The Trinity

We believe that there is only one true God, eternally existing in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each is equal in every divine attribute, executing distinct but harmonious roles in the work of creation, providence and redemption. God is by nature a relational God who enjoys loving fellowship within the Godhead, and who extends a loving relationship to us through faith in Jesus Christ and in unity with the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:1-2; John 1:1-3; Isaiah 45:5; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

God the Father

We believe in God the Father, who is infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, immutable and perfect in holiness, wisdom, justice and love. We believe that He is a personal God and sovereign in the affairs of humanity and that, in His grace and mercy, He saves men and women from sin and death. (Psalm 139; Isaiah 40:28-31; Acts 17:24-31)

Jesus Christ the Son

We believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who became a man without ceasing to be God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. His life was sinless, and His death provided substitutionary atonement for the sins of humanity. We believe in His bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, and priestly intercession for all believers. (Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 7:22-28)

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who illuminates, indwells, sanctifies and empowers all believers until the day of redemption, providing each with various gifts for service and who is an abiding helper, teacher, guide and comforter. We believe He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. (John 14:16-17, 14:26, 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Ephesians 1:13-14)

About the Bible

We believe that the Bible is the divinely-inspired Word of God, wholly truthful and trustworthy, pointing to life in God through Jesus Christ. God and His Word are our supreme authority and sufficient for understanding all matters of faith, doctrine and conduct. Our only resource for critical discernment in this world is the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit as He helps us understand the Bible, our source of truth. Therefore, we view Scripture as foundational for all we do. It is a resource God has graciously provided us, containing the message to humanity that He Himself put forth. It is inerrant in the original documents as God inspired men to write its contents, and infallible in the sense that it contains nothing that would lead to error, falsehood, or untruth when soundly interpreted through the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 19:7-11; Matthew 5:17-18; Luke 24:44; John 5:39; Colossians 2:8; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12-13; 2 Peter 1:4-5, 1:20-21)

Angels & Satan

We believe in angels of God as well as fallen angels (demons) including Satan, who fell from favor with God to become the enemy of both God and humanity. We believe Satan exists and that he is the temporary ruler of this world. Satan is wholly evil and is a tempter and deceiver of humanity, blinding the unbeliever with spiritual darkness. We believe that believers have power through Christ over Satan and his host of demons who will eventually be judged and punished forever. (Isaiah 14:12-20; Luke 10:18-19; 2 Corinthians 11:14-15; Ephesians 6:10-18; Revelation 12:10-12, 20:10)

Humanity

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all of its dimensions, from conception through earthly death. We are therefore called to defend, protect and value all human life, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, married or single, young or old. We believe that all humanity is created in the image of God, male and female alike, but, due to disobedience against God’s good and just authority, has incurred a sinful nature. Since the fall of man through Adam, humanity has been sinful by nature and by choice, as well as subject to the power of Satan. We believe humanity has no power to change its fallen state, but can only be redeemed by the power of God, through Jesus Christ. Finally we believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior and attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Crossroads. (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 51:5, 139; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31; John 15:4-5; Romans 3:10-18, 3:23)

Gender

We believe both the image and roles of men and women flow from the essence of God’s Trinitarian identity. There is mutual submission within the Trinity even though there are differing roles within the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all equally and fully God, but each with different roles. Jesus submits to the Father and the Holy Spirit submits to both the Father and Jesus. We believe both Adam and Eve were created in God’s image being equal before God as persons and that the role distinctions within biblical manhood and womanhood were ordained by God as part of His creation before the fall, and were not a result of sin. Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15-25, 3:1-24; 1 Timothy 2:12-15) We believe Adam and Eve were created uniquely male and female. We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as biologically male or female when He knits them together in their mother’s womb. These two distinct and complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. We also believe that every man and woman is first and foremost defined by his or her natural birth. (Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 6:7-14, 26:39; John 5:19-29, 14:1-14, 14: 28, 17:20-21; Acts 1:6-8, 7:54-56; 1 Corinthians 15:24- 28; Ephesians 5:21-33; Revelation 4-5) We believe both the Old Testament and the New Testament reveal the equally high value and dignity created by God in the distinct roles of men and women within marriage and the church. (Genesis 2:18-24; Proverbs 5:15-19, 31:10-31; Mark 10:2-12; Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 11:1-13, 14:26-39; 1 Timothy 2:12-15, 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9)

Marriage

We believe the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a biological man and a biological woman who are married to one another. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage. (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:15-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 6:18, 7:2-5; Ephesians 5:22-33, Hebrews 13:4) We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and the use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matthew 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10) We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Reclamation Church as a local body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role (Matthew 5:16; Philippians 2:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22) model to the Reclamations’ members and community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Reclamation Church in any capacity, or who serve in Church leadership, agree to and abide by our Statements on Gender, Marriage and Morality

Salvation, Sanctification, Manifestation

We believe that salvation is the work of spiritual regeneration obtained only by the sovereign grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He offers forgiveness and eternal life to those who repent from their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. Furthermore, there is no meritorious effort of any kind that anyone can do to receive God’s gift of salvation. We believe that the Holy Spirit illuminates the heart of an unbeliever to seek God, and at the time of conversion, He indwells and seals the believer, guaranteeing the believer’s eternal inheritance as a child of God. We believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to sanctify, fill, and empower the believer. We believe that even though a believer experiences the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit at conversion, there is more for the believer. The sanctifying and empowering work of the Holy Spirit is experienced as one pursues the fullness of life in the Holy Spirit. We believe that alongside the pursuit of God and His mission the believer will manifest the fruits, gifts, and works of the Holy Spirit. We believe that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for the church today as they were for the early church. Finally, we believe that all people should seek to maintain a life-style free of those things that the Scriptures define as destructive to our life, realizing that the process of sanctification is just that, a process, and we should strive to grow in any areas that we are struggling. (John 1:28-29, 3:3-21, 11:25-26, 14:6; Acts 13:38-39; Romans 3:21-26, 10:9-13; Ephesians 1:1-14, 2:8-10; Acts 2:1-4, 2:37-39, 4:29- 31; 1 Corinthians 12-14)

Leadership

We are a non-denominational Christian Church. While recognizing the value of associating and cooperating with other groups of Christians and churches, we believe that the local Church should be governed by Elders from among the members. We have concluded that the Biblical model for church leadership is that Christ is the head of the Church, and local Elders are responsible to carry out His will in the local assembly of believers (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 5:17; Ephesians 5:23-25; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

Sacraments

We believe Jesus Christ instituted three sacraments that all believers are to observe: water baptism, communion, fellowship of the saints which flow from a healthy community committed to prayer and to worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe church is to be a house of prayer and worship going after God’s heart and presence so the church can be empowered to accomplish the mission God has given it. (Mark 11:17; Acts 1:12-14, 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 14) We believe water baptism symbolizes and identifies believers with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, bearing public testimony of their belief in Him. We believe in baptism by immersion after conversion. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 10:33, 10:43, 10:47-48; Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 3:12-17) We believe communion is a celebration of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross where the bread symbolizes His sacrificed body and the cup symbolizes the new covenant in His blood. As we partake in communion we celebrate His active presence while longing for His future return. (Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:7-38; 1 Corinthians 11:17-30)

The Last Things & The Church

We believe in the personal, imminent, earthly return of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom forever. We believe in the bodily resurrection and judgment of all humanity: believers to eternal life in the presence of God, and unbelievers to everlasting separation from God. (John 5:27-29, 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12; Revelation 20:11-15) We believe that the gracious free gift of salvation that comes through Jesus is equally offered to all peoples, and that all who belong to Christ are Abraham’s children and heirs to God’s promises. (2 Corinthians 1:20-22; Galatians 3:28-29; Ephesians 2:11-18)