About First Presbyterian Church
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Warm Christian greetings to you, and welcome to First Presbyterian Church in Gothenburg, Nebraska. First Presbyterian Church is a place where God is saving, healing and delivering souls from the bondage of sin. In a day and age when the Word of God is being watered-down, it is good to know that there are people reaching out to the world with Life Transforming Truth. Changing hearts and lives through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and the direction of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God's sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
About Sin: We believe that man willfully sinned against God and is therefore lost and without hope apart from Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:7; Acts 4:12)
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.