What we believe

By Pastor Tim Isbell

The best way to understand New Life Church is to look at 3 elements: our theology, our membership covenant, and our collective conscience on social issues.

Our theology is captured in 16 Articles of Faith describing how we understand Scripture. We believe:

...in one God, the Creator of all things, who reveals himself as Father, Son and Spirit.
...in Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, becoming like us to bring about our salvation.
...in the Holy Spirit, who is active in the world, bringing us to salvation.
...that the Bible is the Word of God, giving us all we need to know about how to be saved.
...that we are all sinners by both nature and act and need God’s forgiveness and cleansing.
...that Jesus Christ, came to live among us, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven where he intercedes for those who follow him.
...that God takes the initiative to invite us to turn from sin to him, and he enables us to do so.
...that each person must repent, turn away from our sins, and trust Christ to accept us.
...that when we turn from sin and trust in Christ, the old record of sin is wiped clean, and we are born anew, thus becoming part of the family of God.
...that after being born anew, we need the fullness of God’s Spirit in our hearts. When we make a complete commitment to God, he cleanses our spirit, fills us with his perfect love, and gives us the power to live victoriously.
...that the church is the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and which serves as his body in the present generation.
...in baptism. We urge Christians to be baptized as believers.
...in the Lord’s Supper.
...that God can heal. We pray for healing. We also believe that God can work through medical science.
...that Jesus Christ is coming again.
...that everyone will face the judgment of God with its rewards and punishments.

Our membership covenant means that we commit to each other that we will do our best in 3 areas.

First, members commit to do what scripture teaches us to do. Scripture teaches us to love God with all our heart, show courtesy to all people, grow into contagious Christians, support Christian brothers and sisters, care for the needy, contribute tithes and offerings to support ministry in the local church and around the world, regularly attend public worship, and keep a Sabbath day each week.
Second, members commit to avoid what scripture teaches us to avoid. This includes profane speech, sexual impurity, practices that are destructive to our bodies or minds, quarreling, gossiping, slandering, dishonest behavior, immodest or prideful dress, and entertainments that dishonor God.
Third, members commit to regularly participate in worship and other activities around the local church.

Our collective conscience on social issues informs our teaching around the local church and serves as our guide in Christian living outside the church. We encourage our people to avoid lotteries and other forms of gambling, membership in oath-bound secret orders, dancing that detracts from spiritual growth or breaks down proper moral inhibitions and reserve, and the use of tobacco, intoxicating beverages, and illegal drugs. Further, we strongly favor marriage over divorce while at the same time fully receiving those who have suffered divorce. We affirm the sanctity of human life by opposing induced abortion for personal convenience or population control. We encourage sexual purity; we view homosexual behavior as one of many forms of sexual impurity. We encourage our people to support God’s ministry with their tithe (10% of income) and other offerings.

For more details about life around New Life Church, please feel free talk to any of our members or staff.

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