What We Believe
About the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…
We believe in and we surrender our lives to the one God who made the heavens and earth and who breathed life into humanity. We worship and praise the Father who spoke the world into existence. We worship and praise Jesus, the Son, who died upon the cross to redeem us from sin. We worship and praise
the Holy Spirit who is the seal of our salvation.
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1. Our devotion, total commitment and ultimate loyalties are to the Father, who is over all and in all and through all; to Jesus the Son, who has been declared both Lord and Christ; and to the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and empowers us to overcome the workings of the sinful nature (Acts 2:22-36, Romans 8:12-28).
2. The cornerstone of our faith is our belief in Jesus Christ. Everything we hold dear in our faith originates from his words and his way of life (John 3:16, John 12:47-48, Hebrews 12:2, 1 John 2:5-6).
3. Our eternal purpose is to know God and to glorify him as God and let our life shine so others will see God (Matthew 5:14-15, Ephesians 3:19-20).
About the Gospel…
4. Our salvation totally depends on the work of God and nothing of our own merit. That work of God is one of mercy and grace. His work redeems those who believe His Gospel message and receive His gift through baptism into Christ for spiritual rebirth (Romans 2:7, Acts 2:22-38, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:4-5, Colossians 2:11-14).
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5. Our earthly mission involves every member’s participation in bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to all parts of New England and the world. As we go about this mission, our testimony must be consistent with a Christ-like life of doing good, bringing about healing as well as supporting and encouraging other Christians and churches around the world (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 10:37-38, Colossians 3:1-6).
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6. Our motivation to love God, love each other and love the lost is prompted by God’s love for us, demonstrated in its greatest form by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on a cross for our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:14-21, 1 John 3:16, Luke 10:27).
About Conversion…
As disciples of the Jesus, we surrender our lives to his Lordship. We rejoice in our adoption as God’s children and each accept the call to be holy and follow the example of Jesus.
7. Our discipleship to Christ involves an understanding of and a commitment to his terms of surrender to His Lordship, a daily decision to deny self and persevere (Luke 9:23ff; 14:33, Romans 2:7, Hebrews 10:32-39).
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8. Our conversion begins by a belief in Jesus as God’s Son, and in his death and resurrection from the dead. Next comes an unmistakable repentance of sin, embracing discipleship, a confession of “Jesus is Lord”, and leads to the miracle of rebirth with our immersion in water for the forgiveness of our sins and the promise that God will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 20:31, Luke 14:25-33, Acts 2:38-41, Romans 10:9, Titus 3:3-5).
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9. Our holiness in daily living is a command from God. We are called to be set apart from the world and the ways of the world (sanctified) and live as saints of God (Ephesians 1:1, Ephesians 2:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 John 2:15-17).
About Membership…
10. Membership in our congregation constitutes baptized disciples (1Cor 12:12-13), men and women who have pledged to live their lives as saints of God in the holiness He requires. Our members agree to strive to be devoted to the body life of the church. This includes making whole-hearted efforts, for example, to attend each [applicable] meeting of the body and to pursue joyful and growing “one another” relationships (Romans 12:10, Hebrews 3:12-13; 10:24-25). Fellowship is not limited to the local congregation (Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 7:17, 10:32, 14:33, 16:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:4); the Worcester County Church of Christ works cooperatively with churches throughout the International Churches of Christ.
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11. The Lord’s Supper is a regular community action of sharing in the presence of Christ as a sacred event, breaking the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine (1 Corinthians 10:17-34).
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12. Giving towards God is a fragrant offering and a sign of our thankfulness. Since everything we enjoy in life is a gift from God, we cheerfully and sacrificially contribute of our finances to the church in order to see the ministry of Jesus advance throughout our communities and around the world (1 Corinthians 9:7-14, Philippians 4:14-19).
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13. We are committed to remembering the poor by demonstrating compassion to those who suffer by regularly doing whatever we can to lessen their burdens (Galatians 2:10).