ABOUT
BELIEFS
God (The Trinity)
It is the testimony of both Testaments and of the Christian Church that God is both One and Triune. The Biblical revelation testifies that there is only one God, and that He is eternally existent in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
1. God the Father – God the Father is the Creator and sustainer of all things, who created the universe in love to respond to Himself. He created man in His own image for fellowship, and calls man back to Himself through Christ after the rebellion and fall of man.
2. The Son – Jesus Christ is eternally God. He was together with the Father and the Holy Spirit from the beginning, and through Him all things were made. For man’s redemption He left heaven and became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and henceforth He is forever one Christ with two natures, God and Man, in one Person.
3. The Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit is God, the Lord and giver of life, who was active in the Old Testament, and given to the Church in fullness at Pentecost. He empowers the saints for service and witness. He imparts the life of Christ to the believer through the new birth experience and works to conform the believer to the image of Christ. The baptism in the Holy Spirit, subsequent to conversion, releases the fullness of the Spirit in the life of the believer and is evidenced by tongues, joy, praise and other inward and outward manifestations.
The Scriptures
We believe that the Bible Scripture comprised of the Old and New Testaments is alone the only infallible, Holy Spirit inspired Word of God and that its authority is ultimate, final and eternal. It cannot be added to, subtracted from, or superseded in any regard. The Bible is the source of all doctrine, instruction, correction and reproof. It contains all that is needed for guidance in godliness and practical Christian conduct. Only through the revelation and operation of the Holy Spirit does the Word of God become alive and effective in our lives. The Bible is the standard for our relational and experiential knowledge of God. Any personal ministry or prophecy must be in accord with Scripture, or if not, be considered false and rejected.
The Atonement
Christ’s vicarious death on the cross paid the penalty for the sins of the whole world, and inaugurated the New Covenant in His blood, for those who receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. His atoning sacrifice makes available healing of the body, soul and spirit, when appropriated by His saints.
Salvation
The Bible declares clearly that salvation is a free gift of God appropriated only through faith, based completely on the accomplished and finished work of Christ’s death and His resurrection. Salvation occurs when a person confesses and accepts Christ as Lord and Savior, resulting in being born again. The new birth is described as being united with Christ in His death and resurrection, so that we pass from death to life, and our identity changes from the old man to a new creation in Christ. The results of salvation include justification, reconciliation, regeneration, righteousness, and sanctification.
The new life in Christ also includes the privileges of adoption and inheritance as sons of God and as citizens in His Kingdom. Salvation is an act of free will in response to God’s personal love for mankind. It is predestined only in the sense that God, through His omniscience, foreknew those who would choose Him.
The Christian Life
Through the experience of salvation, our old life, inherited from Adam, is crucified with Christ and we are born again as new creations into the risen life of Christ, the second man. As new creations, we are born into the Kingdom of God as infants and we live our lives becoming progressively more mature in our faith as we yield to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. This maturity is an experiential process of having our minds renewed by the truth that is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. As we become progressively more mature in Christ, our behavior will more and more reflect His life in us and His purposes for us. A vital part of this process is living life in the community of believers that make up the Church and allowing ourselves to be built up by our relationships with other believers.
The Christian life, while joyful and fulfilling, still includes trials, tests and warfare against a spiritual enemy who takes advantage of our flesh to lure us into sinful behavior and independence from God. Victory over these trials, tests and attacks is provided to us through our faith in Christ's finished work on the cross that redeems us from the power of the enemy.
The Church
1. The goal of the Church is to make disciples of all nations and to present the saints complete in Christ.
2. The church is governed by the office of Elder as mentioned in scripture.
3. It is essential to the life of the Church that scriptural patterns of discipline be practiced and that oversight for Church discipline, individual and corporate, be exercised by the leadership of the Church.
Water Baptism and Communion
The Bible establishes in the Church two perpetual commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first, water baptism, is the outward sign of what God has already done in the individual’s life, and is a testimony to all that the person belongs now to Jesus. It is an identification with Jesus and is effected in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Communion is a commemoration of the death of the Lord and is done in remembrance of Him until He comes again, and is a sign of our participation in Him. Both institutions are reserved for believers.
Eschatology
We believe in the bodily, personal, second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the Saints, the Millennium, and the final judgment. The final judgment will ultimately reveal the eternal status of both the saints and the unbelievers, determined by their relationship to Jesus Christ. We affirm with the Bible the final state of the New Heavens and New Earth.
Marriage
We believe the term “marriage”, has only one meaning and that it is marriage sanctioned by God. This is the joining together of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive covenant, as defined in the Bible.
Acceptance Policy
World Harvest Church offers an open door to anyone wishing to attend services and functions, without respect to person, gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. However, we will not compromise the Biblical world view and will preach what scripture says about cultural issues. All are welcome, but we will speak the truth of the scriptures. We love people, but do not condone sin. We also recognize that we are all a work in progress, and that no one is perfect, or will act perfect 100% of the time. With that said, we also hold the value that the greater the level of leadership, the more Spiritual maturity that is required, which includes living a lifestyle that has evidence of a Christ-centered life.