Our Mission Statement:
Poplar Creek Church exists to create a people with whom God can fellowship, who reflect his glory and are being transformed in his image.
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Statement of Core Beliefs
Poplar Creek Church does not have a statement of faith to which participants in our ministry must agree. In addition, we are not aligned with any particular denominational philosophy, creed or confession. Our spiritual health and consistency is guided and governed by several Shepherds (Elders) on whose spiritual maturity and experience we depend to stay Biblically centered. But in order to gain a sense of who we are, the following core Biblical values are explained. These constitute the guiding principles of our teaching. |
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Click here to download a .pdf of the core beliefs document
(.pdf reader required) |
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Core Beliefs
The Bible: Our Source of Truth
..We are committed to Bible-based teaching and application. We believe the Bible is God’s self-revelation and is the only valid external authority for life decisions and a true story of God’s actions and interactions with people.
God: Real, Relevant and Royal
We believe in an omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present at all times and places) and immutable (eternally unchanging) God, revealed in three persons: God the Father who created all things, Jesus the son who redeems all believers, and the Holy Spirit who empowers and sustains the believer.
Jesus: the Central Figure of History
We are rigidly focused on the centrality of Christ, His divine nature, His saving purpose and His role as Savior and Lord in the life of those who believe in him. We recognize his incarnate birth, his perfect life, atoning death on the cross, resurrected presence and promised return.
Holy Spirit: Gifted, Directed and Growing
We hold that the Holy Spirit, who, as an integral part of faith, drives our gifted nature, directs our personal growth and sustains a living faith.
the Hope: Getting Right with God
We teach that all people have sinned and that reconciliation to God comes through trusting in Jesus, accepting his sacrifice as a substitution for our own and trusting in his mediation for us before the throne of heaven and that such believers share the promise of eternal life with God.
Baptism: A Celebration of Union
We practice believers baptism by immersion, a celebratory declaration of a person’s unity with Christ, evidenced in this ‘living picture’ of the death, burial and resurrection. (For more on baptism click here.)
Communion: Celebration of Community
We honor the divinely instituted practice of communion and offer it openly for all people who consider themselves part of God’s family. Our current practice is to share once a month in corporate worship and weekly in a more private setting.
Prayer: Calling on God’s Power
We believe that God can and does work miracles and answers prayer. We encourage a life of spiritual disciplines including prayer, Bible intake, journaling, spiritual mentoring, faith-building stewardship, corporate and personal worship, fellowship and evangelism. These disciplines, when integrated into the Christian life will spur growth, develop maturity and deepen faith.
Opinion: Tolerance in Diversity
We have a great deal of tolerance for people’s honestly held theological opinions and recognize they will sometimes differ. For example, we do not take a rigid millennial position and leave room for the variety of positions that godly, saved people may take. While some are passionately convicted of their own positions, often those positions may conflict with views held by other godly, saved people. Such things should not be a test of fellowship. We have no tolerance in compromising the person of Jesus as Savior and Lord.
We strive to find areas of common ground in Christ, rather than focusing on things which separate us. We resist labeling and would avoid using current religious/cultural terms such as dispensational, fundamental, charismatic, or evangelical to define ourselves, although individuals within our fellowship may define themselves in any of these ways.
We are happiest defining ourselves with Bible terms, most particularly as Christians. We recognize and embrace the inclusiveness this represents rather than staking our ground on the perimeters of a narrowly defined historical position, creed or denominational statement of faith.
While the people of God are set apart from the world as light is to darkness, there exists a broad spectrum within the light and we aspire to this broad-spectrum Christianity. |
