Statement of Faith for Living Waters Church of Hastings
1. About God
We believe in God. We believe God exists as the Trinity (three divine persons and yet one divine being) because the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there is only one God. We believe the triune God alone is holy. We believe the triune God alone is love. We believe the triune God alone is sovereign. We believe God created all things and is actively involved in the affairs of this world.
About the Father
We believe the Father is fully God and has existed for all of eternity past. We believe the Father is the Father because the Son has always been his Son.
About the Son
We believe the Son is fully God and has existed for all of eternity past. We believe the Son pre-existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit prior to his incarnation. We believe the Son became fully human through the incarnation and yet remained fully God (he became hungry and tired and yet he could forgive sins).
About the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God and has existed for all of eternity past. We believe the Holy Spirit is the means by which God does all that He does including making God known to the world.
2. About the Bible
We believe the Bible, as it exists in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the word of God. We believe the Bible is God’s account given through man by divine inspiration. We believe the Bible is designed to reveal God, liberate human beings, and judge the world. We believe the Bible to be trustworthy (infallible) and true (inerrant) in all that it proclaims. We believe the Bible to be trustworthy and true because God has preserved his word for his church since he inspired it.
About the New Testament
We believe the New Testament exists in completed form in the twenty-seven “books” he has preserved for His church. We believe the New Testament primarily tells the story of God’s relationship with the world through the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the giving of the Holy Spirit, and the establishment of New Covenant church (the united Christian community). We believe the New Testament is authoritative for the New Covenant church. We believe submission to the New Testament is a requirement for a right relationship with Jesus.
About the Old Testament
We believe the Old Testament exists in completed form in the thirty-nine books he has preserved for his church. We believe the Old Testament primarily tells the story of God’s relationship with Israel (God’s chosen people) and his establishment of the Old Covenant. We believe the Old Testament is not authoritative for Christian Church in the same way as the New Testament. We believe the Old Testament is useful for Christians in so far as it teaches us and provides encouragement for us in our daily walk with Jesus.
3. About Mankind
We believe mankind was created in the image of God. We believe that, since mankind was created in the image of God, mankind has inherent worth both to God and to rest of mankind. We believe mankind was separated from God not only because of Eve’s disobedience but also because of Adam’s participation in the disobedience and his failure to protect his wife. We believe this separation was not the end of the story but, instead, marked the beginning of God working to redeem his creation. We believe it has been God’s intention from the beginning to be glorified through a redeemed mankind living in relationship with him.
About Mankind’s Relationship with God
We believe a relationship with God is a gift from him to us. We believe this gift is made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus’s life upon the cross for all who would believe in Him. We believe this gift is applied by the Holy Spirit and realized by people when they place their faith in Jesus. We believe the evidence of this relationship is confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, repentance of sin, baptism, loving God and loving others, and acceptance of God’s agenda for our lives.
4. About the Church
We believe the church is the body of Jesus, of which he is the head. We believe the members of the church are those who have trusted by faith in the person and work of Jesus. We believe the church is given the authority to represent and do the work of God as it submits and follows the leading of the Holy Spirit.
About Elders
We believe elders have been and continue to be established through the direction of the Holy Spirit for the overall leading and spiritual care of the local church. We believe elders are those men who meet the qualifications set forth within the New Testament. We believe the men who are called to be elders are not called based on natural ability; instead, they are called based on the work of the Holy Spirit in growing them up into what it means to be an elder. We believe elders function as the overall leaders of the local church under the leadership of Jesus.
About Deacons
We believe deacons have been and continue to be established through the direction of the Holy Spirit for the physical care of both the local church members and the building(s) associated with the local church. We believe deacons are those men and/or women who meet the qualifications set forth within the New Testament. We believe the men and/or women who are called to be deacons are not called based on natural ability; instead, they are called based on the work of the Holy Spirit in growing them up into what it means to be a deacon. We believe deacons function under the leadership of Jesus and the elders as far as the elders remain under the leadership of Jesus.
5. About the Covenants
We believe God has instituted covenants for his created people to live and grow to know him. We believe there have been a number of covenants instituted by God but that they can be generally understood as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
About the New Covenant
We believe the New Covenant was planned during the time of the Old Covenant. We believe the New Covenant was instituted by Jesus Christ and is now to be lived out by the Christian Church. We believe Jesus did not abolish the Old Covenant but fulfilled it by keeping all of its requirements and thus made a way for the New Covenant to be instituted. We believe Christians are bound to the New Covenant and thus not bound to the Old Covenant.About the Old Covenant
We believe the Old Covenant to have been binding on Israel (God’s chosen people). We believe the Old Covenant was given to the Israel for many purposes including but not limited to: separating them from the other nations, teaching them how to live with God, growing them in both maturity and holiness. We believe through the institution of the New Covenant, the Old Covenant is made obsolete.
6. About Family
We believe marriage is between one man and one woman who are bound to one another in a monogamous union. We believe God is the one who joins a man and a woman in marriage. We believe what God has joined together no one should seek to separate. We believe this covenant is instituted by God as a means to create a home of love in order to reflect his glory and to serve his purposes for his kingdom.
About Singleness
We believe that singleness is honorable before God in the giving of oneself to God and His purposes. We believe that singleness is a gift of God given to an individual and ought not be sought after by someone in an authentic marriage. We believe that someone who has been given the gift of singleness receive this gift with humility and contentment.
About Parenting
We believe parents are called to create an environment where their children can be raised both to know and serve the Lord in order to understand what it means to live in the Kingdom of God and to use the gifts he has given to them for his glory. We believe this calling requires parents to be the type of parents who teach and model love and discipline, who teach and model the fear of the Lord, and who equip their children on how to worship the Lord.