GraceWay Bible Church exists to glorify God by impacting our community for Jesus Christ through a consistent walk under the control of the Holy Spirit which produces stimulating worship, motivating discipleship, and relevant evangelism.
OUR BELIEFS
HOLY SCRIPTURE
Scripture, the sixty-six books of the Bible, being divinely superintended by God in its original form, is the fully authoritative and inerrant word of God, presented to humankind to live in faith and practice according to His wishes, and contains everything necessary for salvation.
THE TRINITY
There is one Godhead existing as three co-equal, co-substantial, and co- eternal persons. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are each of the same substance but distinct subsistence, are each fully God, and inseparable from the Godhead, and fully deserving of all adoration and praise.
GOD THE FATHER
God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, is the creator God of the universe and as such the provider and planner of all things. The Father, though co-equal with the Son, is the head of Christ and directed Him to be the savior of humankind.
GOD THE SON
God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, is the only begotten, eternal son of God, receives his identity from the Father and does His will. Christ is the Word of God and through whom, all creation was made. He emptied himself, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born the incarnate son of God, taking upon flesh through the Virgin. He existed on earth as both fully human and fully God as one person with two natures.
GOD THE SPIRIT
God the Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is coequal with the Father and Son with a unique voice and personality. The Spirit moved the Bible’s authors to write God’s Word. The Holy Spirit works to sanctify believers by serving as a helper and teacher to believers, guiding their growth, distributing spiritual gifts, and communicating the will of the Father. Every believer must work to live under the control of the Spirit.
CREATION & MAN
Through the Son, God created the material universe from nothing in a literal six days. The last thing God created was the first man whom He placed in the garden. God created man in His image and likeness. Seeing that man needed a suitable companion, God created the first woman from him. They were created in God’s image to glorify Him through worshipful obedience and lived without sin enabling them to live in fellowship with Him. God provided them with the terms of obedience, which they violated at the urging of Satan. Born with a body and spirit, upon physical death man’s spirit separates from his body and either ascends to Heaven or descends to Hell.
SIN
Personal sin, any thought or action contrary to God’s nature, committed by humankind and the effects of sin (human suffering, natural disasters, etc), originates in the first sin of Adam and Eve. Through Satan’s deception, Adam and Eve voluntarily violated God’s conditions and sin entered the world. With this, all mankind descended from Adam enters a sinful world with a sinful nature, spiritually separated from God incapable by any human effort to fulfill His holy Law. Being spiritually dead with a righteous expectation of judgment, mankind can only be redeemed through acceptance of Christ as savior. Sin still exists, but in the life of the believer one must continually seek forgiveness and repentance to maintain proper fellowship with God.
SALVATION
The only redemption for sin is salvation through Jesus Christ. Requiring a perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of all creation, God the Father sent His son Jesus, being also God, to suffer as a substitute for the punishment that mankind deserved. Being crucified and buried in a tomb, He overcame death three days later. Humankind must willfully choose a relationship with Christ by acknowledging their sins and confessing that only Christ can grant forgiveness. Salvation is by God’s grace alone through one’s faith in Jesus Christ and no amount of human accomplishment can achieve it. An individual’s salvation can never be lost.
THE CHURCH
The church of Christ, exists in two forms–the one universal church of Jesus Christ of which He is the head and High Priest, in which all believers are joined by the Holy Spirit, which began at Pentecost and will exist until the Rapture, and the local church consisting of a gathering of believers. Through the local church, believers gather to worship, praise, sing, receive teaching, provide gifts, pray, and participate in ordinances to honor and glorify God.
JESUS’ RETURN
At the end of the present dispensation, Jesus Christ will return in the sky, according to the Father’s timing, to gather His church to Him, first the deceased believers raised from their graves followed by the living believers to join Christ. His return is physical, can occur at any moment, and precedes a seven-year tribulation period after which He returns to defeat Satan, beginning His millennial reign on the earth.
JUDGEMENT
Prior to the millennial kingdom, all believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ where their works on Earth will be evaluated and rewarded. They will go on to live for eternity in heaven. The angels will administer Christ’s judgment both at the end of the tribulation and the end of the millennial kingdom. Those that do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be judged and cast into the lake of fire for eternity.
ORDINANCES
There are two ordinances of the church. First, after accepting salvation through Christ every believer should be baptized by immersion as an outward sign and confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. Second, routine celebration of the Lord’s Supper maintains a persistent memory of Jesus’ sacrifice as well as consistent fellowship with the Lord and Savior. Because of the nature of communing with the Lord, it should only be celebrated by those walking with Him.
MARRIAGE & GENDER
God created marriage as a permanent union between one man and one woman, a bond which can only be broken by infidelity, abandonment by a non-believing spouse, or the death of a spouse. Remarriage is permissible as noted above. An individual’s gender is that which matches his or her biological sex and any attempt to modify it, whether in thought or practice, is sinful.
God created every person in his image. Regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, background, belief, health status, or whether born or unborn, individuals must be treated as God’s image-bearer. Individuals lost in sin must be prayed for, not condemned, and never exploited. Behaviors such as pornography, prostitution, gender reassignment (in thought or physical), addictions, discrimination or any activity that can be physically and emotionally devastating are destructive to the image of God.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
The Holy Spirit provides every believer with gifts for the building of the body of Christ. Some gifts were present only during the apostolic age and others continue today. Gifts such as speaking in tongues and faith healing were utilized by the apostles for the growth of the church but are not present today.