"What We Believe" is a statement of faith and does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God, speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind and is the sole and final source of all that we believe. One Community Church's leadership, consisting of the Senior Pastor, Board of Trustees, and Elders, serves as the final interpretive authority on the Bible's meaning and application of faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline for One Community Church.

We believe there is only one God, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4, 2 Corinthians 13:14, John 1:1) Many times in the New Testament, we see the expression of God the Father, Jesus the Son of God, and God the Holy Spirit.

• God as Father, Jesus as Son, and the Holy Spirit are in complete unity.
• All are a part of the creation process and vital to salvation with specific functions.
• God as Father is the master architect of the entire plan of creation.
• Jesus is the expression of God’s bridge between Himself and man (the Chief Minister).
• The Holy Spirit is the Revealer of Truth and serves as a down payment for salvation for eternity (the gift).
• God is in Jesus and Jesus is in God with the Holy Spirit as the Divine Interpreter. They are equal in purpose, equal in power, and equal in authority; completely unified.
• Therefore, we conclude that there is one God manifest in three persons.

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was begotten, rather than created; He was both God and Man. He was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died a vicarious and atoning death for the sins of the world, resurrected bodily for our justification, and now reigns in glory until all things be put under His feet. (1 Timothy 3:16)

As a Christian, there are six things essential to our beliefs:

• Jesus Christ was both 100% God and 100% human. God was His Father, and Mary was his mother.
• Mary was a virgin, as the scripture records. For her to conceive, it had to be supernatural: beyond natural. This is no different from Abraham and Sarah, believing God that they could have children after their time of life had passed.
• Jesus lived His life without sin. If He sinned in any way, His blood would not have qualified to be poured on the mercy seat in heaven. The scripture says that there can be no remission of sin without the shedding of blood.
• Jesus's death was for the sins of the world. My sin and your sin caused His death.
• Jesus was raised from the dead. This represented His absolute dominion over death. Death is the natural result of our separation from God through sin. Physical death was a shadow of spiritual death.
• Jesus reigns as the immortal, invisible King who, at the appointed time, will establish His rule on earth.

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of unmeasurable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are, therefore, called to defend, protect, and value all human life.

We believe that man was made in the image of God and is the crown of creation. He is now, because of the fall, spiritually depraved and alienated from his Creator. Apart from God’s grace, he cannot attain his high calling. (Psalm 8, Ephesians 2:8-9)

• Man is created in the image of God. Man is a spirit. He has a soul (mind, will, and emotions) and lives in a body (a house or shell for the spirit).
• Man does not come from an animal.
• Man is not inherently good by nature; because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, we are alienated from God and can never measure up to God’s standard of right standing with Him.
• This alienation is called "sin." Sin means to miss or not come up to the established standard.
• We can never satisfy the established standard without intervention from God. No amount of good deeds on our part could satisfy His standards for being right in His eyes.

We believe that justification is by grace through faith in our Lord’s sacrifice on Calvary. (Romans 3:21-24) The soul that sins shall surely die. This death is a spiritual death first and a natural death second.

• This alienation from God because of sin can only be corrected by grace through faith in what Jesus did in His death, burial, and resurrection.
• Jesus Christ, through His death, satisfied the requirements/standards established by God. He becomes our substitute.
• God’s entire wrath against disobedience (sin) was taken out on Jesus on the cross. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

We believe that all of God’s people are to be buried with our Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism, after conversion. (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:4)

• Baptism is a command. Everyone who confesses Christ should be baptized.
• Baptism comes from the word "baptize", which means to immerse.
• Baptism represents the burial of the old way of life and mindset.
• Baptism is not a prerequisite to salvation.
• One Community Church does not baptize infants.
• Baptism is to be participated in when the concept it represents can be fully understood by the participant.
• We baptize in the name of Jesus Christ, following the scriptural record.
• Jesus was baptized as a way of identifying with us as sinners.

We believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in all believers, conforming them to the image of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:13, Romans 8:16-17)

• The Holy Spirit sanctifies – He sets us apart to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.
• The Holy Spirit preserves – He keeps us until the day that Christ returns.
• The Holy Spirit comes within you when you accept Christ into your heart.
• The scriptures identify Him as “the one called alongside to help provide comfort, revelation regarding the will of God and teaching”. (John 14:26)

We believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an endowment of power, after conversion, given by God to anoint the believer for sanctification and evangelism. We believe that the supernatural works of the Holy Spirit are active within the Body of Christ until the coming of the Lord. Furthermore, we believe the development of the gifts of the Holy Spirit should be encouraged under the guidance of local church authorities. (Acts 8:14-17, Acts 19:1-2, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

• The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a subsequent experience to salvation.
• Evidence of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated by speaking in tongues and boldness, as recorded in the book of Acts.
• The Holy Spirit within produces fruit for internal work.
• The Holy Spirit upon us produces power for external work.
• The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a requirement for salvation.
• We encourage you to ask Jesus to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

We believe in the absolute inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, given by the Holy Spirit without error, as He moved upon holy men of old. Furthermore, we believe that the Church has no authority to establish doctrine or practice contrary to these same Scriptures, which were subsequently accepted as canon by the early Christian Church. (2 Timothy 3:16)

The Holy Bible is the word of God, written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

• Everything we believe has its basis in the entirety of scripture and the absolute truths that it contains. Absolutes are principles that stand alone.
• The Holy Scripture is our highest authority for establishing doctrine, reproving, instructing, convicting of sin, correcting errors, and training in righteousness.
• The canon of scripture was established before the universal church’s fragmentation into denominations. At the same time the scriptures were written, the universal church was still an organic body, not an institutional one.

We believe that those who are called by the name of Christ should depart from iniquity. Understanding that salvation from the penalty of sin only begins the process of redemption, we acknowledge that one work of the Holy Spirit is to create in us the character of Christ. (2 Timothy 2:19)

To achieve this new character, we believe:

• your walk matches your talk,
• we can break free from the power of sin,
• in complete restoration, not just redemption,
• in a lifestyle change in every arena of life: mental, spiritual, and physical.
• in a life that reflects the nature and character of Jesus Christ.

We believe in the priesthood of the believer. That is to say, all people born of God have equal status before, and direct access to, their Lord. (1 Peter 2:5)

• You can have a relationship with God without having a human mediator.
• Jesus is our mediator with God.
• We all have equal status and access to God through Jesus Christ.
• We have a responsibility, as priests, to minister to those who don’t have a relationship with the Lord and to fellow believers.

We believe that the callings of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher are functional within the Body of Christ until the Lord’s return. Furthermore, these ministries are gifts to the Church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, so that the Body of Christ will be edified. (Ephesians 4:11-16) We believe that the ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4 are still in operation today (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher).

• The purpose of these gifts is to prepare believers for ministry work.
• These gifts are expressed within the context of a local community of believers.
• We need to exercise balance and sensitivity in allowing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate in our lives.
• The Holy Spirit's gifts are to be manifested properly and in order in a church service under the direction of the ministry oversight.

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as either male or female and that those two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union. (Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:8)

We believe in the spiritual unity of all those who are born of God. We confess even those with whom we disagree, those who do not confess to us, and others whom we exclude because of our willful ignorance. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)

• We do not disassociate from other churches that profess Jesus Christ but may have different doctrinal beliefs or cultural ways of worshiping the Lord.
• We protect the assignment given to us by God by keeping our focus on the spiritual vision rather than physical details.
• We want to build bridges, not walls. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

We believe the identity of the Body of Christ on the earth is primarily perceived through the local church. While encouraging the voluntary association of local churches and recognizing the need for consensus on matters of fundamental doctrine and conduct, we strongly confess that the local church is sovereign and autonomous. (Revelation 2:3)

• Every individual who professes a relationship with Jesus Christ should be involved in a local community of believers.
• The local church should represent Jesus Christ to the community.
• The local church is a place of accountability and covering.

We believe in the right of local churches and ministries to form temporal institutions to assist them in carrying out the work of God. At the same time, we reject sectarianism (excessive attachment to a particular sect or party; ”religious sectarianism”) and divisiveness as great evils. Local churches should work with each other to establish the rule of God on the earth.

We believe in our Lord's literal second coming; Christ's literal rule on earth; the resurrection of the regenerate to eternal life and the unregenerate to eternal damnation; and the ultimate victory of God's eternal Kingdom. (Acts 1:9-11; Daniel 12:2, Revelation 22:1-7)

• Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, is still alive today.
• The Lord Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and He is interceding on our behalf daily.
• In the Bible, John 3:16 states that God so loved the world. The word "world" is translated as "cosmos," which means the earth and the entire universe. God is not just in love with His highest creation, called man, but He is in love with all of His creation.
• Jesus Christ’s rule (government) will be established on the earth.
• We await His literal return to earth.