Our Beliefs
Beliefs Essential for Salvation
Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God, who died for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice and physically rose from the grave three days later. All those who have trusted Christ as their personal savior are redeemed and are members of the worldwide body of Christ. We welcome all who hold this belief as brothers and sisters in the Lord, and invite them to become part of our fellowship at Electra Community Church (John 1:14, 3:16; Acts 16:31; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; Colossians 1:14-20).
Doctrines Essential for Teaching and Leadership in Electra Community Church
Our elders believe that the Bible unequivocally teaches the following doctrines, although we recognize that in some cases sincere and intelligent Christians hold different views. In order for unity to prevail within Electra Community Church (Acts 4:32; Philippians 1:27, 2:1-2), we require that all those in positions of leadership and teaching must personally hold to these basic beliefs. However, should you disagree with some aspects of them, you are certainly welcome to be a vital part of our fellowship.
1. The Bible
We believe that the Bible – the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments – is the written word of God, our final and infallible authority in faith and life. We believe that the very words of the original texts, and not merely the general concepts or ideas, were inspired by God and thus are free from error – both historically and conceptually true in every detail. (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
2. The Trinity
We believe in one God who exists eternally in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; these persons are coequal, each fully possessing the divine nature. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Acts 5:3-4)
3. The Creation
We believe that God created the universe from nothing, populated the earth with plants and animals and created man during a period of six consecutive, twenty-four hour days. (Genesis 1:1-2:3; Exodus 20:11)
4. The Fall of Man
We believe that man was created in the image of God, but that he willfully sinned and consequently experienced immediate spiritual death (i.e. separation from God) and eventual physical death. As a result, all people are born with a fallen nature and, in fact, do personally sin. Apart from Jesus Christ all are eternally lost.
(Genesis 1:26-27, 2:17, 3:6; Romans 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3)
5. Jesus Christ – His Person
We believe that God the Son became human in the person of Jesus Christ; was conceived by the Holy Spirit within the womb of Mary, a virgin; and is fully God and fully man. (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 4:15)
6. Jesus Christ – His Work
We believe the Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, died for the world’s sin as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that only those who believe in Him are made righteous and eternally acceptable before God. (Isaiah 53:4-5; Mark 10:45; Romans 3:24-26; Colossians 1:19-20; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
7. Jesus Christ – His Resurrection
We believe that Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where, as our high priest, He is presently interceding for us and directing the church. (John 20:24-27; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 1:4; Ephesians 1:19-21; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 4:14; Colossians 1:19)
8. Salvation
We believe that anyone who trusts Jesus Christ as his personal savior is given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit, who immediately and permanently indwells him and baptizes him into the body of Christ as a child of God. This salvation is a gift. It is not based on any human effort or merit, but on the grace of our sovereign God; thus once granted, it can never be lost. (John 1:12, 3:1-16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28, 8:9, 38-39; John 14:16-17; 1 Corinthians 12:13)
9. Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
We believe that God’s offer of salvation to all who will believe in Jesus Christ is genuine. The person who rejects God’s offer is fully responsible for his choice and justly bears the consequences. Nevertheless, we believe that man’s sinful condition does not permit him to come to God unless God first draws him to Himself. We further believe that all Christians were sovereignty chosen by God for salvation before the creation of the world. This tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility pervades many other areas of doctrine and life; its apparent contradiction is due only to man’s inability to fully comprehend the workings of an infinite God. (John 6:37, 44; Acts 16:31; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 3:9)
10. Sanctification
We believe that at the point of salvation, God has changed the nature of every believer and is in the process of changing every believer to be more like Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit. The believer’s responsibility is to yield himself to Jesus Christ as the Lord of his life. (Romans 6:1-14; 8:11-13, 12:1,2; Galatians 5:16)
11. Spiritual Gifts
We believe that the Holy Spirit gives at least one spiritual gift to every believer to be used for building up other believers. These gifts are to be exercised according to biblical guidelines and priorities. We believe that certain spiritual gifts given to the early church (among them the gifts of apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, healing and performing miracles) were temporary in nature and are not present in the Western Church today. Electra Community Church is a non-charismatic church. (Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 28-31, 13:8-10, 14:20-33; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 4:10-11)
12. The Universal Church
We believe that the church consists of all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost until the present. The church has a threefold purpose: to give God the worship and praise He deserves, to build up believers to spiritual maturity and to evangelize the world – witnessing, by our words and our lives, the truth of God’s provision for man through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 4:4-16; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Matthew 5:13-16, 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Acts 1:8)
13. The Local Church
We believe that each local church is to be nurtured and governed by a group of elders who operate under the headship of Jesus Christ. These are men called by God to a shepherding ministry and are recognized on the basis of biblical qualifications.
Apart from the office of elder and the ministry of the pulpit, women may serve in any church position or ministry.
Local church elders may be assisted by deacons, who also must be biblically qualified and who perform ministries of service. (Acts 14:23, 20:17, 28-31; 1 Timothy 2:9-12, 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9, 2:3-5; 1 Corinthians 14:34-35)
14. The Ordinances
We believe that Christ has commissioned each local church to regularly practice the baptism of believers and the Lord’s Supper. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 8:26-39, 16:30-34; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
15. The Christian Life
We believe that as Christians, we should order our lives according to biblical priorities, among the most important of which are these:
a. the cultivation of our personal relationship with God.
b. the expression of love first to fellow Christians, then to all mankind by the commitment of our time, our effort and our resources.
c. sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with non-believers.
(John 15:1-27, 17:15-23; Titus 2:1-14; Galatians 6:10; Colossians 3:18-24; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 John 4:7-11)
16. Angels, Demons and Satan
We believe that angels are real beings, created by God, and are sent out by Him to minister especially to believers.
We also believe in the existence of fallen angels – demons – who work to thwart God’s purposes in the world. Chief among them is Satan, who attempts to defeat believers through deception and temptation to sin. Christians can overcome Satan’s schemes by applying biblical truth through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Job 1:6-12, 38:6-7; Isaiah 6:1-3; Ezekiel 28:12-19; John 8:44; Hebrews 1:14; Jude 6; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Ephesians 6:10-18)
17. Resurrection and Judgments
We believe that all people will be physically resurrected after death. Non-believers will be judged by God and will suffer eternal separation from Him. Believers will be examined by Jesus Christ and will be rewarded according to their faithfulness. All believers will enjoy eternal fellowship with God in heaven. (John 5:24-29; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Revelation 20:11-15)
18. The End Times
We believe that the church age will end with the following sequence of events, which could begin at any moment:
a. The Rapture: When Christ will come and instantaneously gather all Christians to Himself. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58)
b. The Tribulation: A seven-year period under the domination of the antichrist and characterized by divine judgments. (Daniel 9:24-27; Revelation 4:1-18:24)
c. The Second Coming: When Christ will personally and visibly return to earth to defeat the forces of the antichrist and bind Satan. (Revelation 19:11-16; Zechariah 14:1-15)
d. The Millennium: A one-thousand-year period of peace and righteousness over which Christ will personally reign on earth. At the end of the millennium, Satan will rebel, will again be defeated and be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. (Revelation 20:1-10; Isaiah 11:1-16)
e. The New Heavens, New Earth and New Jerusalem: A new creation in which believers will eternally dwell in fellowship with God. (Revelation 21:1-22:5; Hebrews 12:22-24)
OUR LEADERSHIP
Jesus Christ is the head of Electra Community Church (Colossians 1:18, 2:9). Under His headship, we are governed by a plurality of elders, who are men called by the Holy Spirit to oversee the life of the church. Each of our elders is recognized by the existing group after an extensive process which includes examination of his Christian maturity and Bible knowledge in light of the qualifications set forth in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, a period of internship, and consideration of feedback received from the entire congregation.
The role of the elder is to oversee and guide the life of our church body, to guard the truth of our teaching and doctrine, to provide counsel and encouragement to individuals in the body, and to be examples of faith and Christian living. Our leaders may be paid or unpaid, with varying functions and varying degrees of visibility, but all work to equip the people of Electra Community Church for the work of the ministry (Acts 20:28,31; Eph 4:11-13).
The only biblically authorized offices, within the church are Head or Chief Shepherd (who is Christ), elder, deacon, and believer-priest. The New Testament knows nothing of a single-leader church, however that leader may be designated.
Thus our form of government is solidly biblical (Acts 14:23, 20:28; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:1-4). We believe that there are also several practical benefits of governments by a plurality of elders:
a. Decision making that obtains the wisdom of all before action is taken.
b. Effective maintenance of the character and vision of the church, since it is held by several men rather than by only one.
c. Personal and moral accountability of each elder to a team of fellow shepherds.
d. Modeling leadership through varied personalities and spiritual gifts.
Since Christ is the head of Electra Community Church, our leadership must seek and conform to His direction in shepherding and guiding the flock. Therefore the elders have committed themselves to being unified in all major decisions; disagreement over an issue is taken as a sign that more consideration and prayer are needed. Likewise, the elders are committed to actively seeking input from the entire church family before making major decisions.
You are urged to pray regularly for the elders and to make your needs, suggestions and observations known to them.
OUR MEMBERSHIP
The universal church consists of all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as personal savior. No local church can confer or withdraw this membership. The Bible clearly demonstrates, however, that each Christian needs to give his love, loyalty and commitment to a local group of believers (Hebrews 10:23-25). There is a lifetime of growth to be found in developing the relationships and ministry opportunities that God has for each of us within such a fellowship. Therefore we believe that regular participation in the life of a local church is vitally important for every believer, and we encourage you to make this type of personal commitment.
Although there is nothing biblically wrong with formal church membership, for several reasons we have adopted the policy of having no formal Electra Community Church membership roll:
a. We want each person to feel at home and fully included in our church family on no other basis than his or her relationship to Jesus Christ.
b. We want to provide shepherding and nurturing to anyone who desires it, apart form any official membership status.
c. We believe that our teaching on the nature and function of the church will be more effective if we avoid some of the traditional practices concerning church membership.
d. We want each person to understand that mere inclusion on a church roll does not insure that one is rightly related to God. Such a relationship is attained solely by placing one’s faith in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.
We welcome anyone who has personally trusted Jesus Christ as savior, and who wishes to identify with Electra Community Church, to “join” through regular participation with us.
CHURCH DISCIPLINE
The practice of church discipline is a biblical imperative. It is commanded by Jesus (Matt 18:15-17) and by Paul (1 Cor 5:1-13). By neglecting the proper exercise of church discipline, a church not only compromises its spiritual integrity, but also endangers its very existence (i.e., the church at Thyatira in Rev 2:20-24).
Electra Community Church is committed to following the Bible’s clear teaching on this important issue. Your choosing to become a part of the Electra Community Church family indicates that you accept the biblical teaching regarding church discipline and consider yourself subject to our policy. You may obtain a copy of our policy on church discipline from any of the elders.
OUR FINANCES
Individual giving is a form of worship; it should be done joyously, freely, generously and without internal or external compulsion. We do not want to hinder spiritual growth by resorting to man-made fund raising techniques that place people under pressure to give or create false guilt. Rather, we desire to provide everyone with the opportunity to give voluntarily. Consequently we take no offerings during our services; instead, we provide offering boxes at various locations so that all who desire to worship God through giving can do so freely and privately. We do not seek financial pledges. We believe that it is a wise policy for Electra Community Church to avoid financial debt. God has faithfully honored our practice of waiting on Him to meet our needs and has always enabled us to meet all of our financial obligations in a timely manner. (2 Corinthians 9:1-15; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; Philippians 4:19)
OUR VISION
In the years ahead, we desire to continue to grow up in Christ as a family of believers. As we mature as a Church, we intend to concentrate on the following areas, which we believe to be key to spiritual health for a local assembly:
Our goal will always be to stay prayerfully dependant on God’s leading into new areas of service as well as fresh approaches to our existing ministries.