About God

God is an uncreated spirit who is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has always existed in three personalities: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God.

Genesis 1:1,26,27,3:22; Psalms 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14

About the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men by dying on a cross. He rose again alive after being dead three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He is the Head of the church and the way to God and eternal life. He went to heaven and "sits at the right hand of God" and will return to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Matthew 1:22,23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5, 14:6-30; Hebrews 4:14,15; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Romans 1: 3,4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13

About the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. The Christian seeks to live under His control daily.

2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13, 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:1

About Communication from God

The Bible is God's message to all people. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. We believe God also communicates through the Holy Spirit, prayer, other believers and His church, but these will never contradict truth which God has already communicated through the Bible.

2 Timothy 1:13, 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Psalms 119:105,160; 12:6; Proverbs 30:5

About being Human

Humans are made in the image of God. Mankind is the supreme object of God's creation. Although man has tremendous potential for good, he is marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called sin. This attitude separates man from God. Humans will only reach their highest potential by being reconciled to God.

Genesis 1:27; Psalms 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1,2

About Salvation

Salvation is being right with God. It means having your sins forgiven rather than punished. It means experiencing grace and mercy rather than condemnation. It means that God's Spirit lives within you and helps you realize your full God-given potential. It means you will enjoy living with God forever in heaven after you die. Salvation is God's free gift to everyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus.

Matthew 5:3-11; Romans 5:1, 6:23; Titus 3:5; John 14:1,2

About Becoming A Christian

Man can never make up for his sin by self-improvement or doing good deeds. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness can man be saved from sin's penalty which is death. The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Therefore to become a follower of Christ, one needs to admit to God that he or she is a sinner in need of God's grace and forgiveness. He or she needs to pledge in faith that they desire to stop sinning and start living like Christ. Through faith one must accept that Jesus paid the wages of sin by dying for them on the cross and that Jesus demonstrated His power to save by coming back from the dead. The Bible also teaches that those who believe are to be "buried with Christ in baptism" and raised to live a new life as a Christian. (In the Bible, every time a person accepted Christ he was baptized - submerged under water - as soon as possible. Since the Bible is our guide, we follow the same practice).

John 14:6; Acts 2:38; Romans 5:1-2, 6:1-7; Ephesians 2:8,9; Colossians 2:12; Titus 3:5-7; Galatians 3:26-27

About Living as a Christian

The Christian life is the best way to live. God desires for people to live the highest quality life possible. When a person becomes a Christian their hearts are changed and they desire to live for God and live under the direction of Jesus Christ as Lord. We begin a long process of getting rid of sin and becoming more like Jesus. This process of change and liberated living is only possible through God's power at work within us. So we seek to practice a daily dependence on God's Spirit to enable us to do what is right. It is as we discover and live out God's will for us that we experience true significance.

Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 5:1-18; 2 Corinthians 5:17

About the Church

The Church is a divinely instituted body, given the mission of strategically and effectively pursuing God's purpose on earth. Each local church is to be a community of believers who are living out kingdom values. The church is God's primary means of bringing His people to spiritual maturity and equipping them for the work of ministry. The church is a gathering place for love, support, encouragement, service, worship, growth, and mission with people who share a common bond in Christ.

Matthew 16:18, 22:34-40, 28:18-20; Acts 1:8, 2:42-47; Ephesians 4:11-16

About the Christian Mission

Jesus is the light of the world. Christians are commissioned to let the light shine to everyone. It is both the privilege and the responsibility of every Christian to share the Good News about Jesus with other people. We practice sharing about Christ and inviting our friends and neighbours to church.

Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15; John 15:5

About Temporary Things and Eternal Things

People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life.

John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15

We value people

We are a community that seeks to love all people as Christ loved us while we were and are completely undeserving. As a result we highly value both "churched" and "unchurched" people; Christian and non-Christian. We are driven by the Good News of Jesus Christ, and by God's love for every human being.

We are a grace-filled community

Thanks to Jesus' perfect life, His crucifixion and resurrection, we celebrate and live the Christian life not as performance for God but as the enjoyment of God. This enables us to live as honest and authentic human beings who are simultaneously "sinful before God" and "justified by God." We welcome all people to join us in the liberated life, that "in ourselves we are more sinful that we ever dared to believe, but in Christ we are more loved than we ever dared to hope."

We are a biblically-functioning community

We accept the Bible as the Word of God and the foundation for the way we live and minister. We will communicate the Scriptures with intelligence, Christ-centeredness and contemporary application. We will provide preaching and Christian education that reflects personal relevance, biblical integrity and creativity.

We are a contemporary New Testament community

As a church connected to the historic faith, we submit to Christ's mandate that the church be faithful to His timeless and unchanging truths. As a church connected to our modern world, we guarantee every attender relevance over tradition, effectiveness over party or denominational allegiance, and pastoral care over inflexible programming.

We are an unchurched-culture community

We view our city and our world as our mission field and ourselves as a mission outpost. Our love for God and people motivates us to interact with our culture. We invite skeptics, seekers, and people of all religions to participate with us in meaningful and creative worship, and to freely explore the claims of Christ. To this end, we will provide an environment that will promote sensitive and unintimidating discovery.

We are community-centered

We are committed to doing good in our community. We want our city to be enriched by our presence and to rejoice that we are here. Through our verbal witness we will carry God's message of hope to our neighbourhoods. Through acts of mercy we will bring hope to the hopeless, be a family to those who are alone, pray for healing over the sick, meet the needs of the hurting, and offer help for the oppressed. Created in the image of God, everyone will be received with acceptance and dignity.

We are a vision-driven community

Decisions of ministry are made on the basis of vision, not on the basis of consensus. We believe in encouraging a prayer-guided faith that is willing to take bold risks. We will be intentional in the implementation of the vision through a process of strategic planning.

We value excellence

We believe that service to Christ merits excellence in everything we do. We will do all that we do as "unto Christ."

We are a community of "every-member ministry"

The Church is a divinely instituted body, given the mission of strategically and effectively pursuing God's purpose on earth. Each local church is to be a community of believers who are living out kingdom values. The church is God's primary means of bringing His people to spiritual maturity and equipping them for the work of ministry. The church is a gathering place for love, support, encouragement, service, worship, growth, and mission with people who share a common bond in Christ.

We value prayer

We believe that God has called us to be people of prayer. The leadership must embrace and live this value. We are committed to creating an environment which promotes spiritual growth and deepening intimacy with God. Prayer builds our faith and character. It reminds us of who God is. It promotes a spirit of faith, humility, integrity and Christ-like character in all areas of service.

We are a church-planting church

From the outset we lift high the Great Commission to go and make disciples and the Great Commandment to love both God and neighbour. We believe that church planting facilitates these values. We will be supporters, senders and starters of new churches in the Greater Toronto Area. We will engage in identifying and equipping pastoral leaders to establish daughter churches in unreached or under-reached communities and cultures.