Our Beliefs
Ramat, our very first convert getting baptized!
Our convictions are what guide us, which show us the way forward. It has been said, "Have no plan, plan to go nowhere." These beliefs are what keep us from getting lost, from losing or way. They are what help us stay connected to what really matters. However, our beliefs also inspire us. They are what give us hope. Proverbs 29:18 states that "Without vision, people perish." Yet what this Scripture is really saying is anyone who attempts to move forward without the guidance or wisdom of God's Word will find their people forgetting what is true, losing what is faith and casting off what is God's protection. We hold the Word of God very highly and the Spirit of God and His guidance very highly as well, helping us to live out that truth.
Here is our Vision, Mission, Values statement as well as our Doctrinal beliefs. These are really only meant to be guiding principles taken from Scripture that we hope to live by in all we think, say and do. Thank you for being interested...and for your prayers.
VISION (Why?): To create, develop and plant a church movement beginning with a church in Chiavari, Italy which is actively engaged in proclaiming and extolling the Gospel of grace and the glorious Christ of that grace through evangelism and discipleship, producing passionate, gracious, disciples...which, we hope one day will serve as a model for churches and ministries all over Italy.
MISSION (What?): Our initial mission in Italy is to be engaged in planting a gospel community/local church in Chiavari by working with other evangelical churches and ministries to both reach unbelievers as well as disciple believers for the work of the ministry. We will use various types of means to do this (ESL ministry, community programs & events, mercy ministry, mission teams, youth groups, children’s ministry and outreach, leadership training school, etc., etc.) but the preaching or transmission of the Word/Gospel will be critical. Primarily a “Word-oriented” ministry and secondarily a “Works-oriented” ministry, our hope is as we develop meaningful “gospel-focused” relationships in the community, we will vibrantly communicate the amazing gospel of grace to that community in a highly-relevant, life-changing manner. This church and any others we plant will also be hugely focused on multiplying into new communities of the gospel. An important aspect of our mission, as God provides, is to multiply. We hope to help impart vision as well as equip and provide opportunities to send leaders and plant new churches throughout this region and Italy as well as the rest of the world. Our dream would be that these new churches would be wonderful examples of evangelism, discipleship, leadership development and multiplication of new church plants themselves with a heart to give away the Gospel to others. In this sense, we hope by God’s grace to develop a movement of churches focused on evangelism & discipleship helping plant other sister churches.
VALUES (How?):
1. We will seek to GLORIFY God and ENJOY Him in all we think, say and do. We believe that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Christ and His Gospel.”
2. Seek always to have a balance of both the Truth of God and the Spirit of God in the way we worship and live our lives (“they who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth” - Christ), led by the Spirit with the Scripture always being our ultimate authority in everything.
3. Cross and Gospel-Centered, both internally in fellowship and externally in ministry to others.
4. Cross and Gospel-Centered means giving our lives for others (dying to self, being raised up in new life).
5. Our message of Salvation will be God-centered, recognizing that “no one seeks God” (Rom 3:11).
6. Because Salvation is God-centered, it is not man-centered nor focused on a “decision” instead it is focused on Holy Spirit-wrought repentance from sin and faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone by His Word and Spirit alone, for God's glory alone and specifically by His death on the cross taking our sins upon Him in our place, taking the wrath due us and instead imputing His righteousness to us.
7. Justification and Sanctification will be clearly differentiated; One being completely of God (a federal declaration of righteousness before God only because of the Son and His Cross-work), the other being a participative process of Holy-Spirit-led growth in godliness with God leading and the Christian responding according to the grace afforded him.
8. A Missiology that is focused on assisting not controlling, which seeks to equip nationals for the work of the ministry, looking to give our jobs as leaders/pastors away as soon as is reasonable.
9. Evangelism - moving from high-attraction, low-commitment events and activities to low-attraction, high commitment discipleship and leadership-development efforts (entry can take place anywhere).
10. Discipleship – a commitment to both one-on-one discipleship as well as community/small-group discipleship which in both, would involve training in doctrine, devotion and learning to understand and apply from the Gospel and Scripture all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:1-4).
11. A passion for God demonstrated in our lives and in our worship.
12. Humility as the foremost value of church and ministry (leadership/laity).
13. Love and preference for others as the greatest display of love of God.
14. Grace-oriented flowing from a high view of the ongoing, sovereign work of God.
15. Relationship and Team-based mentality (critical to fellowship, ministry & leadership development).
16. Honesty, transparency and self-disclosure as critical for staying close to holiness.
17. A Heart of Service toward others with emphasis on their comfort and convenience, not our own.
18. Evangelism and mercy ministry as the primary outflow into the community, city, etc.
19. Preaching, teaching, counseling, discipleship as primary inflow of truth to the church.
20. A willingness to be open but cautious (and biblical) in our response to the miraculous work of the Spirit of God.
Here is our Vision, Mission, Values statement as well as our Doctrinal beliefs. These are really only meant to be guiding principles taken from Scripture that we hope to live by in all we think, say and do. Thank you for being interested...and for your prayers.
VISION (Why?): To create, develop and plant a church movement beginning with a church in Chiavari, Italy which is actively engaged in proclaiming and extolling the Gospel of grace and the glorious Christ of that grace through evangelism and discipleship, producing passionate, gracious, disciples...which, we hope one day will serve as a model for churches and ministries all over Italy.
MISSION (What?): Our initial mission in Italy is to be engaged in planting a gospel community/local church in Chiavari by working with other evangelical churches and ministries to both reach unbelievers as well as disciple believers for the work of the ministry. We will use various types of means to do this (ESL ministry, community programs & events, mercy ministry, mission teams, youth groups, children’s ministry and outreach, leadership training school, etc., etc.) but the preaching or transmission of the Word/Gospel will be critical. Primarily a “Word-oriented” ministry and secondarily a “Works-oriented” ministry, our hope is as we develop meaningful “gospel-focused” relationships in the community, we will vibrantly communicate the amazing gospel of grace to that community in a highly-relevant, life-changing manner. This church and any others we plant will also be hugely focused on multiplying into new communities of the gospel. An important aspect of our mission, as God provides, is to multiply. We hope to help impart vision as well as equip and provide opportunities to send leaders and plant new churches throughout this region and Italy as well as the rest of the world. Our dream would be that these new churches would be wonderful examples of evangelism, discipleship, leadership development and multiplication of new church plants themselves with a heart to give away the Gospel to others. In this sense, we hope by God’s grace to develop a movement of churches focused on evangelism & discipleship helping plant other sister churches.
VALUES (How?):
1. We will seek to GLORIFY God and ENJOY Him in all we think, say and do. We believe that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Christ and His Gospel.”
2. Seek always to have a balance of both the Truth of God and the Spirit of God in the way we worship and live our lives (“they who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth” - Christ), led by the Spirit with the Scripture always being our ultimate authority in everything.
3. Cross and Gospel-Centered, both internally in fellowship and externally in ministry to others.
4. Cross and Gospel-Centered means giving our lives for others (dying to self, being raised up in new life).
5. Our message of Salvation will be God-centered, recognizing that “no one seeks God” (Rom 3:11).
6. Because Salvation is God-centered, it is not man-centered nor focused on a “decision” instead it is focused on Holy Spirit-wrought repentance from sin and faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone by His Word and Spirit alone, for God's glory alone and specifically by His death on the cross taking our sins upon Him in our place, taking the wrath due us and instead imputing His righteousness to us.
7. Justification and Sanctification will be clearly differentiated; One being completely of God (a federal declaration of righteousness before God only because of the Son and His Cross-work), the other being a participative process of Holy-Spirit-led growth in godliness with God leading and the Christian responding according to the grace afforded him.
8. A Missiology that is focused on assisting not controlling, which seeks to equip nationals for the work of the ministry, looking to give our jobs as leaders/pastors away as soon as is reasonable.
9. Evangelism - moving from high-attraction, low-commitment events and activities to low-attraction, high commitment discipleship and leadership-development efforts (entry can take place anywhere).
10. Discipleship – a commitment to both one-on-one discipleship as well as community/small-group discipleship which in both, would involve training in doctrine, devotion and learning to understand and apply from the Gospel and Scripture all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:1-4).
11. A passion for God demonstrated in our lives and in our worship.
12. Humility as the foremost value of church and ministry (leadership/laity).
13. Love and preference for others as the greatest display of love of God.
14. Grace-oriented flowing from a high view of the ongoing, sovereign work of God.
15. Relationship and Team-based mentality (critical to fellowship, ministry & leadership development).
16. Honesty, transparency and self-disclosure as critical for staying close to holiness.
17. A Heart of Service toward others with emphasis on their comfort and convenience, not our own.
18. Evangelism and mercy ministry as the primary outflow into the community, city, etc.
19. Preaching, teaching, counseling, discipleship as primary inflow of truth to the church.
20. A willingness to be open but cautious (and biblical) in our response to the miraculous work of the Spirit of God.
DOCTRINAL BELIEFS:
- We believe that the BIBLE is the Word of God and is inspired and without error in its original form and therefore the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21
- We believe that there is only ONE GOD, holy and omnipotent Who exists eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:1-26; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19
- We believe that GOD THE FATHER sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save sinners, according to His sovereign election and love for men. John 3:16; Ephesians 1:4-5
- We believe that JESUS CHRIST is God; that He was born of a virgin; that He lived without committing sin; that He died by means of crucifixion as a substitute for sins of man; that He was resurrected physically from the dead; that He ascended into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father; that He will return visibly to take with Him His Church; and that when He comes, He will judge the world. John 17:5; Luke 1:26-35; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; Matthew 20:28; Acts 2:32-33; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; Revelation 20:11-15
- We believe that the HOLY SPIRIT is God; that He is a Person; that He regenerates and indwells ALL believers from the moment of their conversion; that He distributes all spiritual gifts in the church; and that He is the Guide of the believer into all truth. Acts 5:3-4; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 12:7 & 11; Ephesians 5:18
- We believe that all men are created in the image of God. However, because of the sin of Adam the human race is totally DEPRAVED (radically corrupt) and CONDEMNED to eternal punishment and separation from God. They are incapable, in and of themselves, to restore their fellowship with God. Gen.1:26; Rom. 5:12; Eph.2:1-9
- We believe that SALVATION and fellowship with God are received only by grace, which is a gift of God manifested in the life of the believer through personal repentance of sin and faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for us. Romans 5:10 & 19; Romans 3:23-24; Ephesians 2:8-9
- We believe that there will be a FINAL BODILY RESURRECTION of all the dead-those who are saved will receive eternal life with God in Heaven, and those who are not saved will be condemned to eternal punishment. Romans 6:23; John 5:28-29; Matthew 18:8
- We believe that the CHURCH is universal and is made up of the people of God. The Church is made up of local congregations who are led by qualified leaders who prepare the believers in Jesus Christ to worship God, edify one another and evangelize the world through both conduct and spoken word. Acts 2:41-47; Ephesians 4:11-13
- We believe that believers in Jesus Christ, being filled with and guided by the Holy Spirit, should GROW DAILY in the grace and knowledge of God, should evidence more and more the fruit of the Spirit in their lives--the greatest of which is love, should earnestly seek the gifts of the Spirit for witness and ministry, and should consistently overcome the influences of the world, the flesh, and Satan. 2 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 5:18-24, 1 Cor 12:1 - 1 Cor 13:13
- We believe that the practice of the LORD'S SUPPER was ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ to remember His death, His resurrection and His return. Moreover, we believe that the Lord's Supper was given to the church so that believers could examine themselves in order to maintain a right relationship with both God and his fellow man. Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30
- We believe that BAPTISM was commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ. BAPTISM was and still is intended to identify the new believer with Jesus Christ as a symbol of new life. While BAPTISM is NOT necessary for a person's salvation, it IS a very important act of obedience for the believer. Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-9; Luke 23:39-43
- We believe that the enemy of God and of the Church is SATAN. He is a real person who is not visible. While he possesses a great power, he WAS DEFEATED by the Lord Jesus Christ and believers can live in the victory that Christ conquered for them. 1 Peter 5:8-9; Ephesians 1:20-22; Ephesians 6:16-18