WHAT WE BELIEVE

The gospel is the good news of the all knowing, all loving, gracious God creating everything for His glory, including mankind.  Unfortunately mankind desired to live independent lives from this amazingly good God and rebelled against His ways. Thus sin entered the world, fracturing our relationship with Him, resulting in both physical and spiritual death.  This brought a separation between man and his creator that he could not fix.  But in His abundant grace, God became man in Jesus Christ.  He lived a perfect and obedient life, following all the ways of God, and living in utter dependence upon Him.  Then at the end of His life He willingly gave His life up to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on a cross and bearing the wrath of God against our sin.  In that moment He took the sin of those who would trust in Him and gave them His righteousness.  Then He breathed His last and died.  Fortunately three days later, He rose from the dead, conquering sin and death, proving that His sacrifice on the cross covered the sins of those who would come to trust in Him.  Now, by faith in Jesus Christ, all who trust their lives to Him are restored in their relationship with God and are given a new life both now and forever.  

OUR DISTINCTIVES

These basic statements represent what we believe here at Sunbury City Church.  For a fuller description of our beliefs and distinctives, read our Statement of Faith.  

Divine Sovereignty

We believe God is in control of all things, including our salvation.  

Christian Joy

We believe the highest goal in the Christian life is to find our ultimate joy in Jesus Christ.

Spirit Filled Life

We believe all of the spiritual gifts exist today and that we should eagerly pursue them.

Missional Church

We believe the church’s main goal is the glory of God which expresses itself in sharing the gospel and bringing renewal to those around us.

OUR BELIEFS

The Scriptures:

We believe the 66 books of the Bible are God’s inspired and inerrant word that should govern our lives.

God:

We believe that God exists eternally as 3 persons in 1 essence, as God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ:

We believe that Jesus Christ is both truly human and truly God and is perfect in both natures.  

Man:

We believe that man and woman are created in the image of God and possess dignity and worth.  

Salvation:

We believe that sin has separated humanity from God and that faith in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection as a payment for our sins gives us life with Him forever.  

Church:

We believe the church is comprised of Christians committing to one another in membership and equipped to minister to others.  

Baptism:

We believe baptism must be practiced after coming to faith in Christ and connected to membership within a church. 

Last Things:

We believe Jesus will return at the end of the world to judge all humanity based upon their faith in Jesus Christ.

OUR VALUES

Just before His return to heaven, in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commands His followers to go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.  A name is intimately tied to one's reputation.  In fact a name is really your identity.  Baptizing people into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit gives them a new identity founded in God.  This means:

1.  If God is your father, then we are His family.

2.  If Jesus is your king, then we are His servants.

3.  If the Holy Spirit is in you, then we are empowered as His missionaries.  

We are family:

As followers of Jesus Christ we are brothers and sisters in the family of God.  Thus we see it as our joy and obligation to care for the physical and spiritual needs of those within the family, helping one another to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ.  We do this by gathering regularly at our Sunday Gathering and in Missional Communities scattered throughout our communities. (Genesis 12:1-3; John 1:12-13; Romans 12:10-16)

We are servants:

As followers of Jesus Christ we are to serve Him by serving those inside and outside the family of God.  Just as Jesus Christ came not to be served but to serve, we too are to grow as servants of Jesus by serving the church and the community around us with our seconds, our skills, and our stuff.  We do this by serving within our Missional Communities, the church, and the community, and by growing into maturity in Christ. (Matthew 20:25-28; 25:31-46; John 13:1-17; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Peter 2:16)

We are missionaries:

As followers of Jesus Christ we are sent to tell others about Jesus Christ.  Acts 1:8 tells us the Holy Spirit was sent to empower Christians to bear witness about Jesus Christ to those in our lives both near and far.  We do this by going and telling others about Jesus Christ, starting new missional communities, and planting new churches. (John 1:14; 20:21; Colossians 1:19; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21)