BELIEFS
Maranatha Church of Jacksonville is a Christian Church that worships Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
CORE VERSE:
1 Thessalonians 2:8
“Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”
CORE PRACTICES:
WORSHIP – Correctly responding to Jesus
DISCIPLESHIP – Helping each other become more like Jesus
MISSION – Sharing Jesus with the world
CORE BELIEFS:
GOD
We believe in the one God, Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinite in love, perfect in judgments and unchanging in mercy. God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
JESUS
We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary. He died for the sins of all, taking on Himself, on behalf of sinful persons, God’s judgment upon sin. In His body he rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for us. We believe the redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides healing of the human body in answer to believing prayer.
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is God present and active in the world. The Holy Spirit was given to the church in His fullness at Pentecost. By the Spirit, Christ lives in His church, the gospel is proclaimed and the power, purity and presence of God is manifested in the world.
SCRIPTURE
We believe in the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both the Old and New Testaments, the only written Word of God, without error in all it affirms. The Scriptures are the only never failing rule of faith and practice. The Holy Spirit preserves God’s Word in the church today and by it speaks God’s truth to peoples of every age. Regardless what human cultures may recognize as right or wrong, we must submit ourselves in all areas of life to what God has said, and live it out in a way that is loving and respectful.
HUMANKIND
We believe that human beings were created in the image of God. This image was marred in every part through the disobedience of our first parents, and fellowship with God was broken. God, in His grace, restores moral sensibility to all humankind and enables all to respond to His love and to accept His saving grace, if they will.
JUSTIFICATION
We believe that God graciously justifies and regenerates all who trust in Jesus Christ. Believers become children of God and begin to live in holiness through faith in Christ and the sanctifying Spirit.
SANCTIFICATION
We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the believer is enabled to live a holy life. This does not make believers faultless nor prevent the possibility of their falling into sin. They must live daily by faith in the forgiveness and cleansing provided for them in Jesus Christ.
ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
We believe that all believers are assured that they are children of God by the inward witness of God’s Spirit with their spirits, by faith in the gracious promises of God’s Word, and by the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
CHRISTIANS IN SOCIETY
We believe that Christians are called to live in daily witness to the grace which comes to us in Jesus Christ, to preach the gospel to every person according to the command of Christ, and to declare God’s insistence upon righteousness and justice in all relationships and structures of human society.
THE CHURCH
We believe that the Church is the people of God composed of all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Church is Christ’s body; it is visible in the world wherever believers, in obedience of faith, hear the Word, receive the sacraments and live as disciples.
RETURN OF CHRIST
We believe in the personal return of Jesus Christ, in the bodily resurrection of all persons, in final judgment and in eternal reward and punishment. At the end of this age, we believe there will be increasing polarization between true believers and a post-Christian culture that will lead to great persecution of the Church and radiant holiness within the Church. We are expecting the conversion of the Jews at the glorious, visible return of Christ and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.
GOD’S ULTIMATE VICTORY
We believe in God’s ultimate victory over Satan and all evil and the establishment of His perfect kingdom in a new heaven and a new earth.
*We are part of a greater community of churches and missionaries called the Malachi Network. These beliefs are in agreement with this network.