Our Beliefs
The Bible
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the only inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. They are our supreme and final authority.
Click Here To Learn About The ESV Version We Use On Sunday
At this time in history, we are blessed to have many different translations of the Bible from which to choose. These translations range from word-for-word translations and thought-by-thought translations to paraphrase translations, which attempt to capture the narrative essence of Scripture. In the past at Stonecreek we have used the New International Version (NIV-1984) translation of the Bible in our worship. The NIV is a well-respected and useful thought-by-thought translation. While every translation has its useful place in the life of a believer, we believe that for our teaching and preaching purposes, a word-for-word translation will best help us study God’s Word together. The English Standard Version (ESV) translation is a word-for-word translation of Scripture that expresses the depth and beauty of the original Bible words. Because of that, we will begin using the ESV translation of scripture for our worship gatherings in place of the NIV translation.
Here are two examples of the subtle differences of the ESV's word-for-word translation of the Bible compared to the NIV's thought-for-thought translation and The Message paraphrase translation. All verses are accurate and useful. Of the three, the ESV best captures the original language of the Bible:
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV thought-by-thought)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV word-for-word)
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (The Message Paraphrase)
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV thought-by-thought)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (ESV word-for-word)
“I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (The Message paraphrase)
If you currently use the NIV, you have an excellent translation and may want to continue using it for your personal Bible study. Should you desire to use the same translation we will use in our teaching ministry and worship gatherings at Stonecreek Church, we wanted you to be informed that we will be using the ESV translation.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105, 160; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5
God
We believe in the One True God, the sovereign, eternal Creator of all that exists, both seen and unseen. God is eternally existent in three persons, yet one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is called the Trinity. God is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present.
Genesis 1:1, 26-27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14
Jesus Christ
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, both God and man, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His eventual return in power and glory, and in His ability to hold our salvation secure until that time.
Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13
The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a person, He is God. He lives in all believers, allowing them to walk with God forever from the moment of salvation. The Holy Spirit enables believers to understand biblical truth, empowers them for godly living, gives them spiritual gifts and equips them to live for the glory of God, the good of others and their own fulfillment.
John 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18
People
We believe God created people in His image. Adam and Eve, the first human beings, chose to disobey God. This is called sin, and it broke their relationship with God. As a result, all mankind became separated from God. Because of original sin, unregenerate human beings are incapable of pleasing or commending themselves to God. The only remedy for mankind’s predicament is redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.
Genesis 3:17; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1-2
Salvation
We believe that when a person exercises faith in Christ, he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life, from the old creation into the new. He gains a new nature and a new heart, justified by God’s grace, accepted by the Father just as Christ His Son is accepted, loved just as Christ is loved, and connected to Him forever.
John 14:6; Romans 5:1; Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5
The Church
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in Jesus Christ — expressed through a local church — who have agreed together to walk with God. Christ is the head of the church, and the Holy Spirit is its guide. The church is lead by pastors, its practices are guarded by elders and its influence is extended to the world by participating members.
Communion
Communion, also called The Lord’s Supper, uses bread to symbolize the broken body of Christ and grape juice to symbolize the blood of Christ spilt for our sins. Taking communion is not an act of receiving Christ, but one of remembering Christ’s death for our sins and proclaiming our faith and salvation in Him alone. Communion is offered for Christ-followers weekly at the close of each worship service in the main auditorium.
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Water Baptism
Scripture teaches that all who have received Jesus Christ as their leader and forgiver should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Scripture illustrates water baptism by immersion as a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, after an individual has expressed faith in Jesus Christ.
