What We Believe

The Bible

We believe in the verbal inspiration of the original writings of the Old and New Testaments, and we believe that they are of supreme and final authority for faith and life.

God

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I Corinthians 8:4-6; Psalm 90:2; Acts 5:3-4; Revelation 1:8;
Hebrews 9:14; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, and in Him perfect humanity and undiminished deity are united forever.

Luke 1:27, 31, 35: John 1:1, 14: Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:14, 17

We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was raised from the dead three days later, ascended bodily into the presence of God in Heaven, and lives there now to intercede on our behalf.

Philippians 2:8; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 8:34; Luke 24:51

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, sent to guide, teach, and empower the believer, and to convince people of sin and the need for salvation.  It is only by His indwelling that the Christian is enabled to live a Christ-like life.

John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; Acts 1:8; 5:3-4

Man

We believe that man was created by God and in God’s image.

Genesis 1:27

We believe that man sinned by disobeying God and thus incurred spiritual death, which is separation from God, and physical death.

Genesis 2:17; 3:6-8, 3:19; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1, 12

We believe that man is affected by this sin in such a way that no human being on his own has any merit before God.

Romans 3:9-12, 7:17-18; Ephesians 4:18

Salvation

We believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ took place so that man might be reconciled unto God.

I Peter 2:24; Romans 4:25; II Corinthians 5:18

We believe that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as personal Savior receives right standing before God and eternal life.

John 6:47; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:20-22

We believe that a true believer, once saved, will be kept in his salvation by the power of God forever.

Romans 8:29, 35, 38-39

The Church

We believe that the church consists of all Christians with Christ as the head.

Acts 2:47; Ephesians 1:22-23

We believe that the purpose of the Church is to glorify God by drawing together, through the world-wide proclamation of the Word of God, all who will believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, and by building up each Christian so that he becomes progressively Christ-like.

Ephesians 4:7, 11-16; Romans 8:29-30

We believe that each Christian has at least one specific capability given by the Holy Spirit and one or more specific positions of service by God. Each capability and position is necessary for fulfilling the purpose of the Church.

I Corinthians 12:4-6, 11, 12, 18-27; Romans 12:3-8

We believe that groups of local Christians should meet together regularly for worship, study, service and fellowship.

Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:25

The Future

We believe in the imminent and personal return of Jesus Christ.

I Thessalonians 4:16; James 5:8; Revelation  20:10-15, 22:20

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and the unsaved.

John 5:28-29

We believe in the eternal blessedness of the saved and the eternal punishment of the unsaved.

I Thessalonians 4:17; I John 3:2; Revelation 19:20, 20:10-15

The Unity Of the Church

We believe these to be articles of faith generally observed by Christians throughout the history of the church.  Having unity on these articles is essential, as these are the historic elements of our faith.  However, we recognize that outside of these, there are many related areas of doctrine on which good Christian people have historically differed.  On these issues, we follow the attitude of the apostle Paul: in places where we differ, we will exercise love above all else, and not do or say anything that could result in division or conflict.  At Pompey Community Church, we will always seek to put Christian love and the unity of the body ahead of any desire to advance our individual position on any doctrine.

Romans 14:1-5, 13;  1 Corinthians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:3; Philippians 1:27; 1 Peter 3:8-9