What We Believe

1. We believe love is the highest calling in our lives and that loving relationships with God and people are the cornerstone of church life. This includes the concepts of grace-living, love-driven ministry, along with reconciliation, restoration,ministry accomplished in teams and relationship building. Luke 10:1; John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13

2. We believe the Holy Spirit is our enabler, guide and teacher in every decision and action and that He desires to empower, fill and anoint our lives. This includes the concepts of spiritual gifts, prayer and anointed ministry. Acts 1:8; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 14

3. We believe the Bible is our standard of truth and practice and that anointed preaching and teaching is a catalyst for transformed lives. This includes the concepts of practical teaching for life change, biblical equipping for ministry and spiritual growth. 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12

4. We believe that Spirit-led worship honors God, builds believers, inspires faith, liberates the oppressed, and is essential for experiencing intimacy with God. This involves the concepts of liberty and variety in worship style and practice, excellence of presentation and creativity in expression. Psalm 63:3-4; Psalm 66:2; Psalm 150; Ephesians 5:19

5. We believe that excellence in all things honors God, and reflects His character. This includes the concepts of evaluation, critical review, quality control and professionalism. Proverbs 27:17; Colossians 3:17

6. We believe that a small-group ministry is the biblical precedent of discipleship making, growing and connecting believers. This includes the concepts of pastoral care, accountability, leadership and character development, and body life. Luke 6:12-13; Acts 2:44-47; Acts 20:20

7. We believe that the church is to be led by men and women who possess leadership-gifts, and that equipping people for ministry is the primary role of leadership. This includes the concepts of servant leadership, strategic focus of intention, and impartation. Acts 6:2-4; Romans 12:8; Ephesians 4:11-13

8. We believe that our leaders should reflect Christ’s character in all ways including: integrity, honesty, vulnerability, obedience and faithfulness. This includes the concepts of character, life modeling (“Follow me as I follow Christ”) and the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 4:25-27; Hebrews 12:1

9. We believe that people who are spiritually lost because they have not accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord, matter to God, and therefore, matter to us. This includes the concepts of home and foreign missions, relational evangelism, intentional evangelism and servant evangelism. Matthew 18:14; Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 15

10. We believe the church, as the bride and body of Christ, is infinitely valued by God and should operate in unity of spirit and purpose. This includes the concepts of fellowship, acceptance, headship, functionality, authority, membership and commitment. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:1-6, 14-16

11. We believe Calvary Assembly is to be a “storehouse” and not a “debtor”; therefore, we are to model debt-free living. This involves the concept of stewardship, benevolence, tithing and giving. Matthew 6:19-21; Romans 13:8

Our Doctrine

Living a life without an understanding of what is true can only bring confusion and misery. On the contrary, a life lived in understanding and full cooperation of truth will result in a life of personal fulfillment while leaving a legacy of positive influence on generations to come. Jesus said this about truth: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:32. At Calvary Assembly, our lifestyle, ministries, and teachings are based on God’s word. It is our commitment to truth that will lead each one toward a life of happiness and success, experienced through genuine love.

For the theologically minded, discover what we hold to be true concerning these doctrines:

* Scripture (The Word Of God)
* Trinity (Three in one)
* Man
* Salvation
* The Church
* Baptism and Communion
* Eschatology

Scripture (The Word of God)
We believe and affirm the Scriptures contained in both the Old and New Testaments as being the inspired Word of God, without error in its original writings, serving as the final authority for all Christian faith and life. It cannot be added to or subtracted from, and serves as the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of men.

Trinity (Three in One)
We believe that God is both One and Triune. He reveals Himself through His Word as being eternally existent, infinitely perfect, and consists of three fully divine and equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Father
We believe that God the Father is the fountainhead of the Trinity, the Creator, Sustainer, and Intervener of all creation. He is the origin and eternal living model of holiness, righteousness, wisdom, power, mercy, and love. We believe that the Father is personally involved in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He pardons and redeems man from sin and death who seek atonement through the propitiatory sacrifice of the Son, Jesus Christ.

Son
We believe that the Son, Jesus Christ, was and is the Promised Messiah, the Word of God in the flesh, fully man and fully God. That He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin, Mary. We believe that Jesus lived a life without sin, and that He willingly and obediently gave His life as an acceptable sacrifice for our sin and guilt. He was victorious over death and the grave in that He rose from the dead after three days, revealed Himself as alive to many witnesses, and has ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father until the appointed time of His eminent return for His Bride, the Church.

Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, equal to the Father and the Son. He was active in the Old Testament scripture, and came in His prophetic fullness to the Church at Pentecost as recorded in the New Testament. He inspired the scriptures, and He continues to illumine and reveal the Word of God to man, while always glorifying the Son. He specifically works to convict unbelievers of their sin and need for the Son; He is the agency in which the Son dwells within each believer initially resulting in salvation, and dynamically resulting in intimacy and identification; He sanctifies, guides, teaches, and empowers Christians to experience the tangible and relevant life of God, both in this world in service and fellowship in the Church, as well as in eternity. We believe in the Baptism of the Spirit, subsequent to conversion, which results in the release of the fullness of the Spirit, which can be evidenced by tongues, joy, praise and other inward and outward manifestations and gifts, each of which are to be eagerly desired, developed and exercised according to biblical pattern and instruction.

Man
We believe that God created man in His image making man unique, and the crowning aspect of God’s creative act. We further believe that God’s ultimate intention for man was for him to willingly surrender his life and independence in order to live life with total faith and dependence upon God, his Creator. When the first man chose against trust and faith in God resulting in sin, he entered into a life that was separated from fellowship with God. Sin established itself as an inherited nature common to man, which in turn brought about spiritual death for all mankind. We also believe that when man agrees with God about his sinful condition, and repents of sin, while trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, that there is a spiritual birth that occurs resulting in an infusion of God’s divine life with humanity, while restoring intimate fellowship with God, and eternal adoption as His children.

Salvation
The Word of God clearly declares that salvation is a free gift of God to individuals, which is received through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ according to the merits of His sinless life and atoning sacrifice on the cross. we believe that man is incapable of satisfying judgment rendered against sin, and is therefore desperately reliant upon God’s eternal gift of salvation by grace through faith. We further believe that salvation results in justification before God, and identification with God as His children with full privileges and benefits as family members in God’s Kingdom. Salvation is presented to each one as an absolute and unchanging commitment of God and results in the entrusting of one’s life and eternal welfare to God and His Kingdom.

The Church
We believe that the Church is comprised of individuals who have experienced salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and have become spiritually united as the living expression of the Body of Christ of which He is the head. The Church is not buildings or organizations, or religious systems, but rather a physically and spiritually living organism united together in local expressions of faith, commission, organization, and government. The commission of the Church, both corporate and individual, is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the fellowship of believers, and presenting each one complete in Christ through worship, ministry, evangelism, community life, discipleship, and instruction.

Baptism and Communion
Water baptism by immersion is a believer’s biblical response to Christ’s command recorded in Matthew 28. Baptism is performed as an outward sign, or testimony, of an inward work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit within a believer. Identification with Christ in His death and burial is most clearly depicted through immersion, while the coming up out of the water speaks of one’s reception and participation in His resurrection life.

Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, is the second ordinance of the church. It commemorates, by way of remembrance, the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. By way of reflection, our observance of Communion as a body of believers causes a fresh and renewing identification with Christ, as well as our individual connection to His Body, the Church.

Eschatology
We believe Jesus Christ will return to earth personally and visibly according to the promises in Scripture. His purpose will be to manifest His absolute government on the earth. Christians are exhorted to be watchful and obedient until His appearing. While there are many viewpoints concerning His second coming, we believe Christians should look for His appearing with great anticipation while obediently pursuing the mandate of the Great Commission until He comes again. At His second coming, He will resurrect the righteous who have died and are now with Him.

Scripture allows much diversity in the determining of views and opinions concerning the specifics of Jesus’ second coming and so we reject the idea that any opinion can or should be used as a test for orthodoxy within a local body of believers. Preoccupation with this subject has produced churches that are stagnant and sterile, resulting in spiritual lethargy, evangelistic passivity, and weakness in social and cultural impact. The church that embraces her identity as an “overcomer” is generally more concerned with her obedience in occupying the earth until Jesus returns, as opposed to the unproductive manner of speculation upon when He will return. Any view that has a scriptural validation concerning the end times is to be respected.

Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, that this group of believers was considered great in the Kingdom of God due to the fact of their endurance and steadfast continuation of the work of Christ while in the midst of persecution and attack. The point of Paul’s eschatological message to the Church was to encourage each one to “stay the course” in their Christ honoring, relevant lifestyle.

With this in mind, we affirm that Jesus Christ will be returning for a mature Bride, who has “reached the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” Ephesians 4. He is coming for Her as She makes herself ready, beautifully and gloriously adorned in Her garments of holiness and righteousness.