OUR
VISION AND BELIEFS
At
Oasis Church, our mission statement is, 'Finding God's Way Together'.
Our goal is to create a real, culturally-relevant church experience
that is unique and life-changing. This is accomplished through public
worship, small group meetings, and individual worship throughout
the week. We also promote and encourage our members and guests to
simplify their lives and schedules.
Our
Beliefs
Christian
beliefs help us to find relevance in life as we seek to make sense
of our world. It is because of our beliefs that we are able to determine
the meaning and purpose of our life. The teachings of Christianity
move us from isolation to a place of belonging; they define our
actions as we seek to identify ourselves with Christ on a daily
basis; they teach us how to depend upon God; and they allow us to
see the world not through our eyes, but through God's eyes.
There
are many truths that make up our core beliefs:
The
Scriptures
The
Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the historical record of
God, actually written by man but inspired by God’s Spirit;
it contains no error in its original form. It is truth provided
for the believer as a tool to know the heart of God. It is given
as the source of supreme authority in our lives by which God reveals
his plan, his purposes and his will for all time.
God
There
is one and only one living and true God. He is intelligent, spiritual,
and personal. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver and Ruler of
the universe. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.
The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature,
essence or being.
God
the Father
God
as Father is the Giver and Sustainer of life, the seen and unseen.
He orders and directs all things according to His own purpose, pleasure
and grace. He is all loving, all just, all knowing, all wise and
all powerful. God is Father in truth to those who become children
of God through faith in Jesus Christ; however, He is fatherly toward
all men.
God
the Son
God
as Son is the perfect representation for the Father in human form.
He was born of a virgin and is fully human and fully divine. He
is equal with God the Father, but humbled himself by taking on the
form of a servant and became obedient to death on a cross. He lived
a sinless life and knew that it was only through the shedding of
His blood that He would be able to secure forgiveness and remission
of sins. He arose on the third day following His death as He declared
and now lives and reigns with the Father in glory awaiting His final
triumphant return.
God the Holy Spirit
God
as Holy Spirit applies the salvation Jesus Christ secured through
His death on the cross and convicts the world of sin and unrighteousness.
The Holy Spirit works in the life of each believer to produce godly
character qualities and demonstrates Himself, in the life of the
church, through special abilities given to each believer to carry
out the work of the church. He is Comforter, Teacher, Wisdom and
Counselor.
Humanity
Man
was created by a special work of God, in His image, and is the finest
of the Creation: God said, “It is very good!” Man was
created to enjoy fellowship with God and to fulfill God’s
will on earth. Man was created innocent but with a free choice,
whereby he sinned against God and fell from his original state.
As a result, all of mankind is spiritually dead and subject to the
certainty of both physical and spiritual death apart from Christ.
We also believe that because Christ died for all, every person is
worthy of respect in Christian love.
Salvation
When
Jesus died and rose again, he paid the debt for our sins. Christ
died in our place as payment in full for our sins. All who through
faith believe in Him find freedom from their sins. All who repent
and receive Jesus Christ by grace through faith become a new creation
in Christ Jesus. Salvation is the gift of God for all humanity and
is offered freely to all who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. He
shed His own blood for our sin that we might be rightly related
to God.
Grace
Grace
is the unmerited favor of God and shows us His goodness. All who
have accepted Christ and are set apart will never fall from grace,
but will endure the end. Believers may sin and grieve the Holy Spirit,
but they will be kept by the power of God.
Sin
Sin
is simply disobedience to God. When one becomes a believer, he is
free from sin’s penalty of death but not from sin’s
power. A battle rages within the believer between the physical and
spiritual natures. When the believer confesses sin, Christ forgives
and cleanses from sin. Sinning grieves the Holy Spirit, brings shame
on the cause of Christ, hinders a believer’s relationship
with God and others, and causes the believer to endure the consequences
of sin.
Church
The
church is a group of believers brought together by the Spirit of
God to carry out the Great Commandment (Mat 22:34-39) by practicing
the Great Commission (Mat 28:16-20) and observing the two ordinances
of the church – baptism and the Lord's Supper. Each church
is an autonomous body operating under the leadership of Christ as
the Head of the Church.
Baptism
Baptism
is an outward expression of an inward change that has occurred in
the life of the believer. It is our first act of obedience as Christians
and it identifies us with Christ by picturing his death, burial
and resurrection. It is, in fact, the first commandment a Christian
is given for the Lord Jesus. We believe that scriptural baptism
is only carried out through immersion, as this was the practice
of the first church.
The
Lord's Supper
The
Lord’s Supper is an opportunity for personal examination and
reflection as we observe the “Lord’s death until He
comes.” The bread and cup are symbols of His body and blood
which were broken and spilled out for our salvation and is done
in “remembrance” of Him until He comes again.
Worship
We
must see worship from two sides – adoration and service. Worship
is expressed by giving of yourself to God. This is done through
a heart of praise and adoration in reverence before God. It is expressed
in many ways: in song, in words, in actions, in prayer; openly and
privately. Worship is your opportunity to express the value of God
and how worthy He is. It is also expressed daily as we serve Him
with our lives. A willingness of heart to serve in genuine service
to God is an expression of worship.
Spiritual
Gifts
Ministering
as a disciple calls for us to know the will of God and to know our
own interests, resources, and skills. When we accept Christ as our
Savior, we are receive spiritual gifts that are to be used in and
through the church. We can discover our gifts by human tests and
analysis, but it is a spiritual knowledge revealed by God, the Creator,
and Giver of personal skills. Many Christians are in spiritual poverty,
unaware of the potential that God has given them. They are unaware
of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they have. They do not realize
the opportunity they have to be used to glorify God. Their potential
for Christian ministry is squandered. The needs of our world are
too great for us to allow any spiritual gift to be wasted. We encourage
those within our church to discover and use their gifts as they
serve Him.
