Statement of Faith

What is our Statement of Faith?

Our mission is to invite people on a Journey to discover the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Christian Story.

We believe the Christian Story is true, that it is an exhaustive, all encompassing framework of the world that corresponds to reality.

We believe it is good, that it orients us to the way God designed us to live: in right relationship to Him, each other, and creation. It reveals why we do not live according to that design, and how God invites us back into that design.

We believe that it is beautiful, that it satisfies the human heart in a way no other story of the world can, and that it leads to everlasting joy and fulfillment.

Our greatest desire is that through discovering the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Christian Story, our members and those who are encountering this Story for the first time would believe in the Savior at the center of the Story, our Lord Jesus Christ, become a lifelong disciple of Jesus, and be sent to invite others to know Him as well.

Therefore, we believe it is imperative that Christians know the Christian Story and how it makes sense of the world. We articulate our beliefs derived from the Christian Story in the form of the following Statement of Faith.

Core Convictions

In 1 Corinthians 15:3 Paul distinguishes matters “of first importance.” These are the doctrines that St. Vincent of Lerins called what “has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.” These doctrines comprise “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). They represent the core of the Christian Story. Therefore, to waver from these doctrines is to waver from the true Christian faith. At The Journey Church, members are required to affirm, uphold, and promote these Core Convictions.

Scripture: God reveals Himself to humanity through the Bible, the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The Scriptures are inspired by God, the very words of God mediated through human authors. They are inerrant, without error in their original manuscripts. They are authoritative, to be trusted and obeyed. They are sufficient, containing all we need to know for salvation and faithful living. (Psalm 19; 2 Timothy 3:15–17)

God: The Christian Story is most fundamentally the Story of God. This Story reveals that there is one true God, Creator of all, who eternally exists as one divine essence in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was begotten of the Father before all ages, was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. Therefore, he is both truly divine and truly human. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, brings people to saving faith in Christ, and indwells, transforms, and equips Christians for service in the body of Christ. (Genesis 1:1–3; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 1:23, 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 1:1–3, 14; 16:8; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 12:3–7; Galatians 5:22–23; Philippians 2:5–8; Colossians 1:15–20)

Humanity: The Story reveals that God created humanity with purpose and meaning. Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation. Humans are body-soul beings uniquely created in the image of God, both male and female. Humans were created to be His representatives and co-rulers over creation. Humanity was to fulfill this task by representing God’s character, in accordance with His good design and commands, teaching others to do the same, and by physically multiplying through the institution of marriage between one husband and one wife. (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:18, 21–24; Matthew 28:18–20)

The Fall: The conflict in the Story came when the first humans, Adam and Eve, sinned, giving in to Satan’s temptation and rebelling against the Lord in the Garden. By their willful disobedience, they earned the wage of sin, which is death, and brought brokenness into the world. Since then, every human being, except Jesus Christ, has been born with original sin. All humans by nature have affections and a will directed away from God and towards sin. Our sinful hearts reveal themselves in sinful thoughts, words, and actions, which go against God’s good, gracious, wise, and perfect design. Therefore, like our ancestors, we experience death as the just penalty for our sinfulness. (Genesis 3; Romans 3:23, 5:12–21, 6:23)

Salvation: The climax of the Story occurred when God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life, die as a substitute for humanity on the cross, and rise from the grave on the third day. This is the Good News: salvation from sin and death. Salvation is wholly and exclusively by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. When a person repents and believes, they are declared righteous by God, forgiven of sin, reconciled to God, united with Christ, adopted into the family of God, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and destined for resurrection to eternal life. (John 3:16; Acts 2:38; Romans 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; 2 Corinthians 5:18; Galatians 4:5–7; Ephesians 1:13, 2:8–9; 1 Peter 3:18)

The Church: The current stage of the Story is often referred to as the Church Age. All who have placed their faith in Christ throughout history and around the world are united in the one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic church. This universal church is made up of numerous local churches: local bodies of believers committed to Christ and to one another. These local churches gather weekly in Jesus' name on the Lord's Day for worship, including the preaching of the Word and observing the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. From this gathering, believers are sent into the world to invite people on a Journey to discover the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Christian Story. (Matthew 28:19–20; Luke 22:19–20; Acts 2:41–47; 1 Corinthians 12:12–14; Ephesians 4:11–16, 5:19; Hebrews 10:23–25)

Last Things: After his resurrection, Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father. Now, the Story is building towards its ultimate resolution. Believers eagerly await Christ’s literal, physical return. When Christ returns, he will bring the Kingdom of God to its ultimate fulfillment. Those who have not placed their faith in Christ will be sentenced to their just, eternal punishment for their ongoing rebellion with Satan and his followers. Those who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ will be resurrected into their blessed hope, eternal life with God in the new heavens and new earth. All wrongs will be made right and God’s people will dwell with Him forever! (Daniel 12:2, Acts 1:9–11, Romans 8:18–23, 1 Peter 3:22, Revelation 19:11–22:7)

The Journey’s Distinctives

Distinctives are beliefs about which genuine Christians may disagree but that have a significant impact on the life and teaching ministry of our local church. Members are not required to affirm these distinctives but must be willing to sit under teaching from and participate in church life in accordance with the following beliefs. Dialogue concerning these issues is encouraged but it must be done charitably and with a desire to preserve church unity.

The following are The Journey’s theological distinctives regarding the order of and life in the local church. The organizational application of our ecclesiological distinctives are outlined in our Bylaws.

Autonomy and Membership in the Local Church: A local church is an autonomous congregation, the essence of which is its members. The congregation is responsible for church discipline through the admission and dismissal of members. Membership in the local church is the church’s public affirmation of a believer’s public profession of faith, the mutual commitment of the congregation and the member to one another, and the believer’s willful submission to the elders of a particular local church. At The Journey this means that prospective members affirm and agree to uphold The Journey’s Core Convictions and to live in accordance with the Membership Covenant. (Matthew 18:15–20; Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 5, 12; Hebrew 10:24–25, 13:17; 1 Peter 4:10–11)

The Officers of the Church: The officers of a local church are elders and deacons. Each local church is led under the Lordship of Christ by a plurality of qualified male elders (also called bishops/overseers or pastors). These men must live above reproach and have an ability to accurately and faithfully teach the Scriptures. Pastors/elders oversee the doctrine and direction of the church. These elders are identified and appointed by the existing elders and affirmed by the congregation. The elders are assisted by qualified men and women of godly character serving as deacons (which means servant or minister). Deacons lead the flock in serving, particularly in regard to meeting the practical and physical needs of the congregation. (Acts 6:1–7; 20:17, 28; Romans 16:1; Ephesians 4:11–12; 1 Timothy 2:9–3:7, 3:8–13, 5:17; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Peter 5:1–2)

Family Worship: The centerpiece of the Christian life in the local church is the worship gathering on the Lord’s Day. Allowing children to witness their parent’s model of worship and devotion and allowing them access to the means of grace present in the gathering are essential means of evangelizing and discipling our children. Therefore, while we offer age-based activities outside of the worship gathering, we joyfully include children in our worship service. (Deuteronomy 31:12–13, Joshua 8:35, Ephesians 6:1–4, Colossians 3:20)

The Ordinances: The two ordinances of the church are baptism, the new covenant initiation ceremony, and the Lord’s Supper, the new covenant renewal ceremony. Both ordinances are visible signs in the life of the local church which correspond to invisible realities in the universal Body of Christ. Baptism is immersion in water as a visual sign of a believer’s participation in the gospel, whereby a repentant sinner professes faith in and allegiance to Christ, public identification with a local body of believers, and dedication to grow in godliness in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Likewise, in baptism the church affirms the baptismal candidate’s faith, welcomes him into the church fellowship, and pledges to assist the new believer and/or church member along to spiritual maturity. We invite all who have placed their faith in Christ who have not yet been baptized upon their profession of faith to take this joyful step of faith. The Lord’s Supper is the partaking of the bread and the cup of the local church gathered together for the purpose of remembering Christ’s sacrifice, anticipating his return, and recommitting themselves in obedience and faith to Christ to be observed each week. All who have faith in Christ and are not subject to church discipline are invited to participate in the Lord’s Supper during Sunday gatherings of The Journey. (Matthew 26:26–29, 28:19; Luke 22:19–20; Acts 2:38, 41; Romans 6:3–4; 1 Corinthians 11:23–29; Hebrews 7:27)

Spiritual Gifts: All believers are given gifts by the Holy Spirit to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. Certain gifts, the miraculous so-called "sign gifts," including speaking in tongues and prophecy, have been subject to confusion and controversy since the early church. Speaking in tongues (human languages previously unknown to the speaker), prophecy (infallible verbal propositional revelation), and performing miracles (like healing) seem to be especially prevalent during the apostolic era (the foundational generation of the church) and used to confirm the apostles' and prophets' authority and message. God does still perform miracles, and Christians should not have any hesitation to pray to that end. However, the primary priority for believers in this era should be studying and appreciating the inspired, sufficient, and authoritative Scriptures that have been passed down to us. (Deuteronomy 13:1–5, 18:15–22; Isaiah 28:10–11; Acts 2:1–13, 43; 10:46; 11:15; 1 Corinthians 12; 13:8–12; 14:10, 21–22, 29–31; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 2:20, 4:11–16; Hebrews 2:3–4; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Jude 3)

The following are The Journey’s distinctives on various theological and significant social and ethical issues. These articles are subject to modification, deletion, or addition at the discretion of the elder board.

Hermeneutics: We will have the most accurate understanding of the Christian Story when the Bible is interpreted using a consistent literal, historical, grammatical hermeneutic. This means that the goal of the reader is first and foremost to understand the objective meaning of a text. That is, what the original author intended to communicate to his original audience, using the normal rules of human language. To say that this hermeneutic is literal is to say that we seek the normal or plain meaning of the text, including accounting for any figurative language in the text. Each biblical text has one meaning that is definite and fixed, but this does not negate the validity of multiple significances, including multiple valid applications of the ancient text to our lives today.

Marriage and Family: An aspect of the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Story is God’s design for the family. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime designed to model Christ’s relationship to the church. This permanent covenant by which a man and woman become one flesh is the exclusive relationship for which God designed sex. In this covenant, husbands and wives have different but complementary roles and responsibilities while having equal and intrinsic dignity, value, and worth as image-bearers of God. The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, and he is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. And as the church submits to Christ, the wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to raise their children to love and serve God, not provoking them, but bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Children are to honor and obey their parents. (Genesis 1:26–28; 2:15–25; Matthew 19:3-6; Ephesians 5:22–33; 6:1–4)

Doctrines of Grace: Every part of man is so affected by sin that he cannot and will not turn from sin and believe in Christ. Therefore, God, in His infinite wisdom, chose before the foundation of the world to save the elect, by the Holy Spirit overcoming their hardness of heart and bringing them to faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit keeps those saved by His grace to the end. Christians can live confident in the sovereignty of God over their salvation. (Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 26:28; Mark 10:45; John 6:37, 44; 10:15, 26; Acts 13, 48, 16:14; Romans 3:9–18, 7:18, 8:28–39, 9:11–23, 11:7, 14:23; 2 Corinthians 4:3–6; Ephesians 1:3–6, 2:1–5; 2 Timothy 2:25; Hebrews 9:28)

The Church and Israel: The church is the New Covenant people of God made up of believing Jews and Gentiles and is distinct from ethnic, national Israel. As a New Covenant community, the church is not under the Old/Mosaic Covenant or Law in the same way as the nation of Israel was, though Christians are still to reflect the character of God as revealed in the Law. While the people of Israel are dispersed because of their corporate rejection of Jesus, according to God’s grace and His covenant with the patriarchs, they will one day corporately repent and be re-gathered in the promised land in preparation of Christ’s Kingdom. (Genesis 12:1–3; Matthew 16:18; John 14:1–3; Acts 2:1–4; Romans 6:14; 9–11; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 2:11–22, 3:1–6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17)

The Millennial Kingdom: The great hope of the Christian is the end of the Story. Believers eagerly await the imminent return of Christ when he will reign upon the earth with his resurrected saints for 1,000 years in fulfillment of all of the biblical covenants before judging the living and the dead and establishing the eternal state in the new heavens and new earth. (Matthew 19:28, 24:36; Acts 1:6–11; 1 Corinthians 15:23–25; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 19–22)

Creeds and Confessions: We believe historic creeds and confessions are helpful summaries of the Christian faith and valuable for the instruction and edification of the church. We are in general agreement with the ancient creeds including the Apostles Creed,the Nicene Creed, the Chalcedonian definition, and the Athanasian Creed. We also are in general agreement with the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.