Statement of Faith - Generations Church of Sun City CA

HOLY BIBLE: The Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible and inerrant (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26).

TRINITY: There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three are coequal and co-eternal (I John 5:7; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 3:7-11).

JESUS CHRIST: Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. On earth, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on the cross for mankind and thus, atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory. (John 1:1,14, 20:28; I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5-6; I Timothy 2:5).

VIRGIN BIRTH: Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father, through the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity) in the Virgin Mary’s womb; therefore, He is the Son of God (Matthew 1:18, 25; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18, 23-25; Luke 1:27-35).

REDEMPTION: Man was created good and upright, but by voluntary transgression he fell; his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Gen. 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21).

SALVATION: We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22).

REPENTANCE: Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Thus, through repentance we receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation (Acts 2:21, 3:19; I John 1:9).

SANCTIFICATION: Sanctification is the ongoing process of yielding to God’s Word and His Spirit in order to complete the development of Christ’s character in us. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a godly life (I Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23; II Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18, II Thessalonians 2:1-3, Romans 8:29, 12:1-2, Hebrews 2:11).

JESUS’ BLOOD: The Blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross of Calvary was sinless and is 100% sufficient to cleanse mankind of all sin. Jesus allowed Himself to be punished for both our sinfulness and our sins, enabling all those who believe to be free from the penalty of sin, which is death (I John 1:7; Revelation 1:5, 5:9; Colossians 1:20; Romans 3:10-12, 23, 5:9; John 1:29).

JESUS CHRIST INDWELLS ALL BELIEVERS: Christians are people who have invited the Lord Jesus Christ to come and live inside them by His Holy Spirit. They relinquish the authority of their lives over to him thus making Jesus the Lord of their life as well as Savior. They put their trust in what Jesus accomplished for them when He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead (John 1:12; John 14:17, 23; John 15:4; Romans 8:11; Revelations 3:20).

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT: Given at Pentecost, it is the promise of the Father, sent by Jesus after His Ascension, to empower the Church to preach the Gospel throughout the whole earth (Joel 2:28-29; Matthew 3:11; Mark 16:17; Acts 1:5, 2:1-4, 17, 38-39, 8:14-17, 10:38, 44-47, 11:15-17, 19:1-6).

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit is manifested through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and edify the church, demonstrate the validity of the resurrection, and confirm the power of the Gospel. The Bible lists of these gifts are not necessarily exhaustive, and the gifts may occur in various combinations. All believers are commanded to earnestly desire the manifestation of the gifts in their lives. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Scriptures and should never be used in violation of biblical parameters. (Hebrews 2:4; Romans 1:11, 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:16; II Timothy 1:5-16, 4:14; I Corinthians 12:1-31, 14:1-40; I Peter 4:10).

THE CHURCH: The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Jesus’ great commission. Every person who is born of the Spirit is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers. There is a spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23; John 17:11, 20-23).

Water Baptism: Following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new convert is commanded by the Word of God to be baptized in water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38).

The Lord’s Supper: A unique time of communion in the presence of God when the elements of bread and grape juice (the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ) are taken in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12, 36-38; 10:47-48; I Corinthians 10:16, 11:23-25).

HEALING OF THE SICK: Healing of the sick is illustrated in the life and ministry of Jesus, and included in the commission of Jesus to His disciples. It is given as a sign, which is to follow believers. It is also a part of Jesus’ work on the Cross and one of the gifts of the Spirit. (Psalm 103:2-3; Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 16:17-18; Acts 8:6-7; James 5:14-16; I Corinthians 12:9, 28; Romans 11:29).

RESURRECTION: Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body 3 days after His death on the cross. In addition, both the saved and the lost will be resurrected; they that are saved to the resurrection of life and they that are lost to the resurrection of eternal damnation (Luke 24:16, 36, 39; John 2:19-21, 20:26-28, 21:4; Acts 24:15; I Corinthians 15:42, 44; Philippians 1:21-23, 3:21).

HEAVEN: Heaven is the eternal dwelling place for all believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:3, 12, 20, 6:20, 19:21, 25:34; John 17:24; II Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:16; I Peter 1:4).

HELL: After living one life on earth, the unbelievers will be judged by God and sent to Hell where they will be eternally tormented with the Devil and the Fallen Angels (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43-48; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 14:9-11, 20:12-15, 21:8).

SECOND COMING: Jesus Christ will physically and visibly return to earth for the second time to establish His Kingdom. This will occur at a date undisclosed by the Scriptures (Matthew 24:30, 26:63-64; Acts 1:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:15-17; II Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 1:7).

FAMILY LIFE: God is the Creator of all things. God created man and He created them male and female. As such He created them different so as to complement and complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family, the basic structure of human society. For this reason homosexuality, and all other “sexual preferences” or “orientations” are unnatural, sinful, and unacceptable to God (1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Tim. 1:9-11). Accordingly, this ministry will not perform any marriage ceremonies between individuals of the same biological sex. It will not condone or recognize such same-sex marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships, even if the state establishes laws that provide for recognition of such unions. (Genesis 2:21-24; Romans 1:26-32; I Corinthians 6:9, 13-20; 11:1-16; 14:35; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Timothy 2:9-15).

Marriage is exclusively the legal union of one genetic male and one genetic female and evidenced by a marriage ceremony. Legitimate biblical sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Hence, sexual and behavioral activities such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, premarital sex, incest, polygamy, homosexuality, transgenderism, bisexuality, cross dressing, pedophilia and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Further, lascivious behavior, the creation, viewing and/or distribution of pornography, and efforts to alter one’s physical gender or gender related appearance are incompatible with a true biblical witness. (Genesis 2:24, I Corinthians 5:11, 6:9, 6:18-20, 7:1-3, 7:8-9; Romans 1:18-32).

Marriage is an institution ordained by God at the creation of man (Genesis 3). Scripture clearly teaches that God is opposed to divorce and that hardness of heart is the root cause of all divorce (Matthew 19:8-10). We believe that married couples are to pursue reconciliation (Matthew 18), and are not to seek to be divorced (1 Corinthians 7). We do understand that divorce may be outside the control of one or the other persons in a marriage. Biblical grounds for divorce are defined as “an unbeliever departing” (1 Corinthians 7), and “adultery” (Matthew 19). Any divorce outside these Biblical exceptions is believed to be unbiblical.

CHURCH DISCIPLINE: Scripture requires the Elders Board (or its assignees) to exercise authority and discipline over all persons who participate in fellowship at Generations Church, with final approval from the Senior Pastor. This is necessary to ensure that, among other reasons, (1) Sound doctrine is consistently practiced within the various ministries of Generations Church; and (2) The message conveyed as a by-product of the mere association and fellowship with particular persons does not adversely impact the message intended to be presented by the Generations Church. In other words, the practices and conduct of some individuals may significantly interfere with the reputation and/or ministry purposes of the church and those in fellowship with the church. Scripture provides direction to the Elders Board (or its assignees) and the Senior Pastor with regard to persons who should be disciplined because of their practices or conduct.

The Elders Board (or its assignees) shall, when appropriate, exercise authority and administer discipline within the church in a spirit of meekness and confidentiality, with supervision and final approval from the Senior Pastor. The purpose of such discipline is the restoration of the one subject to the discipline and/or the purification of the church. The steps of discipline are private confrontation, private confrontation with witnesses, meeting with the Senior Pastor or Elders Board for judgment leading to restoration or excommunication from fellowship and termination of membership, and finally, if necessary, exposure to the congregation. (Matt. 18:15-20; Gal. 6:1; Romans 16:17; II John 9-11; I Corinthians 5; II Corinthians 2:6-8; I Timothy 5:20).

CHURCH PROPERTY: The Elders Board of Generations Church shall have the right to determine who may attend church meetings and functions, subject to final approval from the Senior Pastor. This church is owned by the Lord Jesus Christ who has entrusted the care of the flock to the leadership He has raised up here. It is not a place of public accommodation, nor is it a public institution, and its property is not a public place, but is rather private property belonging to this Church (Acts 20:28-31; II Peter 2:1-3; I Timothy 1:20; 6:5; I Corinthians 5:1-13; II Thessalonians 3:6-15; II John 9-11; II Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 3:10-11; Romans 16:17).