Our Purpose
God's purpose for Living Church of Christ is to cooperate with Him in building His church throughout the world; to "go into the world and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:19). We desire to cultivate in people, devotion and intimacy to the person of Jesus Christ and genuine compassion to aggressively reach the lost for Him.
Our Mission
Our Mission is to glorify God by reaching the lost and demonstrating the love of Christ across racial, cultural, economic, and gender barriers, for "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28 NIV)
What We Believe
We believe there is one God; infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In the unity of the godhead there are three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal, co-eternal. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the foundation of Christian faith and life. We believe that God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His word and for His glory He freely created the world from nothing. Through the same word He daily sustains all His creatures. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for good to those who love Him, and in His unfathomable grace He gave His Son Jesus Christ for mankind's redemption. He made man for fellowship with Himself and intended that all creation should live to the praise of His glory. We believe Jesus Christ is true God and true man; He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father and voluntarily atoned for the sins of all by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone, He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended into heaven, sat down at the right hand of the father, where He, the only Mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own. He shall come again to earth, personally and visibly, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ, we Believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit who uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the building up of Christ's Church. We believe that Scripture in its entirety originated with God, and that it was given through the instrumentality of chosen men. It is indeed 'God-breathed" Scripture and at the same time speaks with the authority of God and reflects the backgrounds, styles and vocabularies of the human authors. We hold that the Scriptures are infallible and inerrant in the original manuscripts. They are the unique, full and final authority on all matters of faith and practice and there are no other writings so inspired by God. We believe God made man, male and female, in His own image, as the crown of creation, that man might have fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. Being estranged from his Maker, yet responsible to Him, he became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and apart from grace, incapable of returning to God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ. We believe salvation to be the free gift of God and is provided solely by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking to Christ and His substitution death is born anew into eternal life by the Holy Spirit and declared to be righteous. Through Christ's great redemptive act an individual is reconciled to God as Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of sin and liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God's Spirit. We believe God by His Word and Spirit creates the Church, calling sinful humanity out of the whole human race into the fellowship of Christ's Body. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves that new redeemed humanity. The Church is not a religious institution or denomination. Rather, the Church universal is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Christ and personally appropriated the Gospel. The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve Him by faithfully doing His will on earth. This involves a commitment to see the Gospel preached in all the world for a testimony. The ultimate mission of the Church is the redemption of people. All members of the Church universal are to be a vital and committed part of a local church. In this context they are called to walk out the New Covenant as the people of God and demonstrate the realm of the Kingdom of God . The ascended Christ has given gift ministries to the church for the equipping of Christ’s body that it might mature and grow. Through the gift ministries all members of the Church are to be nurtured and equipped for the work of ministry. In the context of the local church, God’s people receive pastoral care and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service in relation to one another and the world. We believe that it is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and totally dedicated to the will of God. Scripture is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. This church recognizes that it cannot bind the conscience of individual members in areas where Scripture is silent. Rather, each believer is to be led in these areas by the Lord, to whom he or she alone is ultimately responsible.
