What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Friendship Church of Christ based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

We believe in the God of the Scriptures, a just and loving God who lives in the Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (the "Trinity"). He is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy of all glory and praise.  He loves His creation and wants everyone to be in a relationship with Him. God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom,  justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable and therefore is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

God has revealed Himself to us through his Son, Jesus Christ who is the visible image of the invisible God, the holy scriptures, and through all of creation itself.  We believe that Jesus Christ is God, who became human to save us from our sins. We believe that Jesus’ life shows us how to live, that His death redeems us from our sins, and that His resurrection guarantees our own resurrection to a new life. We believe that Christ now sits at the right hand of God as exalted King, and that He alone is the world’s savior and king. We believe that Jesus is the only way to have a saving relationship with God.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is God who personally dwells in believers for the sake of transforming us into Jesus’ likeness. We believe that the Spirit empowers us to be like Christ, supplies us with spiritual gifts, and leads us in the will of God. We believe we are to be filled with the Spirit.

We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible are inspired by God, infallible, and perfect. We believe that God expects us to be obedient to the Scriptures, and that He will bless us when we obey Scriptures, even if popular culture might contradict Scripture.

We believe that all humans have sinned and that our sins separate us from God and bring God’s judgment upon us. We believe that only God’s grace can redeem us from being lost, and that salvation comes to us through faith in Jesus as both Savior and Lord. We believe in salvation by grace through faith. We believe that saving faith demonstrates itself in obedience to the will of God.

We believe that water baptism by immersion serves as the point at which we die to our lost selves, are buried, and are raised to a resurrected life in Christ. We believe that in baptism sins are washed away through faith and because of grace. We believe that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord needs to be baptized into Christ Jesus.

We believe that the church comprises the community of believers who have been saved by the blood of Christ, and that the church is the bride of Christ, the body of Christ and the family of God. We believe that active participation in the church is necessary for growth in Christ. We believe that the core mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations. We believe that when people become disciples of Jesus, they will come together in covenanted communities as the local church.

We believe that God is the God of the living (Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:27). We believe that Jesus Christ will return to gather all of His people, (in heaven & on earth), together at the end of time. We believe that those who have put their faith in Christ will be raised to eternal life, but those who have refused to believe in Him will be raised to eternal death. We believe in living lives prepared for Jesus’ second coming.

Friendship believes that Christ invites all races and ethnicities into the Kingdom of God. Because humanity has exhibited grave racial injustices throughout history, we believe that everyone, especially Christians, must be proactive in securing  justice for people of all races and that racial reconciliation must be a priority of the church. We believe the Gospel and the churches it creates must be open and welcoming to all people to come to Christ.
We believe that all human life is priceless in the eyes of God and that all humans should be treated as image-bearers of God. For this reason, Friendship stands for the sanctity of life, and strongly opposes abortion.
Friendship believes in Jesus’ definition of marriage—that marriage must be between one man and one woman. For this reason, we believe same-sex marriage is contrary to God’s law and sinful, and therefore, although we love all people, we oppose same-sex marriage. We would love to study this aspect with you.