Statement of Faith & Belief
Overview and Mission
Antioch Church is a local church committed to Jesus’s mission to make disciples who make an impact in the world (Matthew 28). We accomplish this mission by helping people take their next step closer to Christ.
We believe that life transformation happens when our search for meaning intersects with God’s call for all people to give their lives’ ultimate and eternal meaning and significance in and through Jesus Christ. When our stories intersect with His story, we encounter the transforming love of God which shapes our present reality and our future.
We are committed to seeing this happen now and especially in the next generation. God has given to us the privilege and the duty of passing on to the next generation the foundational tenets of our Christian faith, thereby giving our children and their children, and their children the incredible legacy of faith in Jesus Christ.
We stand on the Word of God, entrusted to us for our good by those who came before us. We stand shoulder to shoulder to make a difference for Christ in the world, our communities, our workplaces, our schools, our neighborhoods, and, most importantly in our families.
Doctrinal Standards
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, Father, all sovereign, maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who was begotten from the Father before all the ages, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things came into existence. Who because of us men and an our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made man, was crucified on our behalf by Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and arose on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right of the Father, and is coming again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, who makes us alive, who proceeds from the Father (and from the Son), who is worshiped and glorified together with the Father and the Son, who has spoken through the prophets. In one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the coming age. Amen.
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and was buried; He descended to the dead. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there, he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Confession of Faith
1. God: We believe in the one true, holy and living God, Eternal Spirit, who is Creator, Sovereign and Preserver of all things visible and invisible. He is infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness and love, and rules with gracious reward for the well-being and salvation of humanity, to the glory of his name. We believe the one God reveals Himself as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power.
2. Jesus Christ: We believe in Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united. He is the eternal Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. As ministering Servant, He lived, suffered and died on the cross. He was buried, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to be with the Father, from whence he shall return. He is eternal Savior and Mediator, who intercedes for us, and by Him all humanity will be judged.
3. The Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from and is one in being with the Father and the Son. He convinces the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He leads humanity through faithful response to the gospel into the fellowship of the Church. He comforts, sustains, and empowers the faithful and guides them into all truth.
4. The Holy Bible: We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice. Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not to be made an article of faith nor is it to be taught as essential to salvation.
5. The Church: We believe the Christian Church is the community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ. We believe it is one, holy, apostolic, and catholic. It is the redemptive fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by men and women divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ’s own appointment. Under the disciple of the Holy Spirit the Church exists for the maintenance of worship, the edification of believers and the redemption of the world.
6. The Sacraments: We believe the Sacraments, ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges of the Christian’s profession and of God’s love toward us. They are means of grace by which God worlds invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening, and confirming our faith in him. Two sacraments are ordained by Christ our Lord, namely Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
a. We believe Baptism signifies entrance into the household of faith and is a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation of the new birth in Christ Jesus and a mark of Christian discipleship.
b. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a representation of our redemption, a memorial or the sufferings and death of Christ, and a token of love and union which Christians have with Christ and with one another. Those who rightly, worthily and in faith eat the broken bread and drink the blessed cup partake of the body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner until he comes.
7. Sin: We believe humanity is fallen from righteousness and, apart from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is destitute of holiness and inclined to evil. Except a person be born again, they cannot see the Kingdom of God. In their own strength, without divine grace, a person cannot do good works pleasing and acceptable to God. We believe, however, a person influenced and empowered by the Holy Spirit is responsible in freedom to exercise their will for good.
8. Salvation: We believe God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The offering Christ freely made on the cross is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, redeeming humanity from all sin, so that no other satisfaction is required.
a. We believe we are never accounted righteous before God through our works or merit, but that penitent sinners are justified or accounted righteous before God only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
b. We believe regeneration is the renewal of a person in righteousness through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are made partakers of the divine nature and experience newness of life. By this new birth the believer becomes reconciled to God and is enabled to serve him with the will and the affections.
c. We believe, although we have experienced regeneration, it is possible to depart from grace and fall into sin; and we may even then, by the grace of God, be renewed in righteousness.
d. We believe good works are the necessary fruits of faith and follow regeneration, but they do not have the virtue to remove our sins or to avert divine judgment. We believe good works, pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, spring from a true and living faith, for through and by them faith is made evident.
9. Sanctification and Christian Perfection: We believe sanctification is the work of God’s grace through the Word and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in their thoughts, words, and acts, and are enabled to live in accordance with God’s will, and it strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
a. Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being delivered from the power of sin, by loving God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, and by loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. Through faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both gradually and instantaneously and should be sought earnestly by every child of God.
b. We believe this experience does not deliver us from the infirmities, ignorance, and mistakes common to man, nor from the possibilities of further sin. The Christian must continue on-guard against spiritual pride and seek to gain victory over every temptation to sin. The Christian must respond wholly to the will of God so that sin will lose its power over him; and the world, the flesh, and the devil are put under his feet. Thus, the Christian rules over these enemies with watchfulness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
10. The Judgment and the Future State: We believe all people stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation.
Wesley’s Standard Sermons and Explanatory Notes
These two works serve as the standard of commentary and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. They provide a Wesleyan perspective that guides our teaching and leading.
Moral Principles
As faithful witnesses, we highlight and affirm the following moral principles that arise from our understanding of Biblical truth. We acknowledge that other moral principles merit further attention.
Statement on Equality
We believe that all persons are of sacred worth and affirm that God’s grace is available to all. Therefore, we gladly welcome all who seek to grow in their relationship with God to attend worship services and participate in the church’s ministries, subject to any further standards for leadership set forth herein. No person shall be disqualified from becoming a member of this local congregation based on gender, race, color, nationality, national origin, or economic condition. Scripture teaches that God created men and women in his image (“In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27) and that men and women are of equal value in the eyes of God. Accordingly, the church should treat women and men equally.
We believe that both women and men are called to and gifted for ordained and licensed ministry, and both are able to hold leadership roles within Antioch Church.
Statement on Marriage and Sexuality
We believe marriage and sexual intimacy are good gifts from God. In keeping with the Scriptures and historic, orthodox, Christian teaching through the ages we believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union (Genesis 2:24-25; Matthew 19:5; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 5:31). We believe that God intends for his children to practice sexual purity - faithfulness in marriage and celibacy in singleness. We believe any sexual expression outside of these standards is not in line with the teaching of Scriptures.
Statement on Human Dignity
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual or group are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Antioch Church.
Statement on Divorce and Remarriage
Our first counsel when considering divorce is always to exhaust every avenue of reconciliation. However, when a married couple is estranged beyond reconciliation, even after thoughtful consideration and counsel, divorce is a regrettable alternative in the middle of brokenness. Divorce is always less than what God intended for marriage, however, it is not an unforgivable sin. Through the process of healing and restoration, people can be restored to community and to healthy and whole relationships that may include remarriage.
Statement on Abortion
We reject abortion. We do, however, realize that there are rare and exceptional cases when the life of the mother is endangered and when this is so, encourage prayerful inquiry and counsel in those circumstances. We affirm God’s grace is available to all and it is our commitment to be in ministry with and to all who have been touched by the devastating circumstances of abortion.
Our Wesleyan Roots
John Wesley and the early Methodists were particularly concerned about inviting people to experience God's grace and to grow in their knowledge and love of God through disciplined Christian living. They placed primary emphasis on Christian living, on putting faith and love into action. This emphasis on what Wesley referred to as "practical divinity" has continued to be a hallmark of our faith today.
The distinctive shape of our theological heritage can be seen not only in this emphasis on Christian living, but also in Wesley's distinctive understanding of God's saving grace. Although Wesley shared with many other Christians a belief in salvation by grace, he combined them in a powerful way to create distinctive emphases for living the full Christian life.
Grace
Grace is central to our understanding of Christian faith and life. Grace can be defined as the love and mercy given to us by God because God wants us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it. We read in the Letter to the Ephesians: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Our heritage is rooted in a deep and profound understanding of God's grace. This incredible grace flows from God's great love for us. John 3:16 summarizes the gospel: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." The ability to call to mind God's love and God's gift of Jesus Christ is a rich resource for theology and faith."
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, described God's grace as threefold:
● prevenient grace
● justifying grace
● sanctifying grace
1. Prevenient Grace: Wesley understood grace as God's active presence in our lives. This presence is not dependent on human actions or human response. Wesley called this grace that is active in everyone's life Prevenient Grace. It is a gift - a gift that is always available, but that can be refused. God's grace stirs up within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to God's invitation to be in relationship with God. God's grace enables us to discern differences between good and evil and makes it possible for us to choose good. God takes the initiative in relating to humanity. We do not have to beg and plead for God's love and grace. God actively seeks us!
2. Justifying Grace: Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). And in his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul wrote: "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
These verses demonstrate the justifying grace of God. They point to reconciliation, pardon, and restoration. Through the work of God in Christ our sins are forgiven, and our relationship with God is restored. According to John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, the image of God- which has been distorted by sin - is renewed within us through Christ's death.
Again, this dimension of God's grace is a gift. God's grace alone brings us into relationship with God. There are no hoops through which we have to jump in order to please God and to be loved by God. God has acted in Jesus Christ. We need only to respond in faith.
This process of salvation involves a change in us that we call conversion. Conversion is a turning around, leaving one orientation for another. It may be sudden and dramatic, or gradual and cumulative. But in any case, it's a new beginning. Following Jesus' words to Nicodemus, "You must be born again" (John 3 :7), we speak of this conversion as rebirth, new life in Christ, or regeneration.
Following Paul and Martin Luther, John Wesley called this process justification. Justification is what happens when Christians abandon all those vain attempts to justify themselves before God, to be seen as ''just" in God's eyes through religious and moral practices. It's a time when God's "justifying grace" is experienced and accepted, a time of pardon and forgiveness, of new peace and joy and love. Indeed, we're justified by God's grace through faith.
Justification is also a time of repentance - turning away from behaviors rooted in sin and toward actions that express God's love. In this conversion we can expect to receive assurance of our present salvation through the Holy Spirit "bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16).
3. Sanctifying Grace: Salvation is not a static, one-time event in our lives. It is the ongoing experience of God's gracious presence transforming us into whom God intends us to be. John Wesley described this dimension of God's grace as sanctification, or holiness.
Through God's sanctifying grace, we grow and mature in our ability to live as Jesus lived. As we pray, study the Scriptures, fast, worship, and share in fellowship with other Christians, we deepen our knowledge of and love for God. As we respond with compassion to human need and work for justice in our communities, we strengthen our capacity to love neighbor. Our inner thoughts and motives, as well as our outer actions and behavior, are aligned with God's will and testify to our union with God.
We're to press on, with God's help, in the path of sanctification toward perfection. By perfection, Wesley did not mean that we would not make mistakes or have weaknesses. Rather, he understood it to be a continual process of being made perfect in our love of God and each other and of removing our desire to sin.
Faith and Good Works
The New Testament insists that faith and good works belong together. What we believe must be confirmed by what we do. Personal salvation must be expressed in ministry and mission in the world. We believe that Christian doctrine and Christian ethics are inseparable, that faith should inspire service. The integration of personal piety and social holiness has been a hallmark of our tradition. We affirm the biblical precept that "faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (James 2:17).
Mission and Service
Because of what God has done for us, we offer our lives back to God through a life of service. As disciples, we become active participants in God's activity in the world through mission and service. Love of God is always linked to love of neighbor and to a passionate commitment to seeking justice and renewal in the world.
Nurture and Mission of the Church
For Wesley, there was no religion but social religion, no holiness but social holiness. In other words, faith always includes a social dimension. One cannot be a solitary Christian. As we grow in faith through our participation in the church community, we are also nourished and equipped for mission and service to the world.
"From Wesley's time to the present, Methodism has sought to be both a nurturing community and a servant community. Members of Methodist Societies and class meetings met for personal nurture through giving to the poor, visiting the imprisoned, and working for justice and peace in the community. They sought not only to receive the fullness of God's grace for themselves; but...they saw themselves as existing 'to reform the nation...and to spread scriptural holiness over the land.”
Sacraments
Antioch Church recognizes two sacraments in which Christ himself participated: baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Baptism
Baptism marks the beginning of our lifelong journey as disciples of Jesus Christ. Through baptism, we are joined with the Triune God, the whole of Christ's church, and our local congregation. The water and the work of the Holy Spirit in baptism convey God's saving grace, the forgiveness of our sins, and new life in Jesus Christ.
Persons of any age may be baptized-infants, children, youth, and adults. We believe children are under the atonement of Christ and as heirs of the Kingdom of God are acceptable subjects for Christian Baptism. Children of believing parents through Baptism become the special responsibility of the Church. They should be nurtured and led to personal acceptance of Christ, and by profession of faith confirm their Baptism. Parents who present their children for baptism should answer the covenant questions by affirming the following questions: On behalf of the whole church,
● Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord in union with Antioch Church?
● Will you nurture the child in Christ's holy church, that by your teaching and example they may be guided to accept God's grace for themselves, to profess their faith openly, and to lead a Christian life?
Antioch Church baptizes in a variety of ways - immersion, pouring, or sprinkling.
However, a person receives the sacrament of adult baptism only once in his or her life. Acts of remembering one's baptism are encouraged so long as it is made clear a “re-baptism" is not occurring.
Holy Communion
Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper are common names for the Eucharist, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving the church offers to God for all God has done, is doing, and will do to save us and renew all things in Christ. Through offering ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, and through receiving the bread and cup- which the Spirit makes for us the body and blood of Christ - celebrating the Lord's Supper together nourishes and sustains us in our journey as disciples of Jesus Christ. As we pray together and receive the body and blood of Christ together, we are united with Christ, with one another, and in ministry to all the world.
All who love Christ, earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another are invited to join us in offering our prayer of thanksgiving and receive the body and blood of Christ-regardless of age or church membership. Wesley taught that Holy Communion was a "converting ordinance" and should not be withheld because of age or lack of understanding.
Holy Communion is to be celebrated and received regularly -- John Wesley said, "as often as [one] can.”