About Elma Alliance Church

What We Believe

Mission Statement: Knowing Jesus and making Him known.

Vision Statement: Representing Jesus through authentic loving relationships.

Core Values:

We believe that the Bible contains everything we need to shape us to live in right relationship with God our creator and with others. The Bible provides the objective truth for our physical, emotional and spiritual health, and prepares us for eternity. The following is a summary of what we believe are the essentials of and core teachings of faith in Christ.

• GOD: There is one God, (Deuteronomy 6:4) who is infinitely perfect, (Matthew 5:48) existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
• JESUS CHRIST: Jesus Christ is the true God and the true man. (Philippians 2:6-11) He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. (Luke 1:34–38) He died upon the cross, the Just for the unjust, (I Peter 3:18) as a substitutionary sacrifice, (Hebrews 2:9) and all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood. (Romans 5:9) He arose from the dead according to the Scriptures. (Acts 2:23–24) He is now at the right hand of Majesty on high as our great High Priest. (Hebrews 8:1) He will come again to establish His kingdom, righteousness and peace. (Matthew 26:64). The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent (Hebrews 10:37) and will be personal, visible, and premillennial. (Luke 21:27) This is the believer's blessed hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service. (Titus 2:11–14)
• HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit is a divine person, (John 14:15–18) sent to dwell, guide, teach, empower the believer, (John 16:13, Acts 1:8) and convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. (John 16:7–11). It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, (1 Thessalonians 5:23) being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service. (Acts 1:8) The gifts and fruits of the Spirit are part of God’s plan for his church (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:11).
• BIBLE: The Word of God collected in what is known as the Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and is inerrant in its original for. It is the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of humanity. The Bible constitutes the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice. (2 Peter 1:20–21, 2 Timothy 3:15–16)
• MANKIND: Mankind (man) was originally created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27) but as a result of sin incurred the consequence of both physical and spiritual death and is lost and powerless to save himself. All people are born with a sinful, fallen nature, (Romans 3:23) are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:20–23) The portion of the unrepentant and unbelieving is existence forever in conscious torment; (Revelation 21:8) and that of the believer, in everlasting joy and bliss. (Revelation 21:1–4)
• SALVATION: Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all people; and those who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God. (Titus 3:4–7)
• THE CHURCH: The Church consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, and are born again of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church, (Ephesians 1:22–23) which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations. (Matthew 28:19–20) The local church is a body of believers in Christ who are joined together for the worship of God, for edification through the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, the proclamation of the gospel, and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and to serve one another. (Acts 2:41–47)
• ETERNITY: We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and the lost, the eternal conscious existence of all men, either in heaven or hell, and in divine judgments, rewards and punishments (John 5:28-29; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23, 51-54; Revelation 19-20).
• MARRIAGE: We believe that God ordained marriage to be a permanent, exclusive union between one man and one woman in a loving self-sacrificing relationship . We believe that our loving God instructs for the health and benefit of mankind that sexual intercourse is restricted to marriage and that premarital sex is prohibited (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-5; Ephesians 4:11-12; Hebrews 10:24-25).
• SEXUALITY AND GENDER: We believe that God created two genders, male and female to bear his image, to perpetrate the human race, and to create an intimate bond between a husband and wife (Genesis 1:27). We believe that God has ordained that gender is fixed by the Creator, is an essential part of who a person is, and is good. We believe that sexual intercourse is restricted to a man with a woman within marriage. We believe that sex outside of marriage is immoral, as is homosexual behavior or sex with an animal (Genesis 1:27; 19:1-3; Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 181 Timothy 1:10).