Welcome to Sully Community Church

STATEMENT OF FAITH

1. The Holy Scriptures.

We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:21).

2. The Godhead.

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (I John 5:7; Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14).

3. The Person and Work of Jesus Christ.

a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35; John 8:58; Isaiah 7:14).

b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the Cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal and physical resurrection from the dead. (Romans 3:24, 25; I Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5).

c. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Intercessor and Advocate. (Acts 1:9,10; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24; I John 2:1,2).

4. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.

a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling, and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 3:6; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13, 14).

b. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; Ephesians 5:18; I John 2:20, 27).

5. The Total Depravity of Man.

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved; and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3).

6. Salvation.

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; I Peter 1:18, 19).

7. The Eternal Security of Believers.

We believe that, because of the eternal purpose of God toward the objects of His love; because of His freedom to exercise grace toward the meritless on the ground of the propitiatory blood of Christ; because of the prayer of the Son of God while here on earth; because of the very nature of the divine gift of eternal life; because of the present and unending intercession and advocacy of Christ in heaven; because of the immutability of the unchangeable covenants of God; because of the regenerating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who are saved; we, and all true believers everywhere, once saved, shall be kept saved forever. (John 5:24; 10:28; 13:1; 14:7; 16; 17:11; Romans 8:29; I Corinthians 6:19; Hebrews 7:25; I John 2:1, 2; 5:13; Jude 24).

8. The Assurance of Believers.

We believe it is the privilege, not only of some, but of all who are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation from the very day they take Him to be their Saviour; and that this assurance is not founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness or fitness, but wholly upon the testimony of God in His Written Word, exciting within His children filial love, gratitude, and obedience. (Luke 10:20; 21:32; II Corinthians 5:1, 6-8; Hebrews 10:22; II Timothy 1:21; I John 5:13).
9. The Church.
a. We believe that the Church, which is the Body of the espoused Bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age. (I Corinthians 12:12-14; II Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25-27).

b. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Timothy 3:1-3; Titus 1:5-11).

c. Two ordinances are given to the Church by her Lord in Scripture, they are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are not sacraments (means of grace), and they have no part in one’s salvation.

1. We do not believe that baptism is essential to or a part of salvation. However, the Bible teaches that it is an important act of obedience to the Lord (Mt. 28:19-20). Therefore, believer’s baptism by immersion shall be urged upon each candidate for church membership (Acts 2:41-42). Believer’s baptism by immersion symbolizes the identification of Christians with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. (Romans 6:3-4).

2. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination (I Corinthians 11:23-28). This ordinance shall be observed monthly on the Sunday designated by the elder board either in the morning or evening service. This ordinance is to be observed by believers in Christ who are walking in obedience to their Lord.

10. Separation.

We believe in separation from all worldly practices and associations and in a whole-hearted devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ as the only Scriptural basis for a happy and useful Christian life. (Romans 12:1, 2; 14:13; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1; II Timothy 3:1-5; I John 2:15-17).

11. The Personality of Satan.

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6,7; Isaiah 7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

12. The Second Advent of Christ.

We believe in that “Blessed Hope” the personal, imminent, pretribulational, and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom. (Zechariah 14:4-11; I Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6).
13. The Eternal State.

a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25, 26; Revelation 20:5, 6, 12, 13).

b. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; II Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelation 20:4-6).

c. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6, 7; Revelation 20:11-15).

14. The Charismatic Movement.

a. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (I Corinthians 12:4-11; II Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12).

b. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; I John 5:14-15).

15. Dispensationalism.

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensation or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these – the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the millennial kingdom – are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:17; I Corinthians 9:17; I Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:24,25; Hebrews 7:19; Revelation 20:2-6).

16. Marriage

We believe that marriage as properly defined by the Scriptures consists of the union of one man and one woman in a holy covenant before God. (Matt. 19:4-7; Gen. 2:18-25; I Cor. 7:2; I Tim. 3:2; Eph. 5:22-25)
We further believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and merits the wrath of God which can only be averted through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thess. 4:3; Heb. 13:4; I Cor. 6:9-11; Romans 1:26-27; Exodus 20:14; Rev. 21:8)