God is one being in 3 persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the source of all creation (Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-2), which he sustains (Colossians 1:17) and is in the process of redeeming (Romans 8:19-22). God the Father loves us and desires that we have fellowship with Him as His children (1 John 1:3).
Jesus is the incarnation of God the Son. He is the Word become flesh (John 1:14), and He now holds all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). He is Savior and Lord. He made human salvation possible through His life, death on the cross and resurrection. He ascended into heaven where He is now our high priest and advocate. He is the head of the Church.
The Holy Spirit works actively in the world, seeking to glorify Jesus. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin, righteousness and judgment to come (John 16:5-11). The Holy Spirit indwells believers individually and completely in the Church. The Holy Spirit develops within the Christian a pure heart which results in Christ-like character expressed in private and public conduct and action.
The Bible, the Old and New Testament scriptures, is uniquely inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21). The Bible is the rule of faith and practice for Christians. We affirm that Scripture is the authoritative revelation from God by which we know God’s will and Christ’s authority. We seek to assert what the Scriptures clearly assert and allow freedom in other cases. We seek to understand divine intent, through authorial intent, and we seek to apply its teaching to the contemporary church and culture.
The Church is the body of Christ on earth, the community of believers throughout the world. Upon surrender to Christ, a person is added to the Church. In addition, the priesthood of all believers means each Christian is called to be a serving minister (1 Peter 2:9-10). The Church’s mission is the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
Human beings were created by God to walk in fellowship with Him. However, all (except Jesus) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and must rely on God’s grace and forgiveness. Every human from the moment of life (conception) is in the image of God (imago dei), a person to be nurtured, protected and developed. Each person was made intentionally by God, male or female, in His image, without mistake, for the purpose of serving Him. (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13-14 and Ephesians 2:10). In addition, we believe that marriage between one man and one woman is a sacred relationship that paints a picture of God’s love for His bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
Salvation is by God alone through Jesus Christ alone. One accepts Christ as Savior through a conversion process that includes faith, repentance, confession and baptism (Acts 2:38, 8:12, 10:47-48, Romans 10:9).
The Lord’s Supper is the celebration of the New Covenant, in which the Christian community remembers Christ and celebrates the covenantal relationship they have with Him and with each other. Congregations in this fellowship typically celebrate the Lord’s Supper at least weekly (1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Acts 20:7).
The Final Coming of Jesus is a time when Christ will personally come again as savior and judge of the world. At that time, there will be the bodily resurrection of the dead – believers to eternal life with God and unbelievers to eternal judgement. Sin will be no more, and believers will live in fellowship with God forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelations 20:11-15).
LSCA strives to create policies and procedures in programs and operations that will continually reflect these Biblical truths as stated in our Statement of Faith and other truth as supported by scripture. Furthermore, LSCA adheres to a conservative interpretation of the Bible and all of the cultural implications therein.
