What We Believe
What is the Gospel?
God
God is the only sovereign, wise, and good Creator of all things, who reigns as King over all creation for His own glory. ROMANS 11:33-36
Man
Human beings were made in God’s image to love and worship Him forever. But ever since Adam first rebelled against God, we have all been lost in sin, under God’s judgment, and unable to save ourselves. ROMANS 3:23
Christ
Out of undeserved love and grace, God sent His only Son to save us from sin and reconcile us to Himself through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
JOHN 3:16
Response
God offers us His gift of salvation by grace, which we receive through faith in Jesus. He makes us new, calls us to leave sin behind, and invites us to join His work in the world. EPHESIANS 2:8-10
Connecting Unconnected
People to Jesus Christ
Independent
We are independent from the standpoint that we are not regulated by a national headquarters. We are an autonomous church governed only by the Bible. We have no affiliation with the National Council of Churches or the World Council of Churches. We are dedicated to the Church founded by Christ in the first century as recorded in the book of Acts. We have no manmade creeds. We believe the Bible is enough.
Being independent has its privileges and challenges. We regularly support Missionary endeavors overseas. 100% of every dollar goes to the work of the Lord and is not filtered through an organization. We are not mandated by any institution as to the doctrine we are to embrace. We sincerely follow the Holy Spirit's leading as we try to carry on Christ's work. We are affiliated with other "Independent Christian Churches and Colleges" all over the world.
We have fundamental beliefs which we feel are given directly from God's Word:
We believe that God created the world
We believe that Jesus Christ is God's One and Only Son
We believe in the Inspiration of God's Word
We believe that all men have sinned and that sin separates us from God
We believe that one who sins must repent from a sinful lifestyle and turn to Jesus Christ
We believe we are saved by faith in Jesus
We believe that a person who puts faith in Jesus Christ is to be baptized into that living hope
We believe that a Christian is given the gift of the Holy Spirit who resides in the life of every Christian
We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ and is called to carry on the work which He left for us to do
We believe that Christ will come again... not as a savior but to judge the living and the dead
We believe in a literal Heaven for the saved and Hell for the condemned
Christian
We are only known as "Christians". While this name may seem generic to some we believe it to be important. Because we follow Christ and Christ alone and because the Bible says that there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved; we proudly wear His name alone. We do not own First Christian. Christ does. We are merely imperfect people saved by His perfect blood and therefore trying to humbly do His bidding.
Church
Our "Church" is not the facility that you might picture residing at 2106 South Main Street in Jacksonville. The Bible says that God does not dwell in a house made by human hands. The Church is God's people, His saved ones. You will find many warm, wonderful, caring people at First Christian. They are not perfect. Only by God's grace are we saved. We are imperfect but we try sincerely to follow His leading as revealed through His Word.