Doctrinal Statement


MISSION

Our mission is to obey Christ's command to "go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you." (Matt 28:19-20).

SVCC is not a country club for believers or a cruise ship for saints. It is a hospital for sinners and a training ground for soldiers of Christ Jesus. We exist to prepare our people to give their lives for the mission of Christ and to sacrifice our comfort to seek out the lost and bring them home (Luke 15:4-7).

We simply must decrease while Christ and others must increase (John 3:30)!!!

 

VISION

The Lost Get SAVED by:

  • Hearing the Word of God preached and applied every time we gather inside and outside of the church building.

  • Making a personal decision to receive Jesus as the Lord of our lives.

The Saved Get EMPOWERED by:

  • Developing a relationship with God by spending time with Him in His Word and through prayer. When we pursue Christ with our heart, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live more like Christ and less like the world around us.

  • Pursuing small group fellowship with other believers that challenges and encourages us to grow in our faith and devotion to God.

The Empowered Get EQUIPPED by:

  • Developing a solid, dynamic understanding and application of God’s Word.

  • Receiving and growing in our own personal gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Equipped Get DEPLOYED by:

  • Serving on teams to spread the love of Christ with a dying world around us.

  • Sharing the full counsel of God with those He has placed in our paths.

The Deployed GO CHANGE THE WORLD by:

  • Making disciples that make disciples.

  • Taking God’s dominion and authority to the very ends of the earth.

CORE BELIEFS

Sweet Valley Church of Christ accepts the Word of God as found in the Old and New Testaments as the only rule for faith and practice. 

SVCC seeks to express New Testament Christianity in our time.  We are followers of Jesus Christ.  We believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that: Jesus is the Christ and Son of God.  He is both our Savior and Lord.  While on earth He existed as fully human and fully God.  (See Matt 16:16, Heb 2:17, Matt 1:23, Phil 2:8.)

The Bible is the inspired, inerrant and unfailing Word of God.  It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.  (See Rom 1:16, 2 Tim 3:16-17.)

The Holy Spirit is God and dwells in Christians and the Church and empowers us to live in ways that please God.  (See Acts 2:38, Rom 8:13.)

Jesus died in our place on the cross.  There He paid the penalty for our sin.  He rose from the grave on the third day.  After presenting Himself alive to many witnesses He ascended into Heaven where He intercedes for Christians at God the Father's right hand.  (See Rom 3:23,26, 1 Cor 15:3-8.)

Jesus is coming again.  His coming will initiate the final and eternal dwelling of the saved in Heaven and the lost in Hell.  (See Acts 1:9-11, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Matt 25:46.)

People are saved by God's grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.  As God's gift, salvation cannot be earned.  Salvation is through belief in Jesus Christ and trust in His saving work on the cross.  It is a work of God and not man, lest no man may boast.   (See Eph 2:8-10, Col 2:12, Acts 2:38, Rom 6:23, Acts 22:16, Acts 2:47).

Christians continue in the grace of Christ as they live out their faith in Jesus Christ and are faithful to the end. (See 1 Peter 1:5-9, Rev 2:10.)

The church is the body of Jesus Christ on earth.  Christians are Christ's representatives, entrusted with the Great Commission to make disciples of all peoples and the Great Commandment to love God and others.  They are empowered by the Holy Spirit with various gifts of service, edification, and leadership to be used for God's glory and mission.  The Church's leadership team consists of evangelists, pastors, teachers and servants.  All followers of Jesus are essential parts of the team.  (See Matt 28:18-20, John 13:34-35, Rom 12:6-8, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Eph 4:11-12.)

The Gift of Salvation

1 Cor 15 defines the "Gospel" as the good news about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His sinless existence, sacrifice and resurrection all prove His position as the Son of God.

So, how do we appropriately respond to this great news?

In Rom 1:5, Paul explains that the Apostles were given authority "to bring about obedience of the faith." Later, in Rom 6:17, he expresses relief because the Christians he was writing to had "become obedient to the standard of teaching." In this, we see that salvation, while certainly an act of grace on God's part, is not passively obtained.

Instead, we must obey the Lord's instruction to:

1. Hear the Good News - Rom 10:13 shows us that we must hear the gospel so that we know how to obey. We must first receive the good news through the teaching of God's word.

2. Believe - A personal belief in the gospel is essential to God's plan of salvation: "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom 10:17). We must believe that the one true God of the Bible sent His son Jesus from heaven as a once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. We must believe in Jesus' sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead. This is the gospel, as defined in 1 Cor. 15.

3. Confess - Rom 10:9 states that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Many teach a confession of specific sins prior to the point of salvation. However, the Bible teaches that we are to not only confess that we ourselves have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but we must also confess Jesus as the master of our lives.

4. Repent - The Christian walk requires a turn away from a life of sin to a life of righteousness. The Bible calls this act repentance. The word repentance literally means "a change of mind and of action." When a person commits his life to Jesus, they must turn away from their old ways and habits in order to follow a new Master.

5. Be Baptized - The Bible is very clear regarding the necessity and role of water baptism in the plan of salvation. We are told: "repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2:38). We do so to share in Jesus’ death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-5). Through our submission to His commands our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ and we put on Christ like a garment (Gal 3:26-27).

6. Rise to walk a new life - Just as Jesus was buried and rose from the dead, we must also rise from the watery grave of baptism to walk a new life in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:27, Rom 6:3-4).