Beliefs

Mission Statement

“Leading Ordinary People to an Extraordinary Life in Christ”

Something for Everyone

As our Mission Statement indicates, we are ordinary people just like you!  The families of Gloria Dei are your neighbors, your coworkers, and the kids your children play with at school. They are regular-people who face the same difficult world you do each day, but they face the world as Christ-followers with the confidence that God is with them every step of the way. In a day and time that is increasingly unstable, it is nice to know that there are friends who understand your life and invite you to hear the rock-solid and timeless truths about Jesus from the Word of God. If you would like to discover what we have because of our relationship with Jesus, join us for worship or one of the many other opportunities we have during the week.

What we are about

Salvation – While we are deeply concerned about the physical and emotional well-being of all people, we are primarily concerned with their spiritual or eternal welfare.  We value bringing the Gospel, which is the grace and mercy and love of God in Jesus, to people every day that they may find salvation in Jesus’ name both now and for eternity. (Acts 4:12)

Sinners – Perhaps the most important thing for you to know about our congregation is that we are “ordinary people” and by that we mean that we are sinners in need of salvation by God’s grace in Jesus. We believe that everyone of us is exactly the same in God’s sight and so we don’t look down on anyone for any reason. (Romans 3:23,24)

Services – The heart and soul of our life together at Gloria Dei centers in our expression of worship to God as we give glory to Him. We provide a wide variety of God honoring, Christ-centered, Bible-directed worship service opportunities, all intended to give glory to God and further to bring growth in the lives of the Christ-followers that call Gloria Dei home. (Mark 12:30)

Servanthood – Our worship life together then moves us from this place and out into our world. As Christ-followers we seek to daily be just like Jesus through the power of His Holy Spirit in our lives. Therefore we serve people who are hurting, disenfranchised, lonely, alone, or left behind and we do so in very tangible ways. (James 1:27)

Support – We certainly seek to serve those outside our walls, but we also seek to serve one another, those members of our family of faith. In a very real sense we are family, it’s not just a Christian cliche we throw around. We genuinely love one another and intentionally walk hand in hand with one another through the good, the bad and yes, even the ugly. (1Corinthians 12:26)

What We Believe About…

God

We believe in God as revealed to us in Holy Scriptures as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is One God in three “persons”, revealed to us as He created, redeemed and sanctified us. (Matthew 28:19)

The Father

We believe that God the Father, in love, created the universe and all there is from nothing. In love, He sustains His creation and desires an intimate relationship with all people. (John 3:16 and 1John 3:1,2)

The Son

We believe that because of His desire for an intimate relationship with all people, God became the human being, Jesus Christ. He was fully God and He was fully human, so He was able to live the perfect life of a servant, and in His death on the cross Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sin. In His death, and because of His bodily resurrection, Jesus gives us victory over death and the power of the devil. Only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ can we experience forgiveness of sins, be made acceptable to God and gain eternal life in heaven. (1John 5:13)

The Holy Spirit

We believe that God the Holy Spirit works in the lives of people and brings them to faith in Jesus Christ. He desires to be so fully active in believers that they are filled with His presence and are empowered with His gifts to witness to Jesus Christ and do the work of the Church. (Acts 2:38,39 and 1Corinthians 12)

The Bible

We believe that the Bible is the living and active Word of God, divinely inspired by God the Holy Spirit.  Because God gave it to us it is without error, incapable of error, and therefore the only source of true teaching and final standard for evaluating all teaching and doctrine and the life of Christian people.  At its core the Bible has been given to us to show us God’s salvation in Jesus. (Hebrews 4:12 and John 20:30,31)

Sin

The Bible teaches us that sin separates us from God and brings death to the sinner.  The Bible also teaches us that every single person is born sinful and therefore has the propensity to be rebellious against God’s will.  Because we’re sinful we are also in need of the forgiveness that Jesus alone can provide. (Psalm 51:5 and Romans 6:23)

Grace

We believe that we enter into a relationship with God, not by anything we do, but solely by what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Knowing that we are sinners, we must rely solely on God’s grace, which is His free gift to us, to save us from condemnation and to give us eternal life and a home with Him. (Ephesians 2:8,9 and John 17:3)

Faith

We believe that our primary call from God is to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin and as the Lord of our life and, thus, be saved eternally. Faith is understanding and trusting as true what the Bible says about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. (Ephesians 2:8,9)

Good Works

We engage in actions of love and mercy as a demonstration of God’s love within us. We do this, not to win God’s approval or salvation, but because we are thankful for the gift of eternal life, which we have already received as a free gift through faith in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:10)

Baptism

God’s Word reminds us that everyone should be baptized and that in Baptism, which is commanded by Jesus, God forgives our sins and gives us His Holy Spirit. We affirm the practice of baptizing infants, as well as adults, because all human beings are born with a sinful nature and in need of the forgiveness the Lord brings us through our baptism. (Acts 2:38,39) For more information about baptism, go to our Baptism page or to schedule a baptism, please contact our office.

Communion or Lord’s Supper

When we take the Lord’s Supper or Communion, we believe that God offers us His grace and His mercy through the mysterious presence of Jesus in the bread and the wine. As He promised, Jesus is truly and really present in, with and under the bread and wine of the Sacrament to give us forgiveness for our sins and strength for our faith. (1Corinthians 10:16 and 1Corinthians 11:17-34)  The Lord’s Supper or Communion is a Biblical event, given by Jesus for the strengthening of our faith and the forgiveness of our sins (Matthew 26). God’s Word is very clear that when we receive the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper we also literally/physically receive the actual body and blood of Jesus. (1 Corinthians 10:16 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-30). If you are a baptized Christian who trusts in Christ’s presence, recognizes your sinfulness, and desires not only to be forgiven of those sins, but also needs strength from Jesus to amend your daily life, then you are welcome to join us! If you do not believe Christ is present, or are unsure of what you believe and want further explanation, then please feel free to speak with one of our Pastors at a convenient time. (We provide both non-alcoholic wine in the center of the tray and gluten-free wafers in containers).

Prayer

We believe that because Jesus Christ died for our sins, we have the privilege of praying directly to God as part of a growing and continuing relationship with Him. Prayer is our opportunity to thank and praise God, to seek His help in time of trouble and need, and to determine His way and will for our lives.  (1Peter 3:12) To view our prayer wall, click here.

The Church

We believe that those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are the Church, the Body of Christ in the world. God empowers those in the Church with differing gifts for the purpose of serving Him and others. (1Corinthians 12 and Romans 12)

The Return of Jesus

We believe that Jesus Christ, as He promised, is coming back to earth at a time known only to God. He is coming to judge all people and to fulfill His promise to give all His believers eternal life. We believe that at the time of death the soul of the believer is at once received into the presence of Christ but also that, at the Last Day, Jesus will raise all the dead and the believer will live with Jesus, in both body and soul, in eternal joy and glory. (1Thessalonians 4:13-18)