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What does New Life Alliance Church
believe?
Revised and Reaffirmed by the Elders in March 2007
This document covers many things that are not addressed in our statement of faith.
We believe there is only one way of salvation and that is through Jesus Christ. One must be born again in order to see the kingdom
of God. We believe in the reality of hell and need to be saved from God’s wrath by repentance and faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We are sinners saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone and not by our own good works. We believe that true saving faith includes repentance, surrender and a commitment to follow Christ as well as complete dependence on Him for salvation.
We are similar to many Reformed, Premillennial Baptist churches in our basic doctrine. We believe in sovereign grace and the perseverance of those who have been genuinely saved (eternal security). The sovereignty of God as defined in classical Calvinism expresses our understanding of God’s rule. Thus we do not agree with current attempts to define God in terms of process, openness or lack of knowledge of the future. We emphasize the need for Christians to pursue a deeper spiritual life -- to be filled with the Spirit, to thirst for God, to delight in God, to deeply love God. Speaking in tongues is not done in the worship services, although some may speak in tongues as part of their private prayer and devotional life. We believe that we should be radically different than the world, but we are not legalistic. We do not try to impose our personal convictions on other believers (i.e., tell them how they ought to dress, the kind of music they should listen to, etc.). We try to major on majors and minor on minors. We pursue unity in the midst of diversity. We practice church discipline and Biblical conflict resolution.
As a local church we basically govern our own affairs. We are part of a denomination (The Christian and Missionary Alliance), but still have a great deal of autonomy. We have a leadership team of elders who are men. The pastors are part of that team. The elders are always a majority on the governing board.
We believe the Bible is inerrant. We interpret the Bible literally. We believe it is very practical. We believe that the Scriptures, not psychology, have the answers to marriage problems, spiritual depression, worry, etc. We believe there is more than one good Bible translation. We recommend The New International Version (This is the version that we use at church.), The New Living Translation (2nd Edition), and The New American Standard Bible (updated).
We have chosen to not be a part of the World or National Council of Churches because their pluralism has resulted in compromise of essential doctrines of the Christian faith. We believe that cooperation between evangelical churches is good, but that the ecumenical movement tends to sacrifice truth for the sake of unity and tolerates heretical teachers. This is also the reason we do not belong to the ecumenical organizations in our area.
We believe that God created the universe in six, literal, 24-hour days.
Marriage and Family: We believe that marriage is for a lifetime and that God hates divorce. We believe the traditional roles of men and women to be Biblical -- that is ... we believe that men have been called to be loving, servant leaders at home and at church. Women are to joyfully follow their leadership. We believe that all sex outside of marriage is sin. We believe homosexuality is unnatural and is sin. We believe abortion is the killing of an unborn child and is therefore sin. We believe that children are to be respectful and obedient to their parents.
We believe in the Premillennial return of Jesus Christ. We believe the Bible teaches that Israel
holds a unique place in God’s program and that God will literally fulfill his promises to Israel. The church is not Israel; The church has only temporarily replaced Israel. Therefore, there is a still a future and a kingdom involving the salvation, the restoration and the reign of the nation Israel
(historical Jews).
Our Core Values, Priorities and Purpose: Our church has an emphasis on missions. It is a major reason we exist. We also believe that people in Logansport and Cass
County need the Lord. We believe that God has placed us here to seek the salvation of people in this community. Evangelism is a priority. We also emphasize the importance of prayer. We believe in the importance of Bible preaching and teaching. In our worship service we have a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary praise and worship songs. We encourage our people to be involved in small groups for fellowship and encouragement. But most importantly, we believe our chief purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
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