what we believe

The Son. The lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is completely human, but at the same time completely God. We are made to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We are also made to His image. All we are and do is because of Him. In Jesus Christ we find true identity, destiny, fulfillment  and hope. Our identity is in who we are in Jesus, not what we do. We can love Him because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 )   We express our love with Jesus through prayer, worship and the Bible. Through the Holy Spirit we learn daily more about him as Saviour and Lord and Master.
The greatest of all things is to be passionate lovers and worshippers of Jesus Christ.

“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1: 1-5

The Father.

God is great: He is all powerful, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, completely worthy of our trust, and above all, holy. He is the Creator, We believe that God is the creator of heaven and earth. We believe that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to redeem all people from sin and to be Lord and Saviour. We believe that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in those who have received Jesus as Lord and intimately leads us in his ways, and in relationship with God. He is loving and kind. He is like no other father, perfect in his love and grace.

God is love:
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4: 8

The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s presence assures us of our relationship with Christ. He guides believers into all truth, and exalts Christ.  We believe that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are active and available to each believer. We value the presence of God and the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power.

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.” Acts 2:17-19

The Bible.

The foundational belief is that, not only is the Bible held to be the inspired and authoritative word of God, but also the accepted standard for life, ministry and conduct in the church. This has practical implications in terms of the way in which individuals and relating churches are accountable to one another (in addition to their own respective churches) and direct their lives both individually and corporately, in order to see God’s truth established in their own lives and also in the earth.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16

Faith.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Hebrews 11:6

Grace.

We believe that the gospel of grace is the foundation for Christian living and discipleship.  The liberating truth that you are completely loved and freely accepted in Christ will change your life. All God’s blessings are free and can never be earned.  It’s clear that in our sinful predicament we need to know God’s transforming power through His grace.  We are justified (acquitted) by God’s grace.  Everything leading up to salvation is the free unmerited gift of God arising out of His love.
At The Lighthouse Christian Church we have adopted as a definition of Grace “The empowering presence of God through which God imparts all of His blessings including salvation.  These blessings are always given freely.” Grace and God’s power cannot be separated.  His power makes salvation and everything else in the Christian life possible.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”2 Corinthians 12:9

Worship and Prayer.

We believe that Worship is central to our knowledge and experience of God and we will seek to constantly lift Him up individually and corporately with all the passion in us. In worship and prayer we connect with Jesus Christ and give Him all honour and praise that is due to Him as our Savior and King.

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” Psalm 150: 6

Eternity.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

Us.

Man is made in the image of God and is the supreme object of His creation and affectionate love. We were created to exist forever. We believe that humans are created to be in a loving relationship with Jesus, to love and be loved by the Father.

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5

Salvation.

The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the only way of salvation through the forgiveness of sin.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Church.

The church is a local community of believers unified through faith in Christ. We believe that God loves the local Church, His House. We believe that He gave His life for a radiant Church. We believe that His House is a Place where believers and seekers, from all nations and skin colour, will find a place to belong, believe and behold.  We believe that His house is a place of faith, hope and love and the gates of hell cannot and will not overcome it.

“I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16: 18

Our DNA.

We value God’s Word the Bible preached and revealed
We value Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour
We love and value Grace ( His empowering presence)
We value worshipping and praising Jesus in a way that is contemporary and impacting
We value individual and corporate prayer
We value genuine faith and vision
We value effective discipleship/evangelism
We value servanthood
We value celebrating people and their achievements
We value leadership
We value the presence of God and the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power
We value freedom