About Community Temple Church Of God In Christ
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At Community Temple Church Of God In Christ, Jacksonville in Illinois, we believe in The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Spirit. Three in one. That is, God the Father: Eternal. Creator. Loving. Life wouldn't exist without Him. Jesus: The only Son of God. He died on the cross for our sins. He rose from the dead. We can have eternal life through Him. And The Holy Spirit: God is active in the world through His spirit. God gives His spirit to live inside of those who follow Jesus. We live in a universe that's been created and designed by God. God allows evil to exist because He allows free will to exist. Everyone has been separated from God because of sin. We all need to be saved. God offers salvation through Jesus. Anyone who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior can receive salvation. We take the Lord 's Supper every week. This is a time we come together to remember Jesus and what He has done for us. Be ready, friends. Jesus will return and we won't know when. Heaven and Hell are real. Anyone who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior can have eternal life in Heaven. Everyone else will be eternally separated from God in Hell.
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness - for himself and all his progeny - by falling into sin through Satan's temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death-apart from God's own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
About Jesus Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son and was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, was resurrected from death, and ascended to heaven where he sits at the Father's right hand. We believe that Jesus will come again to claim his bride, the church. (John 3:16; Matthew 1:18; Romans 5:6-11; John 20:24-31)
About Separation of Church and State: We believe that each local church is self-governing, and must be free from interference by any external ecclesiastical or political authority; that every human being is ultimately responsible to God in matters of faith and life; and that each person is free to worship God according to the dictates of his/her conscience. We further believe that governments are established by God; that Christians, as good citizens, should be subject to governing authorities insofar as possible, recognizing our greater allegiance to God and His kingdom in matters wherein human authorities conflict with clear, biblical mandates.