Bridgeview Community Church

BRIDGEVIEW COMMUNITY CHURCH
STATEMENT OF FAITH:



We believe that the Nicene creed lays out a simple yet straightforward understanding of the necessary beliefs of a Christian.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day He rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

Salvation:
A. Justification- We believe we are justified completely through the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross 2000 years ago. We believe we receive that forgiveness by God’s unearned favor towards us. Ephesians 2:8-9 say “ For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast”
B. Sanctification- We believe we are sanctified through Christ’s death and resurrection. God sees us as perfect through the lens of the cross (Heb 10:10). Here on earth we are being sanctified through His word ( Eph 5:26), and through the leading of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:16). We are being transformed into what God sees us as already being.
C. Glorification- We believe this is a work already accomplished before the foundation of the earth (Rom 8:30). Yet this is an event, which can only be enjoyed in fullness when we step into eternity (Rom 8:15-19)

Works:
We believe works are a byproduct of a relationship with God. Eph. 2:10 tells us that “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” God has prepared work for us to do, and as we are led by Him, He enables us to do them. Works don’t prove we are saved but are naturally a fruit of those who are saved (Jam 2:17)

Communion:
We believe that communion is to be taken often (1 Cor 11:26). We believe it is a celebration of God’s love and the work of our Savior. We believe the bread represents Christ’s body and the “power over sin” that we have been given through Christ. We believe the wine represents Jesus blood and the fact that Jesus has also delivered us from the “penalty of our sin”. I believe God takes it serious and wants us to give it worth from our hearts (1 Cor 11:27-30)

Worship:
We believe worship is a byproduct of a loving relationship with a loving God. It can take various forms. It is the offering of our bodies for God’s pleasure and purpose (Rom 12:1). It is the “fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” (Heb 13:15) It can be in song, works, giving, and many more things that we do to show our love for God.

Baptism:
We believe baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality. As a person is laid to rest under the water it is the expression of the death of our lives apart from Christ. As a person is raised again from the water it expresses to all those who witness that we have been raised up into a new life in Christ. (Rom 6:3-13) We choose baptism by immersion in following the model of Christ’s example (Mk 1:10) and in identifying with His death and resurrection. We only baptize those who are able to make a clear profession of faith in Christ and therefore do not practice Pedo-baptism and hold to a Credo-baptist theology.

The Holy Spirit:
We believe there are three ways the Spirit works in a life.
A. To the unbeliever- The Holy spirit is with them convicting of sin, righteousness,
and the judgment to come. (Jn 16:8-11)
B. To the believer-
1-The Holy Spirit is in them to bring comfort, direction, and power over
sin. (Jn 14:16-18, Jn 16:13-15, Jn 20:21-23)
2- The Holy Spirit comes upon them to empower them for ministry.
(Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1-4)

Marriage:
We believe marriage is a unique covenant relationship between a man and a woman. It has it's origin in Gen 1:26 when God created the first man in His "image". We believe it was God's intention to create man as a whole person and then divide him and create two sexes from the one man. We believe God created the sexes to magnify His divine attributes and accentuate both His masculine and His feminine qualities. We believe therefore that marriage is to be reflective of the entire glory of God and can only truly be revealed in a marriage between a man and a woman. Furthermore, We believe that both the New (Rom 1:22-32, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:10) and Old Testament (Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13) make reference to the sinfulness of homosexuality and the fact that those who live in this lifestyle are considered by God to be unrepentant. Therefore while the ever changing world may recognize homosexual relationships as socially acceptable, as are other sins, the church that believes the bible should not. We do not however, believe that homosexuality should be treated any different than any other sin in the bible. Knowing this, we believe that God has called the church to love sinners of every sort and call them to repentance that they might receive God's gift of salvation and become a part of the community of faith.

Life:
We believe life begins at conception (Jer 1:5) and is a holy gift from God that should not be wasted. Therefore premature destruction of human life oversteps the limits of man's authority (Deut 32:39) and destroys the gift of life God has given. We also believe that there is an appointed time to die (Heb 9:27, Ecc 3:2) and that death is a natural part of life. We believe that only God has the authority to determine the moment that death should occur (except in the case of officers of government Rom13:1-7) and that man clearly oversteps his bounds when he makes that decision. We believe therefore that murder, suicide, abortion, and euthanasia are all sinful failures on the part of men to place their trust in an infinitely wise God.

Structure in the community of faith:
We believe that the church is not the financial organization that is recognized by the state, nor is it the building that the people go to in order to worship God. We believe that the church consists of all those who have trusted in Jesus' substitutionary work on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension to the throne of God from which He now rules as King over His Kingdom. We believe therefore that:

The church is not Bridgeview or another individual church group but, the body of Christ or "universal church". It is however locally expressed in a variety of "churches" within a community. The efforts then put forth in the bylaws are aimed at the purpose of providing the business structure for a church governed by elders. We believe that this is the model presented from God's word. Being persuaded that it is such, leaves us no other alternative but to do what we believe God has designed us to do. We just want to serve Jesus.


The Structure of the Church-
Our elders believe that the head of the Church is not the pastor, the elders, or the congregation but the one sitting on the throne. Jesus. This leads us to therefore ask the question, "If Jesus is on the throne ruling over His church how does He do that?

We answer it in a few ways.

1- The Word

Jesus rules over His church by the written revelation that He has given through the 66 books of the bible. We believe that the bible was meant to be read literally and understood historically and literal. Therefore we do not see the qualifications for elders and deacons in I Timothy & Titus as being allegorical. We believe God was serious when He said in the Psalm 138:2 "I hold my word above my name."

We believe that the bible therefore is our document that governs things like church discipline, the appointing of deacons, the authority of elders, sexual immorality, and the like.

2- The Holy Spirit

Jesus rules over the church by the work of the Holy Spirit who according to Jon 16:13 "leads us into all truth". We believe that the Holy Spirit is always in agreement with God's word (Heb 4:12) as He is the one who (2 Tim 3:16) "breathed it." We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person within the persons of the trinity and that He speaks to believers personally through a variety of means including the scriptures, (Eph 4) apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, personal conviction through the conscience (Jn 16:8) and a variety of other things like music (psalms) and even creation (Rom 1) itself. But, what He says will always line up with God's word because He is the one that wrote it.

3- Church Government

Elders-
Jesus also rules His church by establishing authority through men. This means Godly, biblical leadership through men that He appoints and anoints for the work of ministry. These men are called to lead in the same way that Jesus led His disciples. Not exercising authoritative commandments but as servants "for even the Son of man came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many." We take our queues as leaders from the one who is the head over the body.

Just as there is equality within the Trinity there is also deference. God the Father is the authoritative (1 Cor 11:3) "head" of the Trinity. Jesus lives in submission to the Father even though equal. The Holy Spirit exists to humbly point to Jesus (Jn 16:14). There is mutual submission between them yet the Father carries the authoritative voice in the scriptures. This then translates to the family as well. Jesus is the head of the husband. The husband is the head of the family, the wife is under his authority and submitted to his godly leadership. The children are submitted to both but see Jesus above dad in authority, dad above mom in authority, mom above them. This then also translates to the church as well. We see this displayed most clearly in 1 Tim 3:1-7. It gives us the description of what this overseer/ bishop/ pastor/ elder looks like.

1 Tim 3:1-7
"If a man" -Implies male leadership. Also see 1 Tim 2:12-15
"desires"- Being and elder/pastor/bishop (all used interchangeably in the scriptures) is what he wants to do
"the office"- Implies that this is a position with authority
"bishop"- Gr. episkopos-one who oversees

We take the list from 1 Tim 3 and combine the some extra qualifications from Titus 1 and give you what the bible says has to be the character of an elder.

"He must "
1- Above reproach- We believe this is better defined by the following attributes
2- The husband of one wife- A one woman man, not a flirt, sexually pure if he's not married
3- Sober minded- Mentally and emotionally stable
4- self-controlled- Disciplined life not controlled by passions
5- respectable- Worthy of following and imitating
6- hospitable- Welcomes strangers, including unbelievers in hopes of evangelizing
7- able to teach- Can handle the scriptures and rightly divide the word of truth
8- not a drunkard- Not given to addictions
9- not violent but gentle- Even tempered
10- not quarrelsome- Not looking for a fight
11- not a lover of money- Not in it to get rich
12- manage his own household well- Provides for, organizes, loves his family
13- Keeping his children submissive- Willing to deal with sin in his own house
14- not a recent convert- A mature christian
15- Well thought of by outsiders- Because of trying to reach the community he is in he needs to be respected by non christians.
16 (Titus adds) a lover of good, upright, holy- Agrees with God on right and wrong, sin and liberty

We believe elders are given this authority and task by God but are appointed by other elders. Examples of this are found in 2 Tim 2:1, Titus 1:5, and scattered through the book of Acts.

Deacons-
Deacons are charged with handling the practical concerns of the church in a spiritual and practical way. We believe deacons are recognized and nominated by the local church but are ultimately appointed by the elders, in places like Acts 6:3, and 1 Tim 3:10, after a period of being "tested".The qualifications of deacons are much the same as the elders with a couple of changes.
1- Females may be deacons 1 Tim 3:11
2- Deacons are not required to be able to teach.

Other than that, we believe that that deacons should be in loving commitment to the community of believers at the local church and making themselves available for the practical service of the church so that the Elders are free to do the spiritual, and theological work of the church chiefly the word of God and prayer.


Leadership Issues and policy-
The only way anyone is appointed to the leadership team of either elders, or deacons is by a personal and theological screening and a unanimous vote of the current elders. The fact is, at some point someone may change their views, and even depart from the faith. Those elders that are appointed are then responsible to remove the offending elder or deacon on biblical grounds. They are removed from office with a vote of 2/3 majority in favor of removal. Complaints and protests will have a form that can be filled out by the person with a grievance. If there are accusations that would disqualify a leader (Elder or Deacon or anyone else in the ministry or on staff) will be investigated by the elder team and documented. Disciplinary action will be decided by the Elder Board and if grounds for disqualification are discovered the officer or officers will be removed from office. And, should the need arise, a report will be turned over to the police if it involves legal matters.

We have decided that all members of both the Elder board, and the Deacon Board will have performance contracts that outline the duties of their position along with disciplinary measures if someone (including the pastor) does not fulfill their duty or departs from sound theology, or is involved in disqualifying sins. These policies would be the same as performance policies in the workplace and discipline would once again be carried out by a team rather than an individual. This ensures that member of both boards will have standards by which to labor and will enable them to know exactly what is expected from them and what is not expected.

Church Discipline-
The bible has much to say about how to bring discipline within the church for a variety of sins like gossip, sexual immorality, heresy and the like. We will use the bible as a guide in these matters. Church discipline will be decided by the Elder Board and carried out by a pastor or elder. This ensures that ministry is not being hindered by individuals that are not theologically or morally sound. This is not a control issue but an effort to be wise and to carry out the mission of the bible and keep our faith from being corrupted by sin, and godless compromise.