What We Believe

One of the primary roles of the church is to teach and encourage good thinking in matters of faith. To that end, we want you to know some of the basics of what we believe and teach here at The Village Chapel.

The Village Chapel is a non-denominational church family whose primary desire is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Therefore, we seek to live in right relationships with God, our neighbors and with each other.

1. We believe the basis of our fellowship with God is the grace, mercy, and forgiveness that God has shown to us through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. We believe that being an authentic Christian means living the life of the Spirit intentionally, fully integrating our faith with other areas of life.
2. We believe the basis of our fellowship with each other is God’s unconditional love which has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We believe the love of God is greater than any differences that exist between us and that we can only rightly claim to love God when we have also come to love those God loves.
3. We believe that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are members of the universal body of Christ and so we embrace the amazing riches of the teachings of historic Christianity. These teachings are based on the ancient scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments and are summarized in statements like The Apostle’s Creed and The Nicene Creed. While we are a non-denominational church, we see ourselves connected to all Christ-followers, everywhere. We embrace the old maxim: In the essentials – unity. In the non-essentials – diversity. In all things – charity.
4. We believe that God desires for all to know Him and has revealed Himself in a general way to everyone through the visible things He has made. Further, God has revealed Himself in specific ways through the ancient scriptures and through the historic person of Jesus Christ.
5. We believe that God is infinite yet personal – and so we call God both “Almighty” and also, “Our Father”. God is transcendent yet immanent – which means God is infinitely far above us but still as close as our very next breath. God is the sovereign Creator and sustainer of all things – which means He is the very answer to “Where did everything originally come from?” and “What holds everything together?”
6. We believe in the mystery of the divine trinity, that God is one in essence but three in personality. We believe that God has revealed Himself as: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (This is similar to, but not exactly like, the way   water, ice, and steam are different and yet all the same in substance, H2O.)
7. We believe that the historic person known as Jesus Christ is the focal point of the Christian faith. That He is mysteriously both God and human, that He was miraculously born of a virgin, that He lived a sinless life and paid the price for our sins by His substitutionary death on the Cross. We believe that three days later, on a specific day in space-time history, Jesus Christ rose from the grave. Later, He ascended back to heaven, was seated at the right hand of God the Father, and there He ever lives to make intercession for us.
8. We believe that after Christ ascended to Heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 1st century believers in Jerusalem, empowering them (and us by extension) to fulfill our Lord’s command to tell everyone we can about the good news of God’s grace and forgiveness through Jesus.
9. We believe in the truthfulness of the ancient Scriptures. Because the English language has been so fluid over the past several hundred years, and our language continually shifts in its meaning, there has been a need for a variety of translations of the Bible. But we believe that when interpreted, understood and applied correctly, the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God.
10. We believe that we are all sinners and selfish by nature, and our sin separates us from God. We believe this separation can be resolved only by God’s free gift of salvation, redemption, and forgiveness, which are offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person turns away from their sin and selfishness and accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save them, that person is born again and their salvation is sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person comes into a right relationship with God and can be assured they will spend eternity with the Lord.
11. We believe that, while we don’t know the precise sequence of events or the exact timing in history, the second coming of Christ will be both personal and visible. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and we believe that God will one day judge all who have ever lived. These truths serve to fill us with hope and motivate us to holy living, heartfelt worship, sacrificial service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship, and the sharing of the message of God’s grace with anyone and everyone we encounter.
12. We believe in the two sacraments instituted by our Lord:  Water Baptism and Communion. These serve as a means of grace in the life of all believers. The first, as an outward sign of an inward identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The second, as a demonstration of our receiving the cleansing atonement available through the broken body and spilled blood of Christ.
13. Finally, we believe that church government should be simple rather than a complex bureaucracy, and so we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us through our pastor(s) and an appointed Servant Leadership Council.