Our Beliefs
Statement of Faith
At LifePark we believe that every person was created on purpose, for a purpose. God designed each of us with intention — not just to exist, but to live in deep connection with Him and with others. We also believe we were made for community and we were made to grow in our faith. And deep down, we all carry a longing to make a difference — to be part of something bigger than ourselves by serving and loving others. Through Scripture, God clearly calls us to this mission: To love Him, to love people, and to lead others to follow Jesus. This is the heart of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission — and it’s the heartbeat of our church. Click a topic below to learn more specifics.
We believe the sixty-six books that comprise the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are the inspired (God-breathed) words of God and are the final authority for all believers in their faith and practice. All Scripture originated with God and was given through holy men who were "moved by the Holy Spirit." We believe this divine inspiration extends equally to all parts of the writings as they appeared in the original manuscripts. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. We believe Scripture is able to "make you wise for salvation" and is useful for "teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."
(Exodus 24:4; Psalms 19:7-10; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
We believe that there is one true and living God and that He is the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present supernatural being who created all things and has eternally existed in three persons—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—though He is one. This tri-unity, or Trinity, of God means that all three are equal and possess identical attributes without confusion or loss of essence and are therefore all worthy of praise and adoration. Ultimately, God is sovereign over all His creation and is intimately involved with it.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:17-20; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
We believe that Jesus Christ was and is the eternal second person of the Trinity. He is God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary, a virgin. He is both fully man and fully God. Though a man, He lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to the Father's will and demonstrated His power and divinity through the miracles He performed on earth. Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all men by dying on a cross—a sin offering which both satisfied God's justice and opened up the way for man to enter into a living and eternal relationship with God. After His literal death, Jesus experienced a bodily resurrection on the third day after his crucifixion. After a period of teaching His disciples, He ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father and acts as our High Priest and Advocate. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
(Matthew 1:20; John 1:1-4, 14; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 12-34; Hebrews 9:28)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is, and always has been, fully God and the third person of the Trinity. He is God's presence on earth today and works in both the lives of believers and unbelievers. As to unbelievers, He convicts them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. As to believers, He regenerates them, indwells them, sanctifies them, baptizes them into the body of Christ upon conversion, seals them as a guarantee of their salvation and empowers them to live the Christian life. In addition, He reveals truth, guides, teaches, intercedes, comforts, strengthens, distributes spiritual gifts and empowers believers for effective witness.
(Genesis 1:2; John 4:24; John 14:16-17,26; John 15:26; John 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 12:3-11,13)
We believe that man (generic for male and female) is a special creation of God and has been made in His image. As such, every human being has great worth and value. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and endowed by his Creator the freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Since then, the entire human race has been sinful by nature and is therefore justly condemned by God. Alone, man is completely unable to merit salvation. Only through faith in Christ can man obtain the righteousness that God requires and thereby establish his relationship with God. Upon death, a believer, as a disembodied soul, goes into the immediate presence of Christ and awaits the resurrection of his spiritual body. However, the unbeliever, also as a disembodied soul, enters into a conscious state of misery and awaits the final judgment, after which he will be eternally separated from God.
(Genesis 1:26-30, Genesis 2:15-17; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:1-3; James 1:14-15)
We believe that the only way of salvation is through the shed blood of Christ to all who believe. This salvation does not come about because of a man's works, but because of God's grace. From the individual's perspective, this happens because he repents (chooses to follow Christ and not himself) and places his total trust (faith) in Christ and His finished work upon the cross. Upon making this decision, the believer receives the Holy Spirit and becomes a child of God. Christ's death fully pays the penalty for all of a believer's sin (past, present, and future) as God credits him with the righteousness of Christ. This whole transaction transforms the man into a new creation of God for a life of holiness and obedience.
(John 3:16–18, John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:21-26; 1 Timothy 2:5-6)
We believe that the term church as used in the Scriptures refers to both the universal church and the local church. The universal church is comprised of all believers of all time while the local church is a local expression of the universal church—comprised of believers who voluntarily gather together to accomplish God's work in this world. The purpose of the Church is to glorify Christ by making disciples of all nations. Christ is the head of the Church and, as such, guides it, directs it, holds it together, and causes it to grow. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In its true form the Church is comprised of believers only—meaning that only believers are eligible for membership. The role of the members is to use their spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ. The task of the leadership of the Church is to equip believers for works of service and to seek with all their energy to present every member complete in Christ.
(Matthew 16:15-19; Matthew 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18)
Future Things
We believe that God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all people in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of eternal punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell in Heaven with the Lord forever.
(Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 1:11, Acts 24:15; Revelation 1:18; Revelation 3:11; Revelation 20:1-22:13)
The Family
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage and family life. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
(Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:15-25; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4; 1 Peter 3:1-7)
Baptism and The Lord's Supper
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in Christ, death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Through examination by pastoral staff, baptism shall be administered to those who have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. The mode shall be by immersion in water unless physical limitations exist.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It shall be observed at least quarterly or at such other times as the Senior Pastor and/or the presiding elders shall determine.
(Matthew 26:26-30; Acts 2:41-42; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in Christ, death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Through examination by pastoral staff, baptism shall be administered to those who have trusted Christ as Lord and Savior. The mode shall be by immersion in water unless physical limitations exist.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby believers, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. It shall be observed at least quarterly or at such other times as the Senior Pastor and/or the presiding elders shall determine.
(Matthew 26:26-30; Acts 2:41-42; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage and family life. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.
(Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:15-25; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4; 1 Peter 3:1-7)
We believe that God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all people in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of eternal punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell in Heaven with the Lord forever.
(Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 1:11, Acts 24:15; Revelation 1:18; Revelation 3:11; Revelation 20:1-22:13)
