OUR BELIEFS AND VALUES
Our Statement of Faith:
1. WE BELIEVE The Scriptures are Inspired by God and declare His design and plan for mankind.
2. WE BELIEVE...There is only One True God–revealed in three persons...Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly known as the Trinity).
3. WE BELIEVE...In the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. As God's son Jesus was both human and divine.
4. WE BELIEVE...though originally good, Man Willingly Fell to Sin–ushering evil and death, both physical and spiritual, into the world.
5. WE BELIEVE...Every Person Can Have Restored Fellowship with God Through 'Salvation' (trusting Christ, through faith and repentance, to be our personal Savior). [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
6. WE BELIEVE...and practice two ordinances—(1) Water Baptism by Immersion after repenting of one's sins and receiving Christ's gift of salvation, and (2) Holy Communion (the Lord's Supper) as a symbolic remembrance of Christ's suffering and death for our salvation.
7. WE BELIEVE...the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a Special Experience Following Salvation that empowers believers for witnessing and effective service, just as it did in New Testament times. [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
8. WE BELIEVE... The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is ‘Speaking in Tongues,’ as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles.
9. WE BELIEVE...Sanctification Initially Occurs at Salvation and is not only a declaration that a believer is holy, but also a progressive lifelong process of separating from evil as believers continually draw closer to God and become more Christlike.
10. WE BELIEVE...The Church has a Mission to seek and save all who are lost in sin. We believe 'the Church' is the Body of Christ and consists of the people who, throughout time, have accepted God's offer of redemption (regardless of religious denomination) through the sacrificial death of His son Jesus Christ.
11. WE BELIEVE...A Divinely Called and Scripturally Ordained Leadership Ministry Serves the Church. The Bible teaches that each of us under leadership must commit ourselves to reach others for Christ, to worship Him with other believers, to build up or edify the body of believers–the Church and to Meet human need with ministries of love and compassion.
12. WE BELIEVE...Divine Healing of the Sick is a Privilege for Christians Today and is provided for in Christ's atonement (His sacrificial death on the cross for our sins). [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
13. WE BELIEVE...in The Blessed Hope—When Jesus Raptures His Church Prior to His Return to Earth (the second coming). At this future moment in time all believers who have died will rise from their graves and will meet the Lord in the air, and Christians who are alive will be caught up with them, to be with the Lord forever. [1 of 4 cardinal doctrines of the AG]
14. WE BELIEVE...in The Millennial Reign of Christ when Jesus returns with His saints at His second coming and begins His benevolent rule over earth for 1,000 years. This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel and the establishment of universal peace.
15. WE BELIEVE...A Final Judgment Will Take Place for those who have rejected Christ. They will be judged for their sin and consigned to eternal punishment in a punishing lake of fire.
16. WE BELIEVE...and look forward to the perfect New Heavens and a New Earth that Christ is preparing for all people, of all time, who have accepted Him. We will live and dwell with Him there forever following His millennial reign on Earth. 'And so shall we forever be with the Lord!'
Our Core Values:
Mbarara Redeemed of the Lord Evangelistic Church understands and fulfills its calling in the context of 12 core values, or ministry distinctive, which define the nature of our ministry.
1. The Centrality of Christ - In every aspect of our ministry, the focal point will always be the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The Inerrancy of the Bible - The authority for our ministry comes from the Word of God as we submit ourselves to its teaching, commit ourselves to do what it says, and yield our lives to become what Christ desires for us to be.
3. The Undergirding of Prayer - All that we do must have the thorough undergirding of prayer support or else there is no reason to anticipate the attending power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our ministry.
4. An Environment of Grace - Convinced of the absolute sovereignty of a Holy God, we understand that nothing good happens in our ministry that is not the result of His grace or unmerited favor toward us. Consequently, our ministry together must be characterized by that same grace in our response to one another.
5. A Decentralized Ministry - Ministry is to take place out in the midst of a fallen world, so our challenge is to provide a balance between times when believers are gathered together to be equipped for ministry and times when they are sent out to do the ministry for which every member has been commissioned by Christ.
6. A Missions and Evangelism Emphasis - The conviction that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation leads us to pursue vigorous means of proclaiming the Gospel by sending our members to take the message to all those who need to hear, both in the local community and to the ends of the earth.
7. The Accountability of Small Groups - Integrity in the lives and ministries of our members requires that we provide a context for accountability relationships as we give high priority to the development of small groups where that can take place.
8. The Importance of Family - Recognizing that one of the greatest battlefields and proving grounds of our faith in Christ is right within the home, we are committed to strengthening the spiritual lives of families as they seek to become beacons of light for Christ within our community.
9. The Significance of Humble Servanthood - Our ministry is built upon the assumption that there is no task or responsibility beneath any of our members so that we undertake every ministry with a humble heart, grateful for the privilege of serving Christ and His body.
10. An Emphasis on Faithfulness Over Fruitfulness - Rather than focus on bearing fruit in our ministries, either numerically or spiritually, we believe we are called instead to be faithful and allow the Lord to determine the level of fruitfulness we are to enjoy.
11. A Streamlined, Targeted Ministry - Although we encourage all of our members to pursue the individual ministries to which God has called them, we believe that it is better for the church as a whole to focus on a few target ministries and do them well rather than try to embrace all the ministries represented by our members.
12. A Willingness to Change and Innovate - We are convinced that in order to follow Christ, we must be committed to change and willing to innovate so that we do not place any barriers to growth in our way to becoming the body of believers Christ wants us to be.