PURPOSE & BELIEFS
PURPOSE & BELIEFS
OUR MISSION
To integrate all people into the life of the Church and encourage equal participation.
OUR VISION
In Christ, Oak Valley shall be a table at which everyone is seated and served.
OUR PURPOSE
To exalt God in worship; to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ; to help Christians mature in the faith; and to reach out into the community to meet physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional needs to the glory of God.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe that each and every person is important, so we strive for the value of diversity. In that diversity, we also find unity in our commitment to the following beliefs:
There is one true and living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, eternally self-existent as three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of deity and characteristics of personality (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10, 11; Matthew 28: 19,20; Luke3:22)
Jesus Christ is God incarnate, the Living Word (John1:1-14), virgin born through the miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31, 35). He lived a sinless life on earth (Hebrews 7:26, 1Peter 2:22), and performed many undeniable miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:22, 10:38). He voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice, reconciling men back unto God, and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone (Romans 5:8-11; 1Corinthians 15:3; 2Corinthians 5:21). He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died (Matthew 28:6, Luke 24:39; 1Corinthians 15:4). He was exalted and ascended bodily into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, where He, and He alone, is the only mediator between God and man, continually making intercession for those who believe in Him (Acts 1:9, 11;2:33; Philipians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3).
The man was originally created good and upright in the image of God. However, a man by voluntary transgression sinned by disobeying God. Thus he alienated himself from God and experienced not only physical death but also spiritual death. That historic fall brought all men under divine condemnation. Therefore, all men are born into a sin filled world with a sinful nature, totally unable to please God without regeneration, redemption, and renewal (Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:17; 3:6; Romans 3:23; 5:12-19).
Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. It is wholly the work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works, goodness or religious ceremony (Ephesians 2:4-10). Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ by the regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ according to the hope of eternal life (Luke 24:47; John 3:1-21; Romans 10:13-15; Titus 2:11; 3:5-7).
The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Jesus Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life unto them, seals them until the day of redemption, leads and aides them in a life of holiness unto God not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, and equips them for service and work in God’s Kingdom bearing spiritual fruit unto the glory of God. Every believer is called to live under the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8; 1Corinthians 12:1-31). With the baptisms of the Holy Spirit comes an overflowing fullness of the Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 4:8), a deepened reverence for God (Acts 2:43; Hebrews 12:28), an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His works (Acts 2:42), a manifestation of the fruit and gifts of the Spirit (Galations 5:16-26; Romans 12;3-9; 1Corinthians 12:1-31).
The church is the body of Christ, the habitants of God through the Holy Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her mission to win the world for Christ. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 1:22,23; 2:22; Hebrews 12:23). According to the scriptures the church exits to magnify and exalt God in worship, to train and instruct believers in their discipleship, to minister to the needs of its members and the world, to encourage and develop the Christian fellowship of its members, and to equip its members to evangelize the world and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41-47).
There are two ordinances of the church – Baptism and Holy Communion
Baptism by immersion is commanded in the Scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized as they are physically able and have an opportunity. (Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 8:26-38). Baptism is an outward sign of an inward spiritual renewal and rebirth. Thus they who are baptized declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life (Acts 10:47,48; Romans 6:4).
Holy Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, consisting of broken bread, the body of Jesus Christ, and the fruit of the vine, the shed blood of our Lord and Savior, is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Peter 1:4); a memorial of His suffering and death (1Corinthians 11:26); our fellowship and communion with all believers (Ephesians 4:4-6); and our prophetic expectation of His second coming (1Corinthians 11:26).