Our Beliefs

We seek to bring people to Christ by: sharing Christ through evangelism; gathering people together through worship; growing people through spiritual development; and sending people out for Christ through local and global missions.

Our faithfulness in the word of Jesus Christ sustains the vision of spreading the Gospel throughout the world.

Our Vision / Our Mission / Our Principles / The Scriptures / God / Humanity / The Fall of Humanity / Jesus Christ / The Holy Spirit / Salvation / The Church / Baptism and The Lord’s Supper / The World to Come

Our Vision

The Park Church exists to extend the Love, the Life, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ to everyone, in every way, in every place, and at every time the opportunity is given.

Our Mission

The Park Church seeks to: bring people to Christ through evangelism; gather people together in Christ through worship and fellowship; mature people in Christ through spiritual development and discipleship, and send people out for Christ through local and global deployment and mission work.

Our Principles

• We exist to glorify God and to expand the Kingdom of God on earth
• We are biblically grounded
• We are Christ-centered and Christ-directed
• We are holistic in our approach to ministry
• We are called to make a global impact
• We are forward thinking and future minded
• We challenge the status quo
• We are called to lead and to develop leaders
• Our calling assumes a level of risk, ambiguity, and flexibility
• We are called to excellence, accountability, and responsibility
• We seek to work collaboratively with others
• We are called to be a vehicle of racial reconciliation and healing
• We are called to intentionality in reflecting the global dimension of our faith and witness in the community and in the world

The Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures, also known as the Bible, to be the inerrant and infallible word of God. It is the primary source of the revelation of God in history. It was written by people who were inspired by God both in terms of thought and word. It contains the account of God’s redemptive work in history through Jesus Christ. It contains the principles by which God will judge us, serves as the center of our Christian union, and is the standard by which all matters of conduct, creeds, practices, and opinions should be measured.

Psalms 19:7-11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17

God

We believe that the Bible reveals God to be the self-existent Creator of the heavens and the earth. He is the absolute and eternal Spirit. We believe God to be revealed within scripture as being triune (three in one); Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His attributes may be categorized as absolute and relative. By absolute, we mean the characteristics that God has within Himself and by relative we mean those characteristics that are revealed by way of His relationship with his creation. We further believe that, through Jesus Christ, God is revealed as Father.

Genesis 1:1-2:25, John 4:24, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:6, 1 Corinthians 8:4, Genesis 1:1-3, 26. Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 John 5:7, John 14:5-14, Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2-3, Romans 8:16-17

Humanity

We believe that God created humanity, male and female, in the image of God. With the image of God, humanity receives the capacity for self-understanding, self-definition, self-determination, creativity, and community.

Genesis 1:26-31, 2:4-25

The Fall of Humanity

We believe that humanity fell from its created state through an act of disobedience, bringing it into a condition of sin. The state of innocence was lost and placed humanity under the judgment of God and made subject to the miseries of life, the certainty of death, and the threat of permanent separation from God.

Genesis 3

Jesus Christ

We believe that the Bible reveals that Christ is the second person in the Godhead. As such, He is pre-existent. He was active in creation. He is eternal. He is the Son of God. He became flesh by the power of the Holy Ghost moving upon a virgin named Mary. In His earthly existence, He was both fully human and fully divine. He is the complete revelation of God. We also believe that, in obedience to the will of God the Father, He was crucified for the sins of humanity. We believe that He died for the sins of humanity and in the stead of humanity. We believe that He descended into hell to preach to the spirits in prison. We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead as a display of divine power, establishing not only the removal of the stain of sin but also the penalty of sin. We further believe in that Jesus ascended into heaven and is now at the right hand of God the Father. The Ascension of Christ reveals the exaltation of Christ as Lord and enables Him to fulfill the role of High Priest.

Finally, we believe that Christ will return for the purpose of fulfilling His word, raising the dead, destroying death, gathering the believers, completing the banishment of the wicked, issuing the final judgment, and glorifying and rewarding believers.

John 1:1-5,14, Colossians 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:2, John 8:58, 17:5, Matthew 16:13-20, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38, John 1:14, 14:7-11, Colossians 1:15, 2:9, Romans 3:24-26, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:13, 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 2:9, 1 John 2:2, 1 Peter 3:13-20, Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15, Acts 1:9-11, Romans 8:34, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Ephesians 1:20, q Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 1:3, 4:14-16, 6:19-20, 8:1-2, 2 Peter 3:1-12, Acts 10:42, 17:31, John 14:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, 1 Corinthians 15:25, Matthew 24:31, 25:32-46

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity and possesses the same attributes or characteristics as God the Father and God the Son. We believe that the Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit is called God and is recorded as performing the work of God. We believe the activity of the Holy Spirit is found in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, He is revealed as being involved in creation, in providing guidance and direction, in endowing special abilities within people to perform particular work, and providing power and strength in needed times. In the New Testament, He is revealed as being involved in the conception of Jesus, the validation of Jesus as the Son of God at Jesus’ baptism, the anointing of Jesus for ministry, and the resurrection of Jesus. In the life of the Church, we believe that the Bible reveals the Holy Spirit to be the means by which the Church is empowered to fulfill the mandate and mission to evangelize the world. In the life of the believer, we believe that the Bible reveals the Holy Spirit’s activity in several ways. We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts one causing one the recognize sin, to turn from sin, to see the need for a savior, and to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. At which point, The Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, fills, baptizes, gifts, sanctifies, and seals the believer. We believe the regenerating, indwelling, baptizing, gifting, and sealing ministries to be once and for all. The filling ministry is continuous. The sanctifying ministry is both once and for all and continuous. It is once and for all in that the Spirit sets the believer apart as belonging to God. It is continuous in that the Holy Spirit works within the believer to transform the believer into the spiritual likeness of Jesus Christ.

Acts 5:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:9-11, John 3:5-6, Romans 8:11, Genesis 1:2, Job 33:4, 2 Peter 1:21, Numbers 27:18, Isaiah 42:1-4, Luke 1:34:-35, Mark 1:9-10, Luke 4:14-21, Luke 10:21, Matthew 12:25-28, John 16:8, Titus 3:6, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 2:12-16, 3:16, John 14:16, Acts 1:8, 2:1-41, 4:8,33, 9:17, 13:52, Ephesians 5:18-21, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 6:3-5, 2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13-14, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4:1-13, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 2:12-13, Galatians 5:16-26

Salvation

We believe that the Bible reveals salvation to be by grace and through faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the acceptance and confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, one is pardoned of sin, given a new nature, made one with God, set apart by God and for God, and guaranteed life eternal. We further believe that evidence of salvation is repentance, faith, and newness of life. Finally, we believe that the finished work of Christ on the cross and the indwelling and sealing ministries of the Holy Spirit establishes the eternal security of the believer.

John 3:3-36, Acts 2:21, Romans 5:8-9, 1 Corinthians 1:18, Ephesians 2:1-10

The Church

We believe that the visible church is the visible expression of Christ within the world. It is the body of baptized believers, who are associated by covenant in the faith and the fellowship of the gospel. It exists within the world to serve as the instrument for the reconciliation of humanity to God. Its activity is not limited to the proclamation of the gospel, but also includes the enfleshing of the gospel through practical ministry. This places the church in the midst of the struggle for justice and peace, as well as the fight against any and all systems that are an affront to the image of God. The church exists for the purpose of building up believers in Christ, through corporate worship, discipleship, fellowship, and service. It is empowered to do so by the Holy Spirit and the gifts given to the members to perform the work of the ministry and to edify the Body of Christ. We further believe that the Bible reveals the offices of the Church to be that of Bishops or Pastors/Elders and Deacons/Deaconess.

Matthew 16:18-19, 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:1-8, Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Ephesians 4:1-6, Acts 6:1-6, 1 Timothy 3:1-10, Titus 1:5-9

Baptism and The Lord’s Supper

We believe that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are actions, which symbolize important truths and are to be observed out of obedience to the command of Jesus Christ. While they are not essential to salvation, they are essential to discipleship and obedience. We believe that through baptism, one expresses one’s identity through and identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Also through baptism, there is the expression of hope for the future. One is baptized as a result of one’s personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:19-20, Romans 6:1-9

We believe that the Lord’s Supper represents the price that was paid for salvation, being the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is observed in obedience to and in the presence of the Risen Lord and not only reflects upon His death, but also anticipates His Second Coming.

Matthew 26:17-30, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

The World to Come

We believe that the Bible reveals that Christ will return, that there will be a bodily resurrection for believers upon His return, that there will be the final banishment of Satan and evil, and that both believers and non-believers will be judged, resulting in the final estate of heaven or hell.

Acts 1:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, 1 Corinthians 15:12-58, Revelation 19, 20, 22