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Statement
of Faith
We the members of
1st
Presbyterian Church of Lake Alfred, in accordance with the
standards of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) set forth in the
Book of Order, believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and we
acknowledge him Lord of all and Head of the Church. And
through him we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit.
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We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be,
by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to
Jesus Christ in the Church universal, and God's Word to us.
●
We sincerely receive, adopt and believe in the essential
tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions
of our church to be authentic and reliable expositions of what
Scripture leads us to believe and do. Those tenets are:
a. The majesty, holiness and
providence of God
b. The election of the people of
God for service as well as for salvation
c. Covenant life marked by a
disciplined concern for order in the church according to the
Word of God
d. A faithful stewardship that
shuns ostentation
e. The recognition of the human
tendency to idolatry and tyranny which informs our call to
oppose injustice
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We believe we are to live our lives in obedience to Jesus
Christ, under the authority of Scripture, and to continually
be guided by our confessions.
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We believe we are to be governed by our church's polity, and
abide by its discipline, seeking to be friends among our
colleagues in ministry, working with them, subject to the
ordering of God's Word and Spirit. In our personal lives we
believe we are to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love our
neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world.
●
We believe we are called to further the peace, unity, and
purity of the church by serving one another with energy,
intelligence, imagination, and love to the best of our ability
with God's help.
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We believe the declarations that are found in the PRELIMINARY
PRINCIPLES of the Form of Government of the Presbyterian
Church (USA). There it states:
G-1.0100a. All power in heaven
and earth is given to Jesus Christ by Almighty God, who raised
Christ from the dead and set him above all rule and authority,
all power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only
in this age but also in that which is to come. God has put all
things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and has made Christ
Head of the Church, which is his body.
G-1.0100b. Christ calls the
Church into being, giving it all that is necessary for its
mission to the world, for its building up, and for its service
to God. Christ is present with the Church in both Spirit and
Word. It belongs to Christ alone to rule, to teach, to call,
and to use the Church as he wills, exercising his authority by
the ministry of women and men for the establishment and
extension of his Kingdom.
G-1.0100c. Christ gives to his
Church its faith and life, its unity and mission, its officers
and ordinances. Insofar as Christ's will for the Church is set
forth in Scripture, it is to be obeyed. In the worship and
service of God and the government of the church, matters are
to be ordered according to the Word by reason and sound
judgment, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
G-1.0100d. In affirming with the
earliest Christians that Jesus is Lord, the Church confesses
that he is its hope and that the Church, as Christ's body, is
bound to his authority and thus free to live in the lively,
joyous reality of the grace of God.
G-1.0200 The great ends of the
church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of
humankind, the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of
the children of God, the maintenance of divine worship, the
preservation of the truth, the promotion of social
righteousness, and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to
the world. |
