CCPC MISSION STATEMENT

We are Embracing All, because we are an open-arms church.
We’re all recovering sinners, so we understand that you are, too.

We are Feeding Spirits, because we all hunger for more than just acceptance.
We hunger for an encounter with the living God: being fully known and loved, finding
unshakable hope and joy, and discovering an eternally significant purpose.

We are Reflecting Christ, because, once our hearts and spirits are full, we want to share
the story of Jesus with others. We want to be part of what Jesus calls “the kingdom of God”
- a new way of love and life in this world.

We invite all to become part of that kingdom, and join us in Changing Lives Forever!

To share the word of God, to invite people to respond to the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ, and to welcome them into a community of people of faith who have chosen to follow the leading of Christ. We gather to worship God; to learn, to share, and grow in our faith; and to reach out in service to the community and to the world.

 CCPC STATEMENT OF FAITH

In writing our own statement of faith, we also affirm our reliance upon the church’s historic affirmations of faith, especially the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed, as ancient and accurate summaries of our core Christian beliefs. 

important vs. essential issues

As a church, we make a critical distinction between topics that are important and topics that are essential.  Important topics matter greatly to us; but we can accept that in these areas there is room for Christians to disagree while earnestly seeking God’s will through the pages of Scripture.  Differences on important topics distinguish us but do not divide us. 

The G.O.S.P.E.L. Essentials

G - Good News
Gospel means “good news”.  We are not saved by following good advice or by good deeds; we are saved by trusting the good news that Jesus Christ saves sinners for the Kingdom of God.[3]  The Kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus’ teaching,[4] and refers to a community of people in right relationship with God and each other.  We enter this kingdom only by trusting the saving work of Jesus the Christ.[5]

O - Ourselves
The “Ourselves” of God refers to the divine relationship at the heart of God’s identity.[6]  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons, who are all equal in divinity and so perfectly united in love, purpose and will, that they are truly One Being.[7]  This concept of the Trinity informs our identity as those made in the image of God.[8]  To be made in the image of the “Ourselves” is to be a people formed for godly relationships by the God who is a relationship.[9]

S - Sin
Sin is selfishness - the universal human condition.[10]  Sin is like a disease that we all share, though we each may have different symptoms.[11]  Those symptoms are sin-actions, like lying, stealing, murdering, etc.[12]  God’s goal is not to cure symptoms, but the disease itself, for without a cure, selfishness is fatal to our relationships with God and with each other.[13]  Instead of a life of “Ourselves,” we live a life of “myself.”

P - Payment
Jesus is the cure for the disease of sin.  Jesus is fully God (the second Person of the Trinity, God the Son), and also fully human (a human body and soul) - two natures in one Person without confusion or separation.[14]   As God and man, he solves the sin problem in three ways. 

• Jesus pays for our sins on the cross, as a substitute who takes on himself the punishment we deserved.[15]

• Jesus pays forward his righteousness (or self-less-ness) to us, so we are not only forgiven but granted Jesus’ right-relationship-status with God.[16] 

• Jesus pays back the cosmic powers of this present darkness, by defeating them in his bodily resurrection from the dead.[17] 

There is no solution to sin or rescue from Satan outside of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.[18]

E - Expectations
Much is expected of those who are saved by trust in Jesus.[19]  First, we are expected to live in and advance the kingdom of God (aka the kingdom of heaven).[20]  This new way of life, grounded in a new covenant community, impacts every aspect of our lives: thoughts, work, relationships, families, community and culture.[21]  We are equipped for this work by God the Holy Spirit, who indwells in us, making us little Christs (aka Christ-ians).[22]  The Spirit’s indwelling occurs when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior,[23] but our partnership with the Spirit is a life-long process of co-operation.[24]

L - Life Eternal
Jesus is coming back to finish what he started - the establishment of the kingdom of God.[25]  We do not know when he will return, so Christians are to live in perpetual readiness.[26]  When Jesus returns, the dead will be resurrected (in both body and soul, like Jesus after his resurrection).[27]  Then Jesus will judge all people, separating us into two groups.[28]  One group will live forever without him in what we call Hell, in total solitude resulting from a life of perfected selfishness.[29]  The other group will live forever with Christ in the new heavens and new earth, in perfect union with God and one other.[30]  Knowing this future, Christians must share the gospel with the non-believing world, for it is a matter of eternal significance.[31]

 Our Authority - The Holy Scripture

Our authority in all things is the Bible, the word of God, which Paul calls “God-breathed”.[32]  God the Holy Spirit co-operated with the human authors of the Bible to produce a text that is, like Jesus, fully human and fully God.  This means there is no portion of the Bible where we can ignore the original author’s context or intent, nor is there any portion which ceases to be relevant to our context, for the word of God is living and active.[33],[34]

When we attempt to make ourselves the authority for issues of faith, theology, morality, relationships, or behavior, we repeat the original sin.  The desire to replace God’s definition of good and evil with our own is precisely what drove Adam and Eve to disobey the LORD in the Garden.[35]  We acknowledge that God knows far better than we what is good and what is evil.[36]   Therefore, when our cultural values, expectations or norms clash with God’s commandments, we will trust the word of God over the words of mortals.[37]

[1] 2 Timothy 3:16-17
[2] For more elaboration and teaching on these topics, see our online G.O.S.P.E.L. Class.
[3] Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8-9
[4] Matthew 4:17
[5] John 14:6, Acts 4:12
[6] Genesis 1:26
[7] Matthew 3:16-17, John 1:1-3, 10:30, 17:21, 2 Corinthians 3:17
[8] Genesis 1:26-27
[9] Matthew 22:34-40
[10] Romans 3:23
[11] Romans 7:14-20
[12] Galatians 5:16-21, Romans 1:18-32
[13] Ephesians 4:20-24
[14] John 1:1-18
[15] John 1:29, Romans 3:24-25, Hebrews 9:24-28
[16] 2 Corinthians 5:21
[17] Mark 10:45, Colossians 2:15, Ephesians 6:10-17, Revelation 12:11
[18] John 14:6, Acts 4:12
[19] Matthew 5:20, 48
[20] Luke 10:1-9
[21] Matthew 5-7
[22] John 14:16-17, 1 Corinthians 6:19
[23] Acts 10:44-48
[24] Romans 8:1-17
[25] Mark 13:24-27
[26] Mark 13:32-37
[27] John 5:25-29
[28] Matthew 25:31-46
[29] Luke 16:19-26
[30] Revelation 21:1-4
[31] Matthew 28:16-20
[32] 2 Timothy 3:16
[33] Hebrews 4:12
[34] We concur with the authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith, who wrote, “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and live, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”
[35] Genesis 3:4-6
[36] Proverbs 21:2
[37] Romans 12:2