Christian Hope Association - Statement of Faith

We believe that Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

We believe that as disciples of Christ Jesus we are called by God to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind. This is the first commandment given by God. We equally believe we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This the second commandment of God.

We believe there is only one living and true God, eternally existing in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in power, glory and divinity; and that this Triune God created all, and governs all.

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love; that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him by faith through Jesus Christ.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son - who as fully God and fully human, came to earth incarnate, and was conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension into heaven, His perpetual intercession for His people, and His personal, visible return to earth.

We believe in the Person of the Holy Spirit, fully God, who came forth from the Father and the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, in order that He might regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher, Guide and Giver of spiritual gifts.

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error in the original manuscripts, and that they alone are the infallible rule of faith and practice.

We believe that all men and women, created in the image of God, were originally intended to live with and to glorify Him, and to thereby enjoy Him forever. We believe that all men and women are sinners by nature and choice, and therefore are under the just condemnation of God, and that God regenerates by the Holy Spirit those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

We believe that all men and women are saved through God's grace, justified by faith, not by works.

We believe our life is not our own, but belongs body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ. We believe He literally is our Life.

We believe in the universal Church, the living spiritual body, of which Christ is the Head and all regenerated persons are members.

We believe the Church is called to mission, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, to make disciples, and to equip them for fruitful ministry in the Kingdom of God.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ committed two sacraments to the Church; (1) Baptism; and (2) the Lord's Supper, open to all believers.

We believe that God's righteousness and justice extends to all nations, cultures, societies, peoples and individuals, so that His good will may be administered to all who are oppressed, who languish, and who carry the effects of sin.

We believe in the personal, visible return of Christ to earth, in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, and the eternal blessing of the righteous as well as the endless suffering of the wicked.

We believe that we are called by God to live out the eternal virtues of the fruit of the Spirit with one another and with our neighbor. These virtues are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We believe that as a people called out of the world by God Almighty Himself, we are called into the Body of Christ, the True Church, and that we are called to make every effort to live as one people keeping the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

We believe that as we live together as one in unity, as the Father and the Son are One, whether in the smallest or largest form of gathering, we display forth through true community the glorious brightness of the Kingdom of God as it shines into the darkness of this age.

We believe that the Divine purpose is for us to live in unity with one another as the Community of the people of God, in order that we might make His presence, power, and purpose known to all creation.

We believe that we must rely totally upon the strength of God Triune, as we relinquish a dependency upon our abilities. We believe He must be first and we must be last. We believe that with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering and great patience for one another in love, God's unity and residence among His people will be evident for all to see.

We believe that as disciples of Christ Jesus we are called to love others as He first loved us; to forgive as He forgave us; to walk in humility as He was humble; to submit to the Father as He submitted; to seek after others as He sought after us; to live justly and mercifully: and at times, lay down our lives for the sake of others.

We believe that in this present age we are all profoundly affected by the sinful nature and by the presence of the kingdom of Satan; that sin is ever present on our lips, in our hands, within our thoughts and evidenced by our actions. We believe we need to confess such to the Lord, daily asking Him to wash us pure by His Blood. We believe confession sets us right before the Lord, and confession sets us right with one another.

We believe that within the Body of Christ there will be present, until the Day He returns, the stirrings of conflict. We believe that Satan's war plan is to divide the Body. Until that great Day, we believe we must make every effort possible to resolve our differences with one another. We shall do this through the righteous principles for reconciliation that have been given to us by our Lord. We believe that we should reconcile with one another before the day's sun has set, not allowing anger to take root; we should talk things through from a position of humility, seeking to understand the other person; we should never gossip, slander, quarrel, foster dissension or contentiousness.

We believe that just as our Triune God lives in perfect community, we are called by Him to live in perfect community as well, in the form of holy relationships with one another.