Central desires to know God and make Him known.
Who Is God?
The Bible teaches that God is the Creator of the universe and the Sustainer and Lord of our lives.
He has eternally existed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three are coequal and are one God.
Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:22
Psalm 90:2
Matthew 28:19
2 Corinthians 13:14
What About Jesus?
Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus Christ is the one and only living Son of God and Savior. Through Him, God opened the way to abundant and eternal life through His death, burial, and resurrection to all who call on Christ's name.
Matthew 1:22, 23
Isaiah 9:6
John 1:1-5
Hebrews 4:14-15
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Romans 1:3-4
Acts 1:9-11
Colossians 2:9-10
1 Timothy 6:14-15
Who Is The Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit lives in each Christian from salvation.
The Holy Spirit is God himself encouraging, guiding, and transforming us in the way of Christ.
The New Testament teaches the ministry of all believers, recognizing that the Holy Spirit gives various gifts to members of the body so that every member can make a contribution to the effective ministry of the entire church. We are, therefore, a Spirit-filled church seeking to do God's will and to become more like His Son, Jesus Christ. While we do not presume to dictate one's private worship practices, we have agreed that for the sake of the unity of the body, in our public worship and other sanctioned church meetings, we will not teach or practice what is commonly called speaking in tongues.
Acts 1:8
John 14:16-17, 16:7-13
Galatians 5:25
1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16
Ephesians 1:13
2 Corinthians 13:14
1 Peter 1:2
The Bible
The Bible is the inspired written Word of God. It is the authoritative rule of faith and practice for Christians and the Church.
Jesus instituted a new covenant with God that succeeded and transcended His former covenant with the People of Israel; hence we accept the Old Testament as preparatory to the New and we rejoice that we are related to God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and not through Law.
2 Timothy 3:16
2 Peter 1:20-21
Psalm 119:105, 160, 12:6
Proverbs 30:5
Isaiah 55:11
Salvation
Salvation is God's free gift to us, but we must accept it.
We can never make up for our sins by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin's penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.
Romans 6:23
Ephesians 2:8-9
John 14:6
Romans 5:1, 5:8, 10:9-10
People will exist eternally with or without God.
We've been 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 in Heaven. Heaven and hell are real places of eternal existence.
John 3:16, 14:17
Romans 6:23
Revelation 20:15
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 25:31-34, Matthew 25:41
Church Membership
Central Christian Church does not require that members subscribe to a formal creed. In a very real sense, “we have no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.” The twin basis of our unity is our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and our adherence to the Bible as the inspired text for our teaching and the sufficient constitution for governing congregational life.
We are a free and independent church under Christ. Guided by a board of elders, we determine our own policies and practices in light of biblical expectations, and we voluntarily cooperate with other Christian groups in fulfilling our Lord's Great Commission.
To be called a member here at Central, one must be a believer in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God, be willing to repent of sin and surrender to His lordship, confess this faith before others, obey Him in Christian baptism, and continue in faithful discipleship.
Central Christian Church does not require that members subscribe to a formal creed. In a very real sense, “we have no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible.” The twin basis of our unity is our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and our adherence to the Bible as the inspired text for our teaching and the sufficient constitution for governing congregational life.
Unity
We seek a unity of understanding in the essentials of our faith, yet we do not suggest that we must agree on all things pertaining to our walk-in Christ. On many issues, we have the freedom to disagree. We do ask, however, that all who accept and hold a leadership or teaching position in CCC respect the following guidelines and resist any temptation to use their position as a forum from which to teach other views. Unity in the body depends upon harmony and mutual trust in the leadership.
Baptism
We practice baptism of the repentant believer by immersion in water. There is nothing magical in the water. However, we do believe it is such an important first act of obedience that we require it for membership. Jesus and the New Testament writers talk of its importance so much that we ask our people to show us and God that they are serious about their commitment.
And we do immersion baptism because that's the way Jesus did it, the NT church did it, and we are commanded to do it. Jesus told us in our Great Commission to "go and teach and make disciples and immerse" (Matt. 28:18 - literal Greek translation).
Matthew 3:16-17, 28:18-20
Acts 2:41, 8:12
Romans 6:4
Colossians 2:12
Prayer
We are a praying church. We daily lift before God fervent prayers of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and petition.
Communion
We celebrate the Lord's Supper at each worship service, as we find the New Testament Christians did. In partaking of the bread and the wine, we remember our Lord's sacrifice for us and we strengthen our relationship with Him.
Missions
All persons of all races have been created in the image of God and stand in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The church exists to serve the world. Therefore we send evangelists to rescue the perishing world. Therefore we participate in efforts to improve community life. We want to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, offer hospitality to the stranger, clothe the naked, minister to the sick, and visit the imprisoned as Jesus has instructed.
We are a mission-minded church. We send and support evangelist and benevolent missions throughout the world. We encourage our finest people to accept the call to a greater Kingdom service, and we support them through generous mission offerings.
Giving
God expects wise management of our money and other resources in both our personal and our congregational lives. We encourage the tithe (ten percent) as the minimum the Bible teaches us to return to the Lord. In fact, we understand the governing principle to be that everything we are and have belongs to God. We do not hesitate to teach principles of Christian stewardship, agreeing with Jesus that "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." - Matthew 6:21