About Southern Acres Christian Church
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The Bible is the Word of God- "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
2 Timothy 3:16
We believe the Bible is our source of authority. Not the church, not human reason, not universities, statistics or the pope. The Bible is our instrument panel - even when we experience spiritual vertigo - the Bible is God's Word and it is truth. Jesus said, "Father sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth." John 17:17
Man was created by God- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3
When you see design, you know there's a designer behind it. God made the world and everything in it. You are not an evolutionary accident - you are here by divine intent - and your Creator has a purpose and a hope for your life.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalms 19:1
Man has an inherent sin nature- "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature." Romans 7:18
People are capable of doing good. We're not totally depraved. But when Adam and Eve sinned, they contaminated us all. We are all infected with a sin virus that is terminal. Inside each of us is a sinful nature that finds sin appealing and attractive. We must guard against our sinful proclivities but ultimately Jesus Christ is the only one who can deliver us. When we give our life to Him and are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we receive forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the power we need to conquer our inclinations.
Jesus was born of a virgin- "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14
Jesus is God in the flesh- "For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him ... He was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." John 5:18
Jesus was not just a good man or a great teacher of wisdom who taught about loving your neighbor. He was God in the flesh. He proved it by performing miracles that no man could perform. He was both man and God. He cried, got hungry, slept, and bled. But He also walked on water and calmed the storm. And in the greatest example He died on the cross and then rose from the dead.
Jesus died in our place- "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21
On the cross Jesus took all of our sin upon Himself and died for it. Isaiah 53 says, "God laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived a sinless life; because He was sinless, He was counted worthy to be a sacrifice once and for all for the sins of the world. When He died on the cross He literally died for our sins. It is our choice to accept His sacrifice as payment for our sins by accepting Him as Lord and Savior.
Jesus physically raised from the dead- "But God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen...by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." Acts 10:40-41
When Jesus died on the cross, He was buried in a tomb and raised to life on the third day. It was not just His spirit - He rose bodily. After Jesus was raised, He met the two on the road to Emmaus and shared a meal with them. He invited Thomas to touch His nail scarred hands. He was raised in the flesh with a new resurrection body that we as believers are promised one day, too.
There is a literal heaven and a literal hell- "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
We believe that when a person dies, he or she will go to either heaven or hell based upon the most important decision of their life: accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior. Good works will not save us. We are saved by faith alone in Jesus. Those who are washed in the atoning blood of Christ's sacrifice, symbolized by immersion in baptism, will be assured eternal life in heaven.
"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
Jesus is coming back to Earth as He promised- "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God..." 1 Thessalonians 4:16
Jesus promised that one day He would return to earth the same way He left it. He would come on the clouds. And He is coming again. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9
