Beliefs
What is the Gospel?
The gospel means good news, and the good news of the gospel is that God’s grace has entered into the darkness of this world to give hope to all people. We are a people in need of hope because sin has destroyed our fellowship with our Creator, and we all rightly fall under God’s righteous judgement. But God, being rich in mercy and because of his great love for us, provides a way for us to be saved from his wrath and secure eternal life with him. God does this by offering a living hope, Jesus Christ his Son. Jesus is the hope of the gospel and the hope for all people. Christ’s death on the cross satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and wrath, and his resurrection confirms that death is defeated and there is hope in this life and the life to come for all who put their trust in Jesus alone. There is no other name by which men can be saved, so we make it our aim to proclaim Christ and him crucified until he returns and makes all things new.
Mission
Castleton Community Church exists to lead people to know and trust Jesus. Our desire is to help others experience the joy and peace of trusting Jesus Christ. God’s Word makes clear that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, therefore, we desire to make Him known so that people from every tongue, tribe and nation would find their rest in Him.
Statement of Faith
THE BIBLE
We believe that the entire Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, written by men as sixty-six unified yet diverse books, inerrant in the original manuscripts, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and the final authority for all matters of faith, practice, and life. We believe that God’s Word is true, trustworthy, unchanging, and remains forever. (2 Timothy 3:16; I Peter 1:24-25; 2 Peter 1:3,1:19-21; John 10:35, 17:17)
GOD
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three unified persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that these three are equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption; and that this God is the Creator and Supreme Ruler of all things and is the center of our worship. (Genesis 1:1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Chronicles 16:23-25; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1- 3)
GOD THE FATHER
We believe in God the Father who sovereignly rules over all that He created and continues to care for and sustain in providence all that exists. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift and works through the Spirit and the Son to bring to completion His good and perfect will. (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:35; Matthew 6:9; Ephesians 1:3,11; Romans 8:28-29; James 1:14)
GOD THE SON
We believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, in whom salvation is found; that the eternal Son entered into His creation by taking on flesh. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and is both fully God and fully man, the image of the invisible God, and the only mediator between God and man. (Matthew 1:23-25; John 1:14; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Philippians 2:5–7; Colossians 1:15-20; 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 4:15)
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who eternally exists along with the Father and the Son, equal in divine essence and nature, who glorifies the Father and the Son, convicts the world of sin, regenerates hearts, indwells and seals all believers unto the day of redemption, gives spiritual gifts to men and women according to His sovereign good pleasure for the edification of the Church, and guides believers in obedience to the truth. (John 16:8,14-15; Romans 8:13-14;1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5)
HUMANITY
We believe that all humans were created in the image of God. As God’s image-bearers, mankind is the crowning work of creation and every human life is sacred and valuable in the eyes of God. Humans were designed by God to walk in perfect fellowship with their Creator, reflecting and representing God by exercising dominion and stewarding God’s creation for His glory and our good. We believe that God created humans as male and female and ordained marriage to be a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman and that He has also called many to live a life of singleness in order to display the glory of God in ways which married people cannot. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:23-24; 9:6; Psalm 8; Romans 3:23; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; James 3:9; I Cor. 7:7-8, 32)
SIN
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in holiness, yet through voluntary rebellion humanity fell from their holy and happy state, became alienated from God, incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God; thereby, as a consequence of their rejection of God, all human beings inherit Adam’s guilt, are born with a sinful nature, and are sinners by choice. Therefore, all persons without Christ are condemned to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse. Since only God knows the heart, we rest upon His character for those who cannot give an account. (Genesis 1:26-28, 3:1-19; Romans 3:23, 5:12-21, 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-12)
ATONEMENT
We believe that Jesus Christ, according to the will of God the Father, offered Himself willingly as a substitutionary atoning sacrifice. We believe that on the cross Jesus took upon himself God’s righteous judgement for sin and wrath against the sins of those for whom He died, and, by His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated evil, sin, and Death. We believe that all who repent of their sin and trust in Christ’s atoning work on their behalf are justified by faith in Christ and have eternal life with Him. (Isaiah 53:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Acts 2:38; John 3:16; Hebrews 2:14)
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, and that true faith in the gospel will be made evident by a life of repentance and godliness. We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but His own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel. We believe that salvation is wholly a work of God and that God loses none of His children, and all who trust in Christ will be raised on the Last Day. John 6:39-40; Romans 6:3-11, 8:1,10:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 1:6, 2:12; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 21:1-5)
RESURRECTION & ASCENSION
We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as the first fruits of our resurrection, and in His bodily ascension into heaven where He is the exalted Lord and enthroned in power at the right hand of God the Father, where He rules over all things, making intercession on our behalf as our Representative, High Priest and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-11; Romans 1:3-5, 8:34 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 20; Hebrews 7:25, 8:1, 9:24; I John 2:1-2)
THE CHURCH
We believe in the universal Church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a body of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, under the oversight of elders, gathering weekly for worship, instruction, observation of the Biblical ordinances, service, and fellowship. We believe that the primary mission of the church is to glorify God through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to make disciples of all nations. (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 2:19-22; Galatians 3:26-28; 1 Peter 5:1-5; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:23-25; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8)
THE ORDINANCES
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ gave the local church two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that water baptism of a believer into the name of the triune God is a picture of one’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death until He comes again. (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
LAST THINGS
We believe in the future, personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom forever. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the endless punishment of the wicked, and the eternal joy of the righteous. We believe in the glorification of believers in Christ, the eternal dwelling of God with His people in the new heavens and new earth, where all sin and its devastating effects will be wiped away from the restored creation, where God’s people will share in the fullness of joy, love, and righteousness they were created to experience with God forever. (Isaiah 25:6-9, 65:17; Matthew 16:27; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 54-55; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:11-15, 21:1-9)