We Believe...
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
We appreciate your interest in the Roberts Community Church and would like to encourage you to worship the Lord with us, whether or not you decide to join the church. If you are considering becoming a member we want you to know something about the type of church that we are. Our goal is to be good witnesses for Jesus Christ in our community, so we seek to work together without allowing our small disagreements regarding worship style or minor doctrinal points to divide us. This means that we must all be willing to give a little in order to work effectively together. Please consider the following items:
We are a non-denominational, Christian, community church
Roberts Community Church is a non-denominational, Christian, community church. It is not tied to a denomination such as the Baptist or Methodist or Episcopalian. We include people from a wide variety of church backgrounds and many who have no religious background at all. They are all welcome to come and worship together around our common belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as expressed in the Bible, which we hold to be the inspired word of the Living God. We believe and seek to teach the things that the Bible teaches. Some things we consider to be of first importance, these are expressed in our Declaration of Christian Faith. There are other issues about which Christians from different backgrounds disagree – such as when and how someone should be baptized with water, for example. It is important that our members are willing to respect the opinions of others about these matters that are not of the first importance, and that we can “agree to disagree” about these things. It is our desire that all of our members would have Christian love for all believers in their hearts.
Roberts Community Church Declaration of Christian Faith
The entire Bible, and only the Bible, is God’s Word written in human language. Therefore its teachings are true, and their authority supreme in the life of every Christian (2Ti.3:16, 2Pet.1:20-21, Mt.4:4). Since God chose to communicate His thoughts in human languages, the Bible is to be interpreted by the laws of language. Therefore, the correct interpretation of any Bible passage can be discovered through reading and study.
There is only one true God (1Ki.8:60, Is.43:10), an infinite, eternal Spirit (1Ki.8:27, Ps.90:2, Jn.4:24, Hos.11:9), who created the universe out of nothing and sustains all life within it (Ge.1:1, Heb.11:3, Col.1:16-17). He is personally present everywhere in His universe at all times (Jer.23:24). He is all-knowing and all powerful (Ps.147:5, Eph.1:11). He is holy, just, loving and good. He is tri-personal; Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three distinct centers of personality within the One Spirit who is God. Each has all the attributes of God and is to be worshiped as God (Mt.28:19, Jn.10:30, 2Cor.13:14).
Jesus the Christ is the unique God-man. He is God the Son whose eternal, divine nature was combined with a true human nature (John 1:1, 14, Heb.1:8), being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Mt.1:18-23). He led a sinless life, but chose to suffer and die on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve for our sins (2Cor.5:21, Mt.20:28). All these claims were validated by His bodily resurrection from the dead on the third day (1Cor.15:3-8). He ascended into heaven, from which He shall soon return to judge the living and the dead (Acts1:9-11, Mt.25, 1Thess.4:13-18).
All men and women are loved by God (Jn.3:16), yet they are sinners by nature and by choice. No one can ever earn or merit God’s acceptance, favor or forgiveness. We need to be saved by Jesus from the penalty and power of sin (Rom.3:9-28).
The benefits of Christ’s death on the cross are available as a free gift of God’s grace to all who turn from their sins and put their whole trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them (Acts 16:31, Eph.2:8-9). Every believer receives the assurance of forgiveness of his sins and a place with God in heaven (Rev.1:5, Jn.14:2). The Holy Spirit imparts a new nature which enables the Christian to live a life pleasing to God (2Cor.5:17). Those who refuse to repent and believe in this life, must pay the terrible price of eternal separation from God in the next (Jn.8:24, 2Thess.1:6-9, Mt.25:46).
There will be a literal resurrection; both of the saved and the lost (Jn.5:28-29).
The true Church of Christ is composed of all believers around the world. Every Christian is commanded in Scripture to worship and serve the Lord alongside other believers in the local Church (Eph.1:22-23, 1Cor.12:12-27).
Roberts Community Church Covenant
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on profession of faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian Love. To strive for the advancement of this church in Christian knowledge, holiness and comfort;
To promote its prosperity and spirituality; To sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrine; To give it sacred preeminence over all institutions of human origin;
To contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the needy, and the spread of the Gospel through missions;
We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; To religiously educate our children;
To walk circumspectly in the world; To seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances;
To be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment. To avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger;
To seek and be filled with the Holy Spirit and under His influence; To maintain a spirit of love and brotherhood toward all men.
To strive by our attitudes and actions to bring about the reign of a just and lasting peace in the world; And to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior here on earth.
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; To remember each other in prayer; To aid each other in sickness and distress; To cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling, and courtesy in speech.
To be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation; and, mindful of the rules of our Lord, to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant, and the principles of God’s word.
This covenant was found by Pastor Steve Molsee in a hymnal from the 1940’s, presented, amended and affirmed by the Board of Elders in January 2015