The Bible

 

We believe the Bible—the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments—is entirely and directly from God through chosen human authors. The Bible at one time speaks with the authority of God and reflects the backgrounds, styles, vocabularies and personalities of the human authors. The Bible is the sole basis for what we believe and how we live.

The Bible is a practical book, given so every follower can know how to live; so every believer has the responsibility to develop the study skills and habits so he or she can know the Bible and apply it to their lives on a daily basis. The Bible is a spiritual book, so it is impossible to understand and personally apply without the personal and daily direction of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, the Bible is God’s message about Himself and what He is doing in this world. It is the only reliable explanation of our origins, history, present reality and future destiny as individuals and a race.

God the Father—

The Author of Salvation

 

We believe there is one God, Who has always existed in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit (the Trinity), each of Whom equally possess all the attributes of Deity and characteristics of personality. There is nothing God cannot do. He created the universe and everything in it out of nothing by speaking. It would cease to exist if He ceased to sustain it—in Him we live and move and have our being.

God the Father is the eternal first person of the Trinity. Every person was made to love God and worship Him with trusting obedience, but, the first man and women placed their wills above God’s will, deciding to play god instead of trusting Him, thus destroying our relationships with Him. God’s central purpose in history is redemption—to restore man’s relationship with Him that was destroyed by sin so we can love Him and enjoy Him forever. The first two chapters of the Bible tell the story of creation and the rest is dedicated to this story of redemption.

Jesus Christ—The Savior

Jesus Christ is God in a human body. He is 100% God and 100% man. Everything was created through Him, yet He entered creation to save us from our sins. Jesus came to Earth, conceived by the Spirit, born of the virgin, fully God and fully man and lived a life of perfect obedience to and dependence on God the Father. Because God became man He feels our feelings and knows our pain. He is a visible image of the invisible God—if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

Jesus said He did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus voluntarily sacrificed Himself on the cross to pay for the sins of all as a substitute and rose from the dead. God credits his righteous life as payment for sin to our “account” if we place our trust in Him alone, accept the gift of forgiveness and enthrone Him again as the leader of our lives. He went to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father. He now waits to take possession of this creation, which He has already purchased with His life’s blood.

The Holy Spirit—Our Helper

The Spirit is the eternal third person of the Trinity. He is not the force, but a person with a mind, will and emotions. The Spirit is also your real and personal Helper. He was sent into the world to teach and train every follower to work out salvation into the details of daily life. Jesus sent the Helper because we need help. Following Jesus is not hard, it is impossible. The Spirit will help us do the impossible if we let Him.

The Helper was sent to guide us, provide for us and change us. We are to keep in step with the Spirit’s guidance (follow) and keep being filled with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25 ; Ephesians 5:18 ). The filling of the Spirit is not getting something you did not have, it is God getting more of you. It is evidenced in many ways. Some will speak in tongues, which is a normal evidence of the filing of the Spirit, but not the norm or standard for all. The natural result of following and being filled is the fruit of the Spirit—becoming more and more like Jesus in character and lifestyle (Matthew 5-7; Galatians 5:22 ,23).

Sin and Salvation

God’s central purpose in history is to restore each of us to a personal relationship with Him. God made us to trust His leadership in our lives, but the first man and woman decided to play god instead of trusting Him, declaring themselves the leaders of their own lives. The bible calls this sin—not breaking rules, but declaring independence from God, setting up the “kingdom of me”. The result is broken relationships with God and with each other, characterized by shame and blame. Our sins, the individual actions normally identified as sin, are merely symptoms of that declaration of independence. Our hearts are now like a puzzle with the central piece missing. We try to lead our own lives and fill the empty place inside, but only a loving, dependent relationship with our Creator will fill the hole in our souls.

Our declaration of independence has ultimate consequences, death. Our sin creates a chasm between God and man that we cannot bridge no matter how good we are or how hard we try. Jesus came to bridge the gap, paying the price of sin, offering forgiveness as a gift. Salvation is completely a work of God’s free grace received by faith. It is not something to be earned by our effort in any form. We receive this gift when we surrender our lives to Jesus in trust for salvation and leadership.

Surrender (or repentance) is a personal confession of sin and need, turning to God as the leader of your life, and placing all trust for salvation in Jesus’ payment on the cross. There is no other way to heaven. Salvation brings forgiveness, complete and permanent acceptance by God as His child, His Spirit as a permanent companion living in our hearts and the guaranteed promise of heaven.

Grace

Grace is God’s work on our behalf. God is a God of grace (Exodus 34:6) and His grace does not stop when we are saved. To follow Jesus is to continue in God’s grace (Acts 13:43 ), grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18 ), be strengthened by grace (Hebrews 13:9; 2 Timothy 3:1), to steward the grace God puts in our lives (1 Peter 4:10 ). Followers must learn to recognize and work with God’s grace in their lives.

We believe only God’s grace can make real changes in our hearts and lives. Grace is the only real difference between the lifestyle of a follower and someone who does not believe. The alternative is “Do-Your-Best Christianity.” The lifestyle and character of a follower who set aside the grace of God don’t look much different from someone far from God.

Final Destiny

Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. Every person will rise again for judgment, which determines where each will spend forever. Unbelievers will be separated from God in hell as a result of their own rejection of Jesus and His free gift of salvation. Those who have accepted the gift of forgiveness and God’s leadership in their lives will spend forever in the presence of the Lord, where there is fullness of joy and pleasure beyond anything man has experienced or can imagine. “In the end there are only two kinds of people—those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘thy will be done.’” Hell, then, is simply the place where those who want existence free from their Creator’s involvement get their way.

The Church

The church is God’s only plan to complete His present work on Earth. The church has one clear mission to accomplish until Jesus comes back—to make more and better followers of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). The Bible uses at least seven images to portray the different facets of the role of the church on earth.

The Church is the Bride and

Jesus is the Groom

The church is like a bride, keeping ourselves pure and anticipating the day the groom comes back to take us to the new home He has prepared. As a bride keeps herself pure for her wedding day, our goal is to keep ourselves pure for the day we meet Jesus face to face. But experience proves we can’t become more like Jesus by trying harder. Jesus Himself, through His Spirit, washes us with the “water of the Word” to make us more and more like Him in our character and lifestyle. Our job is to fill up our hearts with God’s Word and obediently let the Spirit apply it to our lives (John 3:29 ; Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7; Matthew 5-7; Galatians 5:22,23).

Our goal as the bride of Christ is to know and do the Word.

The Church is the body and

Jesus is the head

The church is like a body. Jesus is the head and every member is a body part. The body will not function until every part is participating. Every member has the responsibility to discover his or her S.H.A.P.E., take his or her God-given place and grow in connection to the Head. Jesus gave leaders to the church to orchestrate this process of discovering, deploying and developing our gifts as a part of the body. (Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Ephesians 4:1-16; Colossians 1:18-24).

Our goal as a body—help every member discover his or her S.H.A.P.E. and find his or her place.

The Church is God’s Household,

Jesus is the Master

The church is like a large household, and members are the many servants needed to make the household run well. At present time, the master of the house is away, but could return any day. Our goal is to be found doing an excellent job of leading and managing the household when He returns. Jesus’ return to earth will be without warning, so we do His business with the knowledge we may give an account today. Our goal is to be prepared for His return by making Northlake a well-run organization with excellent leadership and administration in all areas (Luke12:35-48; Galatians 6:10).

Our goal as God’s household– Northlake carrying out God’s purposes as an excellently administered and lead organization, a place we can be proud of when Jesus returns.

The Church is God’s family,

Jesus is the Firstborn Son

The church is a family. God has permanently adopted us as His children. He has even infected us with His DNA (1 John 3:8,9). Now we need to learn to be a loving, healthy family. The Bible’s word for family is community. Community is oneness, built one loving and healthy relationship at a time. Jesus said community would cause people far from God to put their faith in Jesus (John 17:20 , 21; Ephesians 3:15 ).

Our goal as God’s family – Build a Biblically functioning community, one healthy relationship at a time.

The Church is a Temple ,

Jesus is the Cornerstone

The church is the temple of God , where He is worshipped. But this temple is not a physical building; the temple is the people. Our building is simply the place where the church gathers. Our worship is not external (although that is part of it), but the very lives we live. Every follower is a living stone in that God is carving through our circumstances and experiences to be a perfect fit in the church. Jesus is the cornerstone that holds us all together (Ephesians 2:19 -22; 1 Peter 2:4-6).

Our goal as a temple – let God shape us as individuals and a church so that our day to day life is an act of worship that shows God off.

The Church is God’s Kingdom,

Jesus is the King

(Matthew 3:2; 24:14; Acts 20:25; 28:23; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Colossians 1:13,14)
Our goal as God’s kingdom—let the will of our king direct our efforts.
The Church is God’s flock, Jesus is the Chief Shepherd
(John 10:1-18, 25-28; Acts 20:28, 29; 1 Peter 5:1-3) Our goal is care.
Our goal as the flock— shepherd every member as the Good Shepherd does
The Church is the Branch and Jesus is the Vine
(John 15:1-10; Galatians 5:22,23)
Our goal as a branch—depend on Jesus to produce the fruit.