About Cottonwood Ward
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At Cottonwood Ward, Palmer in Alaska, there is Good News, There really is - Praise God! The Good News is that Christ saves sinners. God - being rich in mercy and compassion - chooses to make sinners alive through faith in His Son, Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-5) God does so by transferring the sins and guilt of believers to God's own account, in the person of Jesus Christ. And God simultaneously assigns to believers the Righteousness of that same Jesus. By virtue of this eternally profound two-way exchange, God has declared Himself willing to look upon sinners who possess faith in Jesus as if God were looking instead at the righteous obedience and selfless sacrificial death of His Son. (Isaiah 53: 5-6; 1 John 4:10)
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God's agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God.
About Salvation: We believe that salvation (eternal life in heaven) comes by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ (his death on the cross). (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:8-11; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9)
About Separation of Church and State: We believe that each local church is self-governing, and must be free from interference by any external ecclesiastical or political authority; that every human being is ultimately responsible to God in matters of faith and life; and that each person is free to worship God according to the dictates of his/her conscience. We further believe that governments are established by God; that Christians, as good citizens, should be subject to governing authorities insofar as possible, recognizing our greater allegiance to God and His kingdom in matters wherein human authorities conflict with clear, biblical mandates.