Building the Kingdom of Jesus Christ
Winnsboro Bible
OUR BELIEFS
We believe that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God and without mistakes as originally written. It is the complete revelation of His will for salvation and the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for the Christian life.
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that these three are co-eternal and of equal dignity and power.
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ; His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit; His virgin birth; His sinless life; His substitutionary death on a cross; His bodily resurrection; His ascension to the right hand of the Father; and His personal, imminent return.
We believe that man was created by and for God; that by man’s disobeying God, every person incurred spiritual death, which is separation from God, and physical death as a consequence; and that all people are sinners by nature and practice.
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins and that all who believe in Him are declared righteous because of His sacrificial death and are, therefore, in the right relationship with God.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit indwelling all believers and thus enabling and empowering the life and ministry of the believer and continuation of the ministry of Jesus through the Church, a continuation from Pentecost through today.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of everyone who has lived, the everlasting blessedness of those in right relationship with God, and the everlasting punishment of those who have rejected God’s forgiveness in His Son.
The Nicene Creed:
https://www.ccel.org/creeds/nicene.creed.html
Detailed Statement of Faith:
http://www.romans45.org/creeds/bcof.htm
WBC DISTINCTIVES:
1) A renewed emphasis on a "fervent love for the brethren". Though this is explicitly commanded by our Lord and re-emphasized by Paul and Peter, we have largely ignored this central teaching in the West in modern times. This explicitly includes showing hospitality one to another. We are committed to give this imperative the gravity it deserves. Paul admonishes us plainly in 1 Corinthians 13 that we can do all things up to martyrdom for Christ but if we have no love, we are a useless, noisy symbol clanging. Scripture tells us in 1 John that this is actually a Litmus Test for ourselves to confirm that we are Christians walking in the faith, a love for the brethren. This love is also how the world will know Jesus was sent of the Father, and how the World will know we are disciples of Jesus so we cannot fulfill the Great Commission with out this! (John 17) and Jesus commanded us plainly: "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35.) We have no excuse for the tragic sin of neglecting this commandment and we need to repent and act.
2) Alignment of our corporate, individual, and family lives Scripturally to align to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Kingdom order is essential if God is to bless our lives, our families, our churches and our nation. We align our lives individually to be His Body and Bride, the Church. How we order our marriages (complementarian), families, jobs, churches, and as citizens all need to be organized and prioritized intentionally according to the Lord’s Kingdom as outlined in Scripture.
3) Family participatory worship. To be unified all families and the whole congregation must worship together, not separated out into "kids church", multiple services or otherwise. This is a unity of worship, praise, studying Scripture, and taking of the Lord's Table where we unite with each other and in Christ.
4) Building, strengthening, and healing Kingdom Marriages and families. Jesus is still in the resurrection business healing people, marriages, and families broken by sin and sinful systems of this world. We minister through Scripture, prayer, and the power of the Holy Spirit and not by psychology or self-help programs. As loving brothers and sisters in Christ, loving each other as Jesus commanded us to, we carry each other’s burdens so the world will know we are His disciples and that Jesus was sent by the Father. We recognize that to experience God's healing in our marriages, we must prioritize and align them to Christ, to His Kingdom directives and principles.
5) Kingdom Builders, living out the Great Commission, raising up and sending out disciples. Our mission is to live in faith, repentance, obedience, and wisdom to build the Kingdom of Christ and to advance His banner in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told Peter, the gates of Hell will not be able to withstand this advancing Kingdom, a victorious movement of Kingdom expansion culminating in our Lord' return. We understand the method of this advancement is through suffering: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:" 2 Timothy 2:12
These distinctives are not new, but rather an historic and Scriptural priority and emphasis across 2,000 years of Church History and across all regions across the Globe as taught by our Lord, Paul, Peter, James and John and documented by Dr. Luke in Acts.