GOD-GLORIFYING

We believe that there is only one true God and the primary purpose of our lives is to bring Him glory.  God eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The tri-unity of God, known as the Trinity, communicates the essence of God as being one in nature, equal in glory and distinct in relations.  God is the self-existent author of life, the creator of all things, and the source of love.  God’s act of creation was motivated by love and He is completely good, all knowing, and all powerful.  God the Father purposed the redemption of humanity and is primary in His roles as Sovereign Ruler and Compassionate Reconciler, yet He willingly shares these responsibilities within the Trinity.  The Father gives all that He has to the Son and sends the Son and the Holy Spirit to share His fullness with humanity.  As those made in God’s image who are recipients of His love, we exist to glorify God at every opportunity according to His word.

CHRIST-CENTERED

We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, eternally begotten, not made, and through Him all things were created.  He is the giver of life and the heir of all things.  During His ministry on earth, Jesus Christ was fully man and fully God and lived a life without sin.  Jesus knowingly and willingly offered Himself on the cross as the perfect and final atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world and secured redemption for those who trust in Him.  God the Father raised Christ from the dead and He will physically return again to judge the world, fully establish His rule as king, and make all things new.  We acknowledge that our ability to glorify God is impossible apart from faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In light of this reality, our lives and our church must be centered on Christ.

SPIRIT – LED

We believe the Holy Spirit is not simply a power, influence or a force emanating from God to be observed but rather an eternal divine person to be worshipped.  In our own best efforts to become more Christlike, we are certain to fail.  Instead, we need the supernatural transformation of the Holy Spirit to become the people God has called us to be.  The Holy Spirit applies redemption in our lives and intercedes for us before the Father. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which occurs completely at the moment someone places their faith in Christ, produces freedom as He guides, empowers, comforts, convicts and unifies those who receive Him.  As a local church we are not a business, but the body of Christ, the temple of the lord, and the family of God.  In this capacity as a church, we are compelled to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in every way.

BIBLE-SATURATED

We believe the Holy Spirit guided the authors of the Bible to record the very word of God.  As such, the Bible is inerrant, being true in all that it affirms as God’s specific revelation for humanity.  Because the Bible is breathed out by God, it is authoritative above all other revelation for faith and righteous living and is sufficient for salvation and godliness. The 66 books of the Bible (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament) represent the closed canon of Scripture which meet the standard of divine inspiration and cannot be added to or reduced.  As a Spirit-led church, we prioritize the study of the Bible and faithful commitment to the Christian life it prescribes.  To this end, we prioritize the teaching and preaching of Scripture during our small and large group gatherings as it is essential for every believer to learn, pray over, and conform to God’s Word in this life.

GOSPEL-PREACHING

The Bad News facing each one of us is that we were born into this world essentially and unchangeably sinful.  Our sin separates us from God and results in eternal condemnation.  However, because of His love for sinners, God purposed Jesus Christ to redeem His people by no merit of their own.  The Gospel, or the Good News, refers to God’s plan of divine redemption which centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ in his first and second coming.  Those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead will be saved.  According to God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, all who call upon the name of the Lord will experience everlasting life and eternal love at the moment of salvation and forevermore.  We believe the Gospel is the best news of all time, for all people, in all the world.

CHURCH

We believe all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately united by the Holy Spirit into one body known as the Church.  The Church is a unique spiritual and physical entity that includes all born-again believers who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and unified by their willing submission to the authority of Christ.  This universal Church is functionally expressed through local churches where believers routinely gather to worship God.  The establishment of local churches is clearly modeled in the New Testament where we see Christians joining together in their communities and committing themselves as witnesses of Christ and servants of one another.  The marks of a local church must include biblically qualified and properly established leaders, sound (orthodox) biblical preaching, along with an enduring commitment to corporately observe Baptism and The Lord’s Supper.  The resulting works of the local church are the exaltation of God, the building up of fellow Christians, and evangelism (sharing the Gospel) with the spiritually lost in both word and deed.  We long to be a local church that exists as a vehicle for God’s glory through our demonstration of His divine goodness and mercy to the world.

Redeemer Bible Church Stafford is a cooperating church within the Southern Baptist Convention and is committed to the theological beliefs and biblical perspectives contained in the Baptism Faith and Message 2000.