prophets were teaching, or when he says that our love for God and man is like a nail in a wall that gives the law and the prophets something to hang on, we should sit up and take notice. God is trying to tell us, ''This is what I have been trying to tell you all along.'' Both verses stress the concept that religion, in God's view, is primarily focused in relationships. That shouldn't surprise us. The Ten Commandments, which form the core of the Jewish law, focused on how we are to act toward God and each other. Most of the Jewish law itemized for various situations what was the right way to act toward others, and how to correct the situation when people did not act that way. All of the attitudes that God asks us to develop within ourselves, and the way he commands us to act toward each other, are designed to build or heal relationships. God is interested in teaching us how to have relationships that will last for the eternity that we will exist. Paul echo’s this, in 1 Corinthians 13. He examines all of the things that people normally expect from religion: a dynamic preacher, a wise prophet, a person of unshakable faith, the willingness to give our wealth away or to be a martyr. All have no value without love. Paul's description of love is a handbook for building relationships. He says that much of what we think to be important in religion will pass away, but three will remain. And Love is placed at the top of these three. We should constantly be looking the Bible to see what does or does not work with relationships, and also seeing how God defines himself.
Summary
1. Bible study is discovering what God has to say to us, not proving what we already believe. 2. God provides us clues to help us understand the main point. 3. One of the most important reasons that the Bible exists is to help us with relationships 4. Our understanding of a section of scripture should be consistent with the purpose of the author, and with what God says is the main point of the entire Bible. Christian Doctrine As Born-Again believers we base all of our beliefs and teachings on one primary principle - The Bible is the revealed Will of God. There is one God, who is the creator of all things, and is comprised of three co-equal persons in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Man, whom God created in His image, fell into sin through willful disobedience, resulting in spiritual separation from God. Man's only hope of redemption and restoration of his relationship with God is belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Salvation is achieved by trusting in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness, not by performing good deeds. However, human works are an outward evidence of one's salvation. All believers should earnestly seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which will equip them for personal growth and grant them spiritual gifts to use in service to the church. Jesus Christ will one day return to bring believers home to Heaven and will reign with them over the Earth for 1,000 years. Those who have not accepted Christ as Savior will suffer eternal separation from God. After Christ's millennial reign, there will be a new Heaven and Earth where we will eternally live with Him. A more detailed doctrinal statement can be accessed below. Statements of Fundamental Truths and Doctrine All Scripture (The Bible), both Old and New Testaments, was given by inspiration of God, as the writers were moved by the Holy Spirit, to write the very words of God and that the Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12).
There is one true God who has revealed Himself as existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All are co-equal and co-eternal (Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:21-22; 1 John 5:7). Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the second member of the Godhead (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1,14). The Bible teaches man's creation, test, and fall as recorded in the book of Genesis. By voluntary transgression, he fell, and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21).
Jesus Christ is the Savior of men, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgen Mary, very God and very man (Luke 1:26-35; John 1:18; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6). The Bible teaches the Salvation of Man (a) Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus Christ became sin and sickness, providing both salvation and healing for all mankind (Psalm 103:3). This salvation comes by believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with your mouth, Jesus as Lord (Romans 3:24, 10:8-10).
(b) The inward evidence, to the believer, is the direct witness of the spirit (Romans 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of true holiness and love (1 John 3:23; John 13:35). (c) Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and not by human works; however our works are evidence of our faith and will determine our rewards in eternity (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10, 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; James 2:18). The Bible teaches the necessity of Water Baptism by immersion as a declaration to the world that a believer has died with Christ and that they have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life (Matthew 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; Romans 6. The Bible teaches celebration of the Lord's Supper by eating of the bread and drinking of the cup is a remembrance of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:24-30). The Bible teaches that all believers are entitled to, and should ardently expect and earnestly seek, the promise of the Father, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to the command of Jesus Christ. With this comes the endowment of power for life and service, the bestowment of gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8; 2:38-39, 10:44-46, 11:14-16, 15:7-9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31).
The Bible teaches Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The full consummation of the Baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is evidenced by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and by the subsequent manifestation of spiritual power in public testimony and service (Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, 19:2, 6, 1:8).
The Bible teaches that the Church is the Body of Christ and each believer is an integral part (Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23).
The Bible teaches Total Prosperity of man (a) Spiritual (John 3:3,11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Romans 10:9-10) (b) Mental (2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 12:1; Isaiah 26:3) (c) Physical (Isaiah 53:4, 5; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24) (d) Financial (3 John 1:2; Malachi 3: 10-11; Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-10; Deuteronomy 28:1-14) (e) Social (Proverbs 3:4) The Bible teaches the Blessed Hope: Jesus is coming again to gather all His Saints to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1). The Bible teaches those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from the Godhead and will burn in the lake of fire (Revelation19:20, 20:10-15).
The Bible teaches the Millennial Reign of Jesus: The return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His Saints from Heaven to rule and reign for 1,000 years on earth as the Scripture promised (Romans 11:25, 27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:1-7). After this, there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21). New Life Christian Church has adopted the above Statements of Fundamental Truths and Doctrine from the Bible as our belief. |
