Welcome To First Church
Our Values
The Bible
We learn the ways of God with lasting clarity and conviction by trusting God’s Word and what it teaches as the objective foundation for renewal and life.
Discipleship
Jesus gave us the perfect model of disciple making, which he demonstrated with his disciples. Those same principles from the life of Jesus should be utilized as we make disciples today and champion discipleship as the core mission of the local church.
The Kingdom
Jesus lived differently from the world, so the people in his church will learn to live differently from the world – even when it is difficult. We show that God’s kingdom is an alternative kingdom to the world.
Love
Jesus showed us the true meaning of love and taught us that sacrificial love is the distinguishing character trait of true disciples (and true renewal). Sacrificial love is the foundation for our relationships both in the church and in the world.
Make Disciples Who Love God, Love People and Live Kingdom Lives
Mission Statement
What We Believe
First Church of Christ is a non-denominational Christian Church finding it's roots in the Restoration Movement. This movement began during the Second Great Awakening seeking to honor Jesus’ prayer in John 17 of unity among believers, promoting evangelism and disciple-making in the church.
All people are welcome to join our community as we journey with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
We believe God is one being in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the source of all creation (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1-2), which He sustains (Col. 1:17) and is in the process of redeeming (Rom. 8:19-22). God the Father loves us and desires that we have fellowship with Him as His children (I John 1:3).
We believe Jesus of Nazareth is the incarnation of God the Son. He is the Word become flesh (John 1:14), and He now holds all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). He is Savior and Lord and He made human salvation possible through His life, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension. Upon His ascension into heaven, He is now our high priest and advocate before God the Father. He is head of the universal church.
We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts people of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come (John 16:5-11). The Holy Spirit indwells believers individually and corporately in the universal church. The Holy Spirit develops within the Christian a pure heart which results in Christ-like character expressed in private and public conduct and action. The Holy Spirit works actively in the world, seeking to glorify Jesus.
We believe the Bible, which includes both the Old and New Testaments, is the uniquely inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21). The Bible is the rule of faith and practice for Christians. We affirm that Scripture is the authoritative revelation from God by which we know God’s will and Christ’s authority. We seek to assert what the Scriptures clearly assert and allow freedom in other cases. We seek to understand divine intent, through authorial intent, and we seek to apply its teaching to the contemporary church and culture.
We believe the Church is the body of Christ on earth and the community of believers throughout the world. Upon surrender to Christ, a person is added to the Church. In addition, the priesthood of all believers means each Christian is called to be a serving minister (1 Peter 2:9-10). The Church’s mission is the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20).
We believe humanity was created by God to walk in fellowship with Him. However, all (except Jesus) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and must rely on God’s grace and forgiveness. Every human from the moment of life is the image of God (imago dei), a person to be nurtured, protected, and developed.
We believe salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. One accepts Christ as Savior through a conversion process that includes faith, repentance, confession, and baptism (Acts 2:38, 8:12, 10:47-48, Rom.10:9, etc.). In baptism, a believer is immersed and they are spiritually crucified and buried with Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), they receive forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and they are resurrected (Col. 2:12), clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27), and becomes saved (1 Peter 3:21) because of God’s free gift of grace received by faith.
We practice the disciple of celebrating the Lord’s Supper weekly. The Lord’s Supper, also known as Communion, is the celebration of the New Covenant in which the Christian community remembers Christ and celebrates the covenantal relationship they have with Him and with each other (1 Cor. 11:17-34; Acts 20:7).
The Final Coming of Jesus is a time when Christ will personally come again as savior and judge of the world. At that time there will be the bodily resurrection of the dead believers to eternal life with God and unbelievers to eternal judgment. Sin will be no more, and believers will live in fellowship with God forever (I Thess. 4:13-18 and Rev. 20:11-15).
Our Vision
First Church is a place for real people to encounter transformed life in Jesus. We recognize that it is not done perfectly, but it can be done humbly by admitting our faults, forgiving each other, and loving our neighbors as ourselves