STATEMENT OF FAITH

What is the EFCA?

EFCA stands for the Evangelical Free Church of America. Journey Church is an EFCA-affiliated church.

Statement of Faith

Journey Church's Statement of Faith is based on the positions of the Evangelical Free Church of America, our affiliated denomination.

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

Journey Distinctives

Our Distinctives, rooted in the doctrines from our Statement of Faith, Journey Distinctives have been developed by our pastors and elders to address prominent cultural issues.

We believe that our biblical calling to be stewards of creation (Genesis 1:28-31) involves reverence for the mystery of human life (Psalm 139:13) made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). All human beings are created, as image bearers, with intrinsic dignity and worthy of respect. There are no exceptions. We reject any view that associates the Image of God, personhood, or human dignity with function or competence. This means, among other things, that each person has a right to life and protection from harm. We affirm the value God invests in each person (Matthew 6:26, 10:31, 12:12) from the beginning of life until the final breath.

In tandem with the above belief, we recognize that human life and personhood begin at conception. We see no biblical, philosophical, or scientific evidence for placing life and personhood's beginnings anywhere else in human development. We are, therefore opposed to the taking of innocent life in abortion, and recognize this to be consistent with the oldest traditions of the Church. We also resist the premature ending of life in physician-assisted dying, affirming natural death to be the only course within the will of God.

We affirm justice as fundamental to the character of God and therefore an essential pursuit for those who follow him. Social justice, properly understood, is rooted in a biblical calling to care for the vulnerable in our society. This includes but is not limited to the unborn, the handicapped (physically or cognitively), and the elderly.

We believe that God created male and female in His image and that both genders are of equal value before God while at the same time having unique, distinctive, and complementary roles and responsibilities in creation. God established marriage as a one-flesh relationship between the man and the woman. We therefore believe that the only context for sexual activity is the marriage of a man and woman. Hence, sexual activity outside of marriage, including, but not limited to, fornication, adultery, incest, homosexuality, pedophilia, and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the church. Further, lewd conduct, transgender behavior, and the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography are incompatible with God’s intention. (Leviticus 18:22, Mark 10:6-9, Romans 1:26-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, Hebrews 13:4, Jude 7).

We believe marriage was established by God as a one-flesh relationship between a man and a woman who are committed to each other for life. We thus define marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman for an exclusive, life-long, one-flesh relationship. A civil government’s sanction of a union will be recognized as a legitimate marriage by the church only to the extent that it is consistent with the definition of marriage found in this position statement.

We will aggressively love and pursue people who disagree with this position in order to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ in so far as our approach and methods are in line with the whole of biblical teaching.

Leadership, staff, and members must be in agreement with this biblical position on human sexuality. Furthermore, all ceremonies, events, and activities connected with Journey Church or our property must comply with this doctrinal position.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

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Statement of Faith

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