What We Believe (Western Branch Community Church)

The Bible is God’s Word to mankind.
It is the inspired and only infallible, authoritative, complete Word of God. As such, it should be viewed as the “owner’s manual” for life (2 Timothy 3:16).

There is one God who is the creator and ruler of the universe; eternally existing in three persons, i.e. Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7-8).

Jesus is the Son of God.
He is fully man and fully God.
He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15) and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind (John 3:16).
He rose from the grave three days later demonstrating His power over death, hell and the grave.
He ascended to the Father where He prays for us (Hebrews 7:25, 1 Timothy 2:5), is preparing an eternal place for us (John 14:1-4), and will come again for us (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son.
He convicts of sin (John 16:7-8), comforts us (John 14:16-19), guides us into all truth (John 16:13), and is our deposit, sealing us against the day our salvation is fully realized (Ephesians 1:13-14).

All mankind needs forgiveness from sin (Romans 3:23) in order to enjoy a full life now and to share eternity with God.
This forgiveness is available through God’s free offer of grace (Ephesians 2: 810), through trusting what Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross (Romans 10:9-10), and by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:22).
This relationship with God is essential to enjoy the wonderful realities of heaven and to avoid the painful realities of an eternal hell (John 5:24,28 and 29; Philippians 2:9-10).

Water baptism is an important part of the Christian experience.
It is a public testimony of having established a relationship with Christ by faith. (Matthew 28:19; Colossians 2:12).
Communion is a sacred moment in the life of a believer in which he is reminded of God’s grace through Jesus Christ.

All followers of Christ should seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
Spirit-filled believers should expect to receive that infilling by faith (Luke 9:9-13) and expect results in the form of power to live out their Christian lives and in the discovery and use of their spiritual gifts (Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 12:11, Ephesians 3:19-20).

When a person accepts God’s free gift of grace, he is regenerated and new life in Christ begins (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The goal of this new life is to be transformed into a life of “Christ-like” character (Romans 12:1-2).
However, the supreme evidence of Christian discipleship is not that we keep all the rules, but rather that we have love for one another (John 13:35).

It is God’s intention the Christian life be lived out in community with other members of the church which form Christ’s body (Ephesians 1:20-23, Hebrews 10:25, Proverbs 27:17).
God established the church as the institution through which His wisdom is shown (Ephesians 3:10), and in which His spirit dwells (Ephesians 2:19-22).