OUR BELIEFS

what we believe

We believe God spoke the whole universe into being, and that He made humanity in His image. In this broken and hurting world in need of redemption, God is always at work, patiently and deeply. The Bible is written not only to us but also about us, and its pages invite an intimate conversation with the One who made us for relationship with Him. The Bible holds out the rich promise that we can partner in the work of God in this world. It’s a personal address – inviting, commanding, challenging, comforting, directing – not coercing. He provides us the space and freedom of choosing to respond and receive.

Jesus, the Messiah, is God entering into human history in order to accomplish for us what we could never accomplish on our own.  His life, death, and resurrection opened the way for restoration of our relationship by overcoming the power of sin and death.  Grace is the only way to have a relationship with God and faith is how to grow in that relationship. The resurrection of Jesus provides us with eternal life – this current life is not an end, but a beginning. History is not meaningless but moving towards a glorious climax – Jesus is coming again!

In the meantime, He has commissioned His church with the responsibility and opportunity to take the Good News of new life everywhere we go, and to hold out this offer of transformation that is available for every single person.

denomination

Westminster Chapel is made up of people from several different denominations who hold to a common purpose and statement of faith. We refer to ourselves as a Christ-centered, non-denominational church.

statement of faith/doctrine

We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as being verbally inspired by God and completely inerrant in the original writings and of supreme and final authority in faith and life.

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.

We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned, and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word, and deed.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and His present life for us as High Priest and Advocate.

We believe in “that blessed hope,” the personal, premillenial, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God, a relationship in which they are eternally secure.

We believe that all who are born of the Holy Spirit belong to the one true Church, the Body of Christ.

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting conscious punishment
of the lost.

statement of practice

We believe that God created men and women equal and unique. Both are co-heirs in the grace and forgiveness of God with access by grace through faith to all the gifts God has given through His Son.

We believe that God created the unique covenant of marriage as a life-long commitment between one man and one woman.

We believe that God established local authority in the form of godly and qualified elders. The church functions best when the members exist under the authority of biblical eldership.