Shediac Bay
COMMUNITY CHURCH
Statement of Faith
Our Statement of Faith expresses the core beliefs of our church: that God, revealed in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the source of all life; that the Bible is His inspired Word and the guide for faith and conduct; and that salvation comes through Jesus Christ, who died, rose, and intercedes for all who believe. We affirm the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, the importance of repentance and faith, and the call to live a holy, obedient life. We uphold baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Christ’s ordinances, recognize the church as a community of believers, and believe in the resurrection, final judgment, and eternal life.
The Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments have their authority from God alone, and are given to us by divine inspiration. They are the only perfect, supreme, infallible and sufficient standard of faith and practice.
God
There is one true and living God; He is an infinite Spirit; self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent good, wise, just and merciful. He is the creator, preserver, and Sovereign of the universe. He is inexpressively glorious in holiness, and worthy of all honour, confidence and love. In the Godhead there are three persons in one; the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, who are equal in divine perfection, and who execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the person in the trinity, who, by virtue of His sacrificial work, is the world’s redeemer and the savior of all who believe. He is at present the intercessor of all His people at the right hand of God the Father, and is to be the judge of all men.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, by whom all saving, com-forting and sanctifying power is exerted upon human hearts.
State and Fall of Man
Man was created sin-less. By his own disobedience he fell to sin. Through his fall into sin, an evil nature was transmitted to the whole race, revealing itself in actual transgression, and bringing all under the reign of condemnation and death.
Atonement
The perfect life, vicarious death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, have removed the obstacles in the way of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating power of the Father’s forgiving grace being extended to the sinner, and constitute for every believing soul an all prevailing plea and sufficient ground for righteousness before God.
Regeneration
In regeneration a new life principle is begotten in the soul of man by the Holy Spirit through the word of truth, producing a disposition to joyful obedience to Christ and to holy conduct in life.
Repentance
In repentance the sinner, having seen his sin, being moved by the energy of the Holy Spirit, is led to grieve for and hate it as an offence against God, and apprehending the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, He lovingly returns to God to walk in the way of His commandments.
Faith
Faith is a conviction of the intellect that God will perform all that He has promised and an implicit trust of the heart in Christ as a personal savior. It includes a hearty concurrence of the will and affections with the whole plan of salvation as revealed in gospel, and is a condition of justification and of the cleansing from the pollution of sin and of all subsequent gospel blessings.
Justification
Justification is an act of God wherein He accepts as righteous the sinner, to whom is imputed the perfect righteousness of Christ, on the condition of faith alone.
Sanctification
The scriptures teach that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, Christians are made partakers of his holiness; that it has its beginning in regeneration, and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy spirit, in the continual use of the appointed means: the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer.
The Christian Sabbath
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day or Christian Sabbath and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes by abstaining from all secular labour and sinful recreations, by the devout observance of all means grace, both private and public, and by preparation of that rest that remains for the people of God.
A Gospel Church
We believe that a church of Christ is a congregation of Baptist believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by his Word. In the more general sense, the word church is used to designate all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The only scriptural officers are bishops, (pastors) and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are defined in the epistles of Timothy and Titus.
Baptism
This is the immersion of believers in water into the the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in which are represented their death to the world, the washing of their souls from the pollution of sin, their resurrection to newness of life, the burial and resurrection of Christ, their resurrection at the last day, and their engagement to serve God.
The Lord’s Supper
Death
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Christ, to be observed by churches in the manner indicated by Him in Matthew 26:26-30.
At death our bodies return to dust, our souls to God who gave them. The righteous being then perfected in happiness is received to dwell with God, awaiting the full redemption of their bodies. The wicked are cast into Hades reserved unto the judgement of the great day.
Resurrection
There will be a general resurrection of the bodies of the just and of the unjust; the righteous in the likeness of Christ, but the wicked to shame and everlasting contempt.
General Judgement
There will be a judgement of quick and dead, of the just and unjust, on the principles of righteousness by the Lord Jesus Christ, at his second coming. The wicked will be condemned to eternal punishment, and the righteous received into fullness of eternal life and joy.