What We Believe

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 each other.

 

We embrace sturdy convictions based on the timeless truths of scripture, and so we study through books of the Bible. – Psalm 119:9-16 

We have been saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, and so we rest in God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 2:8

We believe in the mission of God the Father to redeem, restore and refresh all of his creation, by the work of his resurrected Son, and in power of the Holy Spirit, and so we seek to join God in his work throughout the earth. – Colossians 1:20

We desire to embody the Gospel in both word and deed, and so we are active in various local and international missions. – Matthew 28:18-20

We recognize that the way of faith is best realized in the shared life of community, and so we offer opportunities for belonging in Home Groups and other shared interest gatherings. – Acts 2:42

We delight to worship God in the beauty of His holiness, through all the means and ways that He provides, and so we gather for weekly corporate worship but believe that all of life is an opportunity for us to glorify God. – Psalm 29:2

We believe that prayer is an essential part of our life with God, and so we make time for prayer in our Sunday services, as well as throughout the week, offering to the Lord our praise and thanksgiving, confession and repentance, requests and needs. – Philippians 4:6 & 7

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, and so we make the love of God and grace of God visible. – 1 John 4:19

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.


  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 intentionally living the life of the Spirit, fully integrating our faith with all areas of life.
  2. We believe that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are members of the universal body of Christ and so we embrace the richness of historic Christianity. These teachings are based on the ancient scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments and summarized by confessions 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.”
  3. 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?”
  4. 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. 
  5. 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, is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and there He ever lives to make intercession for us.
  6. We believe that after Christ ascended to Heaven, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first century believers in Jerusalem, empowering them (and us, by extension) to fulfill our Lord’s command to share with everyone everywhere the good news of God’s grace and forgiveness through Jesus.
  7. 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.
  8. We believe that we are all sinners and selfish by nature, and our sin separates us from God. We believe this separation can be reconciled only by God’s free gift of salvation, redemption and forgiveness, which are offered through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  9. We believe that justification, the moment of our salvation, is the beginning of the life of faith, and that sanctification, the working out of our salvation, is a life-long process of learning to live in union with Christ.
  10. 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 share the message of God’s grace with anyone and everyone we encounter.
  11. We believe in the two sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ: 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 celebration of our receiving the cleansing grace available through the broken body and spilled blood of Jesus.
  12. 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 our appointed Servant Leadership Council.

TVC’s Missions, Goals, Vision

OUR MISSION: Why do we exist?

The Village Chapel exists to glorify God through the teaching of His word, through heartfelt worship, and by connecting people with opportunities to live lives of real significance, serving God and their neighbors as a local community of faith.

We frequently refer to the four facets of this mission as “The 4 W’s:”

  • Word – We hold a high view of Scripture which is our standard for belief and behavior. We study verse-by-verse through books of the Bible to ensure we benefit from the full counsel of God’s Word.
  • Worship – We seek to engage in worship that is God-focused, God-glorifying, passionate, and authentic. We gather to draw near to God, to catch a glimpse of His Majesty, and honor His name.
  • Witness – We desire to manifest the love of God in word and deed; to show concern for the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical needs of those around us. We desire to live out the gospel of grace through faith in Christ in such a way that others are drawn to believe.
  • Withness – We desire to be a church where relationship is more important than membership; where everyone feels a little less lost and a little more found.

OUR GOALS: What do we hope to accomplish?

To become a living platform for the love, truth, grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to be shared with the people of Nashville and the surrounding areas. To be a voice calling people to become members of the kingdom of God, to live under God’s loving authority and to reflect outwardly God’s justice, mercy and faithfulness.

A church that isn’t a desert but a stream in the desert

A church that is more like an organism than an organization, more like a movement than an institution, more like a family than a corporation, where people come more out of a sense of divine calling than dutiful membership

A church that reflects humility and respects honesty

A church that reaches the lost and renews the languishing

A church family that reaches out with the love and grace of God to minister to the needs of the entire person — spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, physically

The kind of church people might be surprised by

So, once again, we go back to the basics.

OUR VISION: What results do we hope to see?

  • More Worship of God
  • More Lives Transformed
  • More Kingdom Living

Water Baptism

What is the purpose of water baptism? What does it signify in the life of a believer? In the early church, baptism was used as a symbol of a person’s decisive and public stand as a Christian or, follower of Jesus Christ.

In water baptism, as we are immersed in the water, we are symbolically united with Christ in His death and burial. When we come up out of the water, we are symbolically united with Christ in His resurrection. Water baptism is a public declaration of our total identification with Christ. We are stating that we have died to our old sinful and selfish life and that we intend to walk in newness of life with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

When we baptize someone at The Village Chapel, it is an opportunity for that person to make a public declaration of their faith in Christ, which includes recognizing several things:

I confess that I am a sinner and I need a Savior. This expresses my understanding of the personal nature of my sin. I am aware not only that sin exists somewhere in the world, but that it exists in my heart too. I acknowledge that I have sinned and that my sin separates me from God. The effect of sin also separates me from others and, in some ways, even from myself. Because of my sin, I am unable to be the person God really wants me to be. Since I am powerless to save myself, I need to be rescued from this condition of selfishness. In Biblical terminology, I need a Savior.

I profess that I desire to turn away from my sin and toward God. The Bible calls this act “repentance,” and it simply means we desire to turn away from our sin and turn toward God. In so doing, I am saying I desire to put God in charge of my life. I have a desire to begin “walking” with God or living as God would live if He were me.

I declare that I have placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I am saying to any and all witnesses that I have placed my faith, hope and confidence in Jesus Christ. That as God’s love and grace have overwhelmed me, He has opened my eyes to understand the great news of salvation through Christ. I have responded by opening my heart to receive this free gift of salvation in Christ and I no longer depend on my own goodness or righteousness. I place my complete trust in what Jesus Christ has done when He died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and burst forth from the tomb, resurrected to a new life.

In ancient times of the early church, there is evidence that candidates for water baptism would sometimes recite the Apostle’s Creed as part of their profession of faith and decision to become followers of Jesus Christ. This creed is the oldest summary statement of the Christian faith. We encourage those being baptized here at The Village Chapel to take the time to both study and memorize “The Apostle’s Creed” as we may use it in the baptismal service.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day, He arose again from the dead. 
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.

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