LEGACY COMMUNITY CHURCH

• We believe that God calls men to bear the primary leadership and teaching office in the church (Elders). We believe that He calls both men and women to a broad array of ministries, including the body of Deacons elected by the congregation. The terms will be three year commitments for the Deacons and five year commitments for the Elders.
• A Deacon is an administrative officer within the church who is set apart to ensure that the Elders are freed up to focus on prayer and ministry of the Word. They (Deacons) are responsible for the practical needs within the church to be met at corporate and individual levels. Candidates for the office of Deacon are presented by the Elders and called by the congregation. Deacons operate within the existing structures of the church, under the oversight of the Elders. Men and women appointed to serve in this office will be Organizational Deacon (Finances; Property) or Congregational Deacons (Practical needs of individuals and families).

• All of the Deacons and Elders are required to affirm this belief on baptism to provide strong doctrinal safe guards for the future of Legacy Community Church. This affirmation ensures that the Deacons and Elders hold firmly to the conviction that believers baptism by immersion (not infant baptism or adult baptism by sprinkling) is what the New Testament teaches. Therefore we will only practice believers baptism and we agree that the belief in baptismal regeneration and not experiencing any baptism at all are not compatible with membership of the church.
• We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the Lord by which those who have repented and come to faith express their union with Christ in His death and resurrection, by being immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a sign of belonging to the new people of God and an emblem of burial and cleansing, signifying death to the old life of unbelief, and purification from the pollution of sin.

• The Trinity: We believe there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and that these are the same divine essence and are equal in every divine perfection, but that they have different roles.

(Genesis 1:1, 26; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1,3; John 4:24; Romans 1:19-20; Ephesians 4:5-6)

• God the Father: We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayers, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

(Matthew 23:9; Luke 10:21-22; John 3:16; John 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Timothy 1:1-2; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6)

• Jesus Christ: We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son; conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal, visible return to earth.

(Matthew 1:18-25; Matthew 20:28; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; John 20:28, 30-31; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 6:9-10; Romans 8:46; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 2:21-23)

• The Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit sent into the world by God to glorify the Son of God. We believe that without His work no one would come to faith. We believe that His work in regeneration is not the result of water baptism or any outward ritual. We believe He indwells everyone who trusts in Christ, and helps them make progress in overcoming sin and in becoming more like Jesus Christ in thought, deed, and love for God the Father.

(John 14:16-17, 26; John 15: 26-27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Galatians 5:22-26)

• The Word of God: We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, is the infallible word of God, verbally inspired by God, and without error in the original manuscripts. We believe that God’s intentions, revealed in the Bible, are the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and right. In matters not addressed Biblically, what is true and right is assessed by criteria consistent with the teaching of Scripture.

(Numbers 23:19; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5; Matthew 22:29, 43-44; Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; John 8:31-21; John 14:26; John 16:13-14; John 17:17; John 20:31; Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 6:18; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:16)

• We believe that man was created by God in His own image and for His glory, and thus incurred physical, spiritual, and eternal separation from God. We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and so are under divine condemnation. We reject justification by works of the Law, and we believe that only those who trust Christ as their Savior, by virtue of His atoning death on the cross, submitting to Him as Lord, and embracing Him as Supreme Treasure of their lives, are justified, delivered from condemnation, and receive eternal life. We believe this faith leads to a heartfelt turning from sin. The Christian life involves growth in grace through persevering and Holy Spirit-empowered resolve to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ.

(Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:19; Psalm 51:7; Ecclesiastes 2:11; Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 13:44; John 1:13; John 3:14,16; John 5:24,30; John 7:13; John 8:12; John 10:26; John 17:3; Romans 3:19; Romans 5:19; Romans 6:11; Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 3:7-8; Hebrews 3:12-14; Hebrews 6:11-12; Hebrews 10:39; James 1:14; 1 John 1:9-11)

• We believe in one holy, universal church made up of all who trust Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and Supreme Treasure of their lives. We believe that God calls us to join together with other believers in local churches to help each other to value Christ above all, to praise Him together, to grow in our love and knowledge of Christ, to spur one another on to good works, and to spread a passion for the Supremacy of God in all things for the joy of those in Christ Jesus. We believe Christians should be baptized and regularly enjoy the Lord’s Supper.

(Acts 15:36,41; Acts 16:5; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 1 Corinthians 16:1; Galatians 1:1-3; Ephesians 1:22-23; Hebrews 10:24-25; Revelation 1:4,10-11)

• We believe in the personal and visible return of Jesus to the earth and the establishment of His Kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of our bodies and the final judgment of all people, leading to eternal happiness of the saints in the Lord’s presence, and the eternal separation of the wicked from the presence of the Lord.

(Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18;  2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; Revelation 20:11-15)

The purpose of church discipline is the spiritual restoration of fallen members and the strengthening of the church and the glorifying of the Lord. When a sinning believer is rebuked and turns from his sin and is forgiven, he is won back to fellowship with the body and with its Head, Jesus Christ.

• The Process of Discipline (Matthew 18:15-17)

• Step One: An individual believer is to go to a sinning brother privately and confront him in a spirit of humility and gentleness. This confrontation involves clearly exposing his sin so that he is aware of it and calling him to repentance. If the sinning brother repents in response to the private confrontation, that brother is forgiven and restored.
• Step Two: If the sinning brother refuses to listen to the one who has rebuked him privately, the next step in the discipline process is to take one or two more believers along to confront him again. The witnesses are present not only to confirm that the sin was committed, but in addition, to confirm that the sinning brother was properly rebuked and whether he has repented or not. The presence of additional witnesses is as much a protection for the one being approached as it is for the one approaching. If a change of heart and repentance does occur, that brother is forgiven and restored and the matter is dropped. As least one of the witnesses should be a member of the deacons.
• Step Three: if the sinning brother refuses to listen and respond to the confrontation of the witnesses after a period of specified time, those witnesses are to share the situation with the leadership team. The leadership team will send out a letter or meet with the individual to let them know that if they have not received a response of repentance by a certain date, then the church will move on to Step Four of the Disciplinary Process. If repentance does take place, the sinning believer is forgiven and restored.
• Step Four: The final step in the Process of Church Discipline is ostracism. If the sinning believer refuses to listen to the church, he is ostracized from the fellowship. This information will be shared with the body for a time or prayer and brokenness for the individual and to seek the Lord for their restoration. The point of this ostracism is not to punish, but awaken. It must be done in humility and love, and never in a spirit of self-righteous superiority. When we have done everything we can to bring a sinning member back to the purity of life but are unsuccessful, the individual is to be left to his sin and shame. If he is truly a Christian, God will not cast him away, but God may allow him to sink still deeper into his sin before he becomes desperate enough to turn from it. All contact by the body should be for the purpose of admonishment and restoration.

• We believe the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord in which gathered believers eat bread, signifying Christ’s body given for His people, and drink the cup of the Lord, signifying the new covenant in Christ’s blood. We do this in remembrance of the Lord, and thus proclaim His death until He comes. Those who eat and drink in a worthy manner partake of Christ’s body and blood, not physically, but spiritually, in that, by faith they are nourished with the benefits He obtained through His death, and thus grow in grace.