who we are
THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy worldwide and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
c3 tri-cities convictions
SCRIPTURE
The Bible is the inspired word of God, is reliable, and is the final authority for faith and practice.
SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE
We do not believe in salvation through works or morality or baptism or promises to obey. We believe in salvation by grace and through trust in Jesus. We become Christians by trusting Jesus Christ as Savior. We believe in Jesus to give us life and a relationship with God that begins now and lasts for eternity. The way to God is by grace, through faith and trust. The Bible teaches this continually, especially in books such as John, Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians.
We do not become Christians by promising to obey him. We should do that as a response to salvation. Every follower of Jesus will commit their entire life and all they are to Jesus. But we are saved, that is regenerated, by trusting a Savior who died for our sin and rose again. We transfer our trust from self (being good enough) to Jesus and start by simply believing in Jesus effective power to save us. (See John 1:12, 3:15-16, 5:24, Romans 3:21-31, Ephesians 2:8-9). We recognize that a mark of a true believer is obedience and Lordship of Jesus Christ.
WATER BAPTISM
We believe water baptism is for ‘believers’—an action that follows a personal conversion. We practice believers’ baptism.
We are aware that many Bible-believing Christians experience water baptism differently. We respect their view and see this issue as one that Christians can disagree with each other on and not part ways.
If believers in our church choose not to be baptized our way, because of biblical conviction (not just convenience or tradition), then we respect their views and we enthusiastically welcome them as partners.
We practice baptism by immersion but do not see this as a major issue. What if there is a shortage of water? Christians can and do disagree on many aspects of baptism, we still recognize that baptism is an important step of obedience to Jesus Christ, to symbolize that he has saved us, and we testify we are his.
We do not believe baptism is necessary for salvation; for it is by grace alone through faith we are saved.
SEXUALITY
We believe in the unique nature of human beings that defines human sexual intimacy between one man and one woman in marital union (Genesis 2:24). Followers of Jesus seek freedom from sexual sin (Acts 15:28-29; Romans 11:17) clearly defined in scripture (Acts 15:28-29; Romans 11:17).
HUMANITY
We believe that God created, and science confirms there are two binary human genders (Genesis 1:27; 5:2) equal in divine stature and distinguished as male and female.
PROPHECY
We believe in gifts of the Holy Spirit (see also Baptism in Holy Spirit). God’s Word reveals God’s desire for the body of Christ to practice the Holy Spirit gift of prophecy with an attitude to preserve and protect the body of Christ from those who would lead people astray. (Jeremiah 23:24-32, James 3:13-18) Much of the prophetic word gift is used within the context of preaching or bringing the message of scripture from stage to the large group gathering. Private prophetic words can be given to C3 pastors for discernment and action.
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that every Christian receives the Holy Spirit when they trust Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit resides in the saved believer to teach, lead, guide, direct, and empower. This filling grafts the person into the body of Christ at the time of conversion.
There can also be a different, non-technical use of the word “baptize.” God invites followers of Christ to seek daily renewal and empowerment by the Holy Spirit. One might pray “Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit today” or “Holy Spirit manifest your power through me today”. We are encouraged to seek the Holy Spirit for Gods gifts and for us to bear his fruit.
Some segments of faith believe that the spiritual gift of tongues is THE evidence for either salvation or to prove one has the Holy Spirit living in them properly. We would not demand a physical manifestation of tongues to determine someone is filled by the Holy Spirit.
We believe the Holy Spirit distributes all the spiritual gifts today, there were not some gifts that ended at some time in the past. A person receives the Spirit of God with or without the manifestation of one singular gift. (See 1 Corinthians 12:13). In addition, no one gift is for everyone, neither does one have all or many of the manifested gifts. Gifts can manifest as needed based on the circumstance and the Holy Spirits will in the moment.
WOMEN AS MINISTERS
We believe that women and men are equally created in God’s image and given equal authority and stewardship of God’s kingdom. We affirm a classic traditional egalitarian theology.
We hold to a classic orthodox position of women leading in the local body. We avoid latter reformation views on this issue. We do not believe gifts of the Holy Spirit or authority are dictated by gender. Therefore, gender is not the point of entry or exit for ministry. There are difficult passages for all positions on this issue and there is a need for great humility and sensitivity.
This means that at C3, women can vision cast, instruct, and lead from any physical platform and in any ministry affirmed by leadership. That is not limited to and includes board of director, lead pastor, pastor, and director which are all overseeing roles.
As Jesus followers, the Bible is our authority, and we wrestle with the passages that address the issue from both and all reasonable exegesis and argument. (See 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:34-35, Acts 2:17-21; 21:9, Romans 16:1-2, Galatians 3:28, Judges 4)
Our position is in alignment with our association in the Church of God, Anderson Indiana, whereas since 1876, this Wesleyan holiness movement, recognized women as co-equal partners and submissive one to another in the family home and in local church leadership.