ABOUT US

FAITH | FAMILY | FRIENDS

The Gathering Church is a non-denominational Christian church rooted in the Bible and its teachings. We minister alongside and share a building with The Way Out Ministries, an inner-city| international mission co-founded by our Senior Pastor and Wife. For more information about The Way Out Ministries please Visit www.thewayout.org

WHAT WE BELIEVE

The Bible We at the Gathering believe that the Bible (God’s word) is the document that God gave to man to reveal Himself. It is an absolutely trustworthy document. It is sound historically, archaeologically, scientifically, and prophetically. It is the solid foundation on which our faith is based and upon which all teaching (doctrine) must adhere to. The Bible is comprised of the Old and New Testaments (sixty-six books) and is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God (Matthew 5:18;    2 Timothy 3:16-17). We believe the Bible to be inerrant (incapable of being wrong) in the original writings, God-breathed, and the complete and final authority for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Although written by human authors, the Holy Spirit perfectly guided them to ensure they wrote precisely what God wanted to be written, without error or omission (2 Peter 1:16-21).

 

God We believe in one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) who eternally exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is Creator of all (Colossians 1:16), who has revealed Himself in three distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14), yet who is one in being, essence, and glory (John 10:30). God is eternal(Psalm 90:2), infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), and sovereign (Psalm 93:1). God is omniscient (Psalm 139:1-6), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-13), omnipotent (Revelation 19:6), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and righteous (Exodus 9:27). God is love (1 John 4:8), gracious (Ephesians 2:8), merciful (1 Peter 1:3), and good (Romans 8:28).

Jesus Christ We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God incarnate, God in human form, the expressed image of the Father(Hebrews 1:3), who, without ceasing to be God, became man in order that He might demonstrate who God is and provide the means of salvation for humanity (Matthew 1:21; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15). We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:23); that He is truly fully God and truly fully man (John 1:1,14); that He lived a perfect, sinless life (1 John 3:5); that all His teachings are true (John 14:6). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all humanity (1 John 2:2) as a substitutionary sacrifice (Isaiah 53:5- 6). We hold that His death is sufficient to provide salvation for all who receive Him as Savior (John 1:12; Acts 16:31); that our justification is grounded in the shedding of His blood (Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7); and that it is attested by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead(Matthew 28:6; 1 Peter 1:3). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven in His glorified body (Acts 1:9-10) and is now seated at the right hand of God as our High Priest(Hebrews 4:14-16) and Advocate (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25).

 

The Holy Spirit We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). He regenerates sinners (Titus 3:5) and indwells believers (Romans 8:9). He is the agent by whom Christ baptizes all believers into His body (the Church: 1 Corinthians 12:12-14). He is the seal by whom the Father guarantees the salvation of believers unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). He is the Divine Teacher who illumines believers’ hearts and minds as they study the Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). He bestows on every believer the ever-increasing “fruit” (or attributes) of the Holy Spirit is the result of God’s presence in the life of a Christian. The Bible makes it clear that everyone receives the Holy Spirit the moment he or she believes in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14). As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit producing His fruit in us and we have the Holy Spirit’s power available to conquer the acts of sinful nature (2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13). We also believe that the Holy Spirit is ultimately sovereign in the distribution of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). We believe also in the miraculous gifts of the Spirit; however, we see them functioning differently today than they did in the early development of the church. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 4:7-12 ).

 

Satan (Lucifer, the devil, etc.) was an angel created by God who turned against God’s authority (Isaiah 14:13) and became the head of a kingdom of evil spirits called demons, his “angels” (Matthew 25:41). His power both in the heavenly realm and on earth is great and should not be underestimated; however, while Satan and his forces are formidable enemies, Jesus Christ crushed Satan’s power, fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. The cross of Christ won the victory (John 12:31). “The prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11), and Jesus will one day destroy Satan’s power completely and purify creation (2 Peter 3:10). Satan and his host do enact evil and cause direct harm on the earth. In fact, Christians regularly wrestle with this power (Ephesians 6:10-12), but greater is He who is in us (Christ) than he who is in this world (1 John 4:4). Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and blinds the mind of an unbeliever to the gospel (2 Corinthians 11:14, 2 Corinthians 4:3,4). In fact, He “leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9); however, by submitting to God a believer in Christ can resist the power of the devil (James 4:7). A believer needs to watch against the attacks of the devil. Power over Satan and his attacks is in Christ alone (1 Peter 5:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:57).

 

Angels and Demons We believe in the reality and personality of angels. We believe that God created the angels to be His servants and messengers (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 148:2; Hebrews 1:14). Angels help protect (Daniel 6:20-23; 2 Kings 6:13-17), reveal information (Acts 7:52-53; Luke 1:11-20), guide (Matthew 1:20-21; Acts 8:26), provide for (Genesis 21:17-20; 1 Kings 19:5-7), and minister to believers in general (Hebrews 1:14), but Scripture nowhere states that each believer is “assigned” a “guardian angel” (angels were sometimes sent to individuals, but there is no mention of a permanent assignment). We believe in the existence and personality of Satan and demons. Satan is a fallen angel who led a group of angels in rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:12-15). He is the great enemy of God and man, and the demons are his servants in evil. He and his demons will be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

 

Humanity We believe that humanity came into existence by the direct creation of God and that humanity is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). We believe that all humanity, because of Adam’s fall, has inherited a sinful nature, that all human beings choose to sin (Romans 3:23) and that all sin is exceedingly offensive to God (Romans 6:23). Humanity is utterly unable to remedy this fallen state (Ephesians 2:1-5,12) and therefore must be “saved” through salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12, John 14:6).

 

Salvation We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ’s death fully accomplished justification through faith and redemption from sin. Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8-9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). On the third day after His death, Jesus physically rose again, demonstrating His victory over sin and death (Romans 14:9). We believe salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Acts 4:12, John 14:6) . Good works and obedience are results of salvation, not requirements for salvation. Due to the greatness, sufficiency, and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice, all those who have truly received Christ as Savior are eternally secure in salvation, kept by God’s power, secured and sealed in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24). Just as salvation cannot be earned by good works, neither does it need good works to be maintained or sustained. Good works and changed lives are the inevitable results of salvation (James 2:14-17). Sanctification (or the process of being set apart for God’s service e.g. holiness) is a direct result of following Christ and his teachings in faith (1 Peter 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 1:29-31).

 

The Church We believe that the Church, the Body of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all believers of this present age (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27). We believe in the ordinances of believer’s water baptism by immersion as a testimony to Christ and identification with Him, and the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Christ’s death and shed blood (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Through the church, believers are to be taught to obey the Lord and to testify concerning their faith in Christ as Savior, and to honor Him by holy living. We believe in the Great Commission as the primary mission of the Church. It is the obligation of all believers to witness, by word and life, to the truths of God’s Word. The gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to all the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20).

 

Things to Come We believe in a blessed life after death for those who believe in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:12-19, 35-55, 2 Corinthians 5:7-8). We believe that the souls of believers are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:7-8, Luke 23:43, Philippians 1:23-25 , Hebrews 9:27). We believe in the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), that is the personal and imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe in the visible and bodily return of Christ to the earth with His saints (believers) to establish His promised millennial kingdom (Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6). We believe in the resurrection of all human beings—the saints to everlasting joy and peace on a New Earth with a new heaven, and the wicked to eternal punishment at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15, Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-9, Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).