About Ephrata Community Church
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Welcome
Our heart at Ephrata Community Church is to connect people with God and others. Everything we have done and will do—in our congregation, in our community, in our region—flows from that core desire.
Doctrinal Statement
SECTION I – THE PERSON OF GOD
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:6; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1)
FATHER:
We believe God the Father is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. God is absolutely holy, righteous, and just. His love, grace, mercy, and justice were manifested in the atoning death of His only begotten Son on Calvary, giving to all who believe salvation through faith. (Isaiah 9:6; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 147:5; Psalm 139:2-4, 7-10; Psalm 62:11; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 36:6; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-10)
SON:
We believe in the absolute deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the absolute humanity of our Lord through His virgin birth. We believe in the perfectly sinless life of our Lord though tempted at all points in His humanity. We believe in His vicarious sufferings and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in glory and power. (John 1:11; Acts 2:22; John 1:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Hebrews 4:15; Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5; Acts 2:22-23; Ephesians 1:20- 22; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
THE HOLY SPIRIT:
We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is the agent of God in the regeneration of the lost. He is the gift of Christ to the church indwelling all believers, sealing them in the body of Christ unto the day of redemption. He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth. He imparts the gifts of the Spirit as found in Scripture. (John 16:6-15; Titus 3:5-7; John 14:17; John 15:26; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11)
SECTION 2 – THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, inerrant and infallible in their original writing. They are the supreme and final authority for faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:16)
SECTION 3 – MAN
We believe that man was originally created in the image of God, but the entire race of man was separated from God through sin. We believe no man can reconcile himself to God. Therefore, man remains separated from God until he is regenerated, through faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 3:24; Romans 3:23; Romans 3:9-12; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1,10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
SECTION 4 – SATAN
We believe that Satan is the author of sin and the instigator of the fall of man. He has been defeated by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, and he and his angels will be punished eternally at the coming of Christ. (Genesis 3:17; Colossians 2:14-15; John 12:31-33; Revelation 20:10)
SECTION 5 – SIN
We believe sin is every lack of conformity to the will of God or transgression of the law of God. Sin is manifest in the selfishness, rebellion, and total depravity of man’s attitude, conduct, and behavior before God and man. (James 4:17; Romans 14:32; 1 John 3:4; 1 John 5:17; Romans 3:9-18; Ephesians 2:1-3)
SECTION 6 – SALVATION
We believe salvation to be the whole counsel of God, and it is the gift of God by grace, received through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. This faith is manifested in works pleasing to God. (1 Peter 1:3-12; Ephesians 2:8-10)
SECTION 7 – THE KINGDOM OF GOD
We believe the Kingdom of God to be God’s right to rule, which was prophesied through the law and prophets, and came to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. We believe Jesus to be the King in the Kingdom, which is working for consummation at the end of this age. (Mark 1:14; Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20; Luke 17:20-21; Revelations 19:11-16; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Revelation 11:15)
SECTION 8 – HEAVEN AND HELL
We believe that heaven is the throne of God manifested in His Kingdom on this earth. Hell is a literal place of eternal separation from God for those who are not redeemed. (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49; Matthew 6:10; Luke 16:19-31; Revelations 20:11-15)
SECTION 9 – THE CHURCH
We believe that the church is composed of all born-again believers everywhere. We believe that the local church is comprised of born-again believers who come together in commitment to the Lord and one another for mutual worship, instruction, conformity to the Lord’s will, and Christian service. We believe all believers are placed by God in specific local churches. (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 12:26; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 2:4-6; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11)
SECTION 10 – MISSION OF THE CHURCH
The mission of the church is to demonstrate the power and reality of the Kingdom of God on the earth, specifically through the transformation of people’s lives into the likeness of Jesus by the power of the cross of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit. The biblical means of accomplishing this is evangelism and discipleship. God fulfills His purpose for His church through local churches. (Matthew 5:13-16; Ephesians 3:10; Matthew 28:19; Colossians 2:19)
SECTION 11 – SACRAMENTS
A sacrament is a formal act that is sacred as a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality, which was instituted or recognized by our Lord Jesus Christ.
BAPTISM
Water baptism, the immersion of the believer, is a visible testimony to the work of regeneration and a mark of identification and union with Christ. It is an appeal to God for a good conscience, hence should be administered to those who, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have realized the forgiveness of their sins and have the assurance of acceptance with God, having turned from their past lives to follow Jesus. (Acts 2:41; 1 Peter 3:21; Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38)
THE LORD’S SUPPER
The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein, by giving and receiving the bread and the cup, according to the appointing of Jesus Christ, His death is proclaimed. Those who worthily partake, in remembrance of Him, feed upon Him to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace, have their union and communication with Him confirmed, and testify and renew their thankfulness and commitment to God and their mutual love and fellowship with each other as members of the same body. (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)
SECTION 12 – BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is distinct from the new birth. It is the initial filling of God’s power for witness and godly living. (Matthew 3:11; Acts 2:1-4; Acts 8:14-17; Acts 19:1-7)
SECTION 13 – HOLINESS
God demands that His people be holy, as He is holy. His holiness is produced in us, His people, by the Holy Spirit, as we believe and obey His Word. (1 Peter 1:2, 13-16)
SECTION 14 – MARRIAGE AND HUMAN SEXUALITY
We affirm as a church the biblical definition of marriage as between one man (husband) and one woman (wife) to be the only acceptable definition of marriage. God has designed sexuality to be expressed only within such a marriage. While we believe this defines the biblical standard of marriage and sexual expression, we also affirm that we are called to minister to all who fall short of God’s standards with love and compassion. (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
