What We Believe
We are a non-denominational church, committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These basic doctrines within the Rooted Community Church Statement of Faith represent what we believe to be core elements of Biblical teaching.
God the Father, creator of all, orders and plans all things according to His purpose and grace. The Father initiates relationship, salvation, and reconciliation with all mankind, which He ordained from before the beginning of the world. He has sent Jesus to redeem people, and He is preparing a place for those that He adopts into his eternal family through His Son. God does all this for the sake of His own glory, the recognition of God’s name in heaven and on earth.
Jesus Christ is the only Son of God. Through Him all things were made. He was prophesied in Scripture to be the Messiah and fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation. By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the virgin Mary and exists with both human and divine nature. He lived a sinless life to be our substitute, ushered in the Kingdom of God on earth, and gave us the example of how to live as ambassadors of God. He is the savior and redeemer of mankind through His death on the cross and His resurrection. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
The Holy Spirit was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to apply to mankind the saving work of Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the work of regeneration and sanctification in the believer. At the point of salvation, He permanently indwells every believer and is their source of assurance, strength, and wisdom, guiding and empowering them for Christ-like living. He uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the building up of the church body. The Holy Spirit guides believers in understanding and applying the Scriptures, which He inspired.
God is revealed in the Bible as one true, holy, sovereign God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, – each of Whom is fully God, displaying distinct Personhood. Each of these persons are in perfect and eternal relationship with each other, so that God is in community, not at odds with himself, and works in unity to accomplish His will. This includes creating and sustaining the universe, and working throughout history to fulfill his redemptive purpose. He is eternal, and unchangeable in holiness, justice, mercy, love, power, wisdom, and truth.
God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
God created mankind in His image and likeness, male and female, to walk in relationship with Him and to glorify, love, worship, and obey Him. God declared that humanity is the pinnacle of his creation. He blessed mankind and charged them with multiplying throughout the earth, stewarding creation and making disciples of Jesus. Mankind sinned when tempted by Satan, and in union with Adam, humans are sinners by nature and choice, enemies with God and under wrath save for reconciliation through the grace of Jesus.
Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. It is through living and active faith in Jesus’ grace for us that we are saved from condemnation in hell and adopted into the eternal family of God.
Jesus has ordained His church as the representative of His kingdom here on earth, to be in the world but not of the world. It is made up of everyone God has adopted into His family, all who call on the name of Jesus Christ in faith and follow him accordingly. We are to gather together regularly for the purpose of strengthening the body of believers and carry out God’s plan of redemption. By God’s design, the church is made up of diverse personalities and gifting, making the whole better than the sum of its parts. To that end, we are called to make disciples, to love one another, to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, and to teach and admonish one another with the wisdom that comes from the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly.
At a time known only to God, the Lord Jesus will return personally, bodily, and in glory. At that time the dead will be raised and God will judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord. He will establish a new heaven and a new earth to reign as King forever.
If a person is saved by grace, through faith, and it is a gift of God, not by their own works – then it is equally impossible for that person’s works to undo the gift, grace, and work of God. All those that God calls, He justifies, and He does not lose any that are His. A Christian, who has believed in their heart, confessed with their mouth, and placed their faith in Jesus Christ, cannot, through any doing of their own, become un-saved.
Distinctives
The following topics are a range of conversations that sincere Christians have different thoughts about, or might say idifferently. This is how our church has prayerfully and humbly understood what the Bible says on these important topics.
Jesus himself demonstrated and commanded the ordinance of baptism. In following his lead, those who have expressed faith in him as savior are commanded to be baptized in water as a symbol of the death and resurrection of Christ. It is meant both as a public declaration of faith and a welcoming of the believer into the history and community of the Church. Although it is a one-time event, it is a means of grace used by the Holy Spirit to continually remind us of the benefits that come with our union with Christ.
Acts 2:38, Mt 28:19, Mt 3:13-17, Eph 4:4-5, Ro 6:1-5
Communion is an act done by a gathering of believers, to remember Christ’s body that was sacrificed and His blood of the new covenant that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Like baptism, it is not intended for unbelievers to participate. The taking of bread and juice is a symbol of Jesus’ body and blood, but it is a special means of grace that the Holy Spirit uses to align our hearts at the cross of Christ. Because of this, Scripture commands us to receive communion in a worthy manner, examining ourselves soberly, recognizing the sacrifice of Jesus and our need for his redemption.
Luke 22:19-20. Heb 9:22, 1 Cor 11:26-32
God has organized His global Church into local churches, the consistent fellowship of believers. These are shepherded through the Holy Spirit by elders. These are to be men, displaying spiritual maturity, good reputation in and outside the church, and an ability to teach. They are to shepherd the community and exercise judgment in doctrine, practice, and discipline of believers. They are to lead humbly with good example, as a model of Jesus’ servant leadership.
Acts 20:28-32, Mt 18:17, 1 Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5, 1 Tim 5:17, 1 Peter 5:1-4
God created humanity in His image, and a key aspect to this are the genders of male and female. Men and women are distinctly designed by God to reflect his character and attributes in unique ways. Like all parts of our being, feelings of gender and sexuality are susceptible to being impacted by the fall and our sinful nature. However, his good and perfect plan is that each individual would celebrate their God-given gender.
In addition, God designed marriage as a lifelong monogamous relationship between a man and woman. Marriage is meant to be exclusive, permanent, intimate, safe, and holy. It is not an institution, it is a covenant that two people enter into and experience a special form of joy and sanctification. By doing so, they become one flesh, and are called to represent Christ’s covenant with his Church by the way they love each other, sacrifice for each other, and die to self.
Genesis 1:27; 2:22-25; Matthew 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12; 1 Corinthians 6:16; 7:2-5; Ephesians 5:25-27, Ephesians 5:32, Gen. 2:24, Heb. 13:4
God has declared that all believers in Christ share in his priestly status; therefore, there is no special class of people who mediate the knowledge, presence, and forgiveness of Christ to the rest of believers. The church is not meant to be lead by professionals only, but all Christian have the ability and the responsibility to make disciples of Jesus. This includes every Christian’s ability to read, interpret, and apply the teachings of Scripture.
1 Pet 2:5-9, Mt 28:19-20, 1 Cor 2:6-16, John 20:21
Every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation. The Spirit gives spiritual gifts to the Church, both to glorify Christ accomplish God’s purpose in the world. He gives some gifts for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of ministry, and He also gives unique and special abilities to each member of the Body of Christ, to serve and strengthen others. It is valuable for every believer to discover, develop and employ their spiritual gifts for use among the body of Christ.
Romans 8:9; I Corinthian 3:16, 1 Corinthians 12:11, Acts 1:8, John 16:14, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Ephesians 4:7-12, Romans 12:5-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-31, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Peter 4:10-11