We are real people on a real journey. We believe that people matter greatly to God and that we can help one another find a meaningful connection with Him. We do this through practical Bible teaching, contemporary worship and creating lots of opportunities for the development of meaningful relationships. It’s the foundation of everything you’ll find at Woodcrest. Woodcrest is a place to explore the most important issues in life in a way that makes sense. Find out more about what we believe…
The Bible
The purpose of the Bible is that God desired to communicate to humanity whom we learn from the text is His premier creation and primary concern. The Bible is revealed propositional truth. It was written by humans under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit and therefore is revealed to us. It is propositional because it makes a series of claims about God, humanity and the nature of life. It makes these claims through narrative, poetry, prose, wisdom literature and letters to first century churches where instruction and correction are given to inform our lives today. It is the truth because it comes from God whom we learn from the text is by nature the truth. The Bible is therefore the lens through which our spiritual development is viewed and measured. Its truth trumps our spiritual feelings and spiritual experiences as well as interprets them. The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the full and final authority on all matters of Christian faith and lifestyle because they come from the author of life itself.
God
We believe there is one true, powerful God whose primary defining attribute is love. He manifests His loving nature in three distinct ways as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each possessing the equal and full attributes of deity. God created the world from nothing, sustains it according to His desire, and has operated throughout history to reclaim His world and to reconcile mankind into a personal relationship with Himself so as to fulfill His cause of love.
Jesus
Jesus Christ is the second person of the trinity. He is noted in scripture to be God in human form, who came to show us how to live, then died in our place that we might live eternally. Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died in man’s place, and was bodily resurrected from the dead.
The scripture teaches us that He presently sits at God’s right hand in Heaven, interceding with the Father on behalf of men. He will return to Earth personally and visibly to close history and take His people to Heaven where they will live with Him forever.
Salvation
The purpose for God revealing himself to modern man through scripture is that man might be reconciled into intimate communion and fellowship with his Creator.
Originally created to have fellowship with God, man rebelled and chose an independent nature that alienated the original man (Adam) and woman (Eve) and all people after them from God. The price for this rebellion is permanent separation from God and ultimately death.
Jesus Christ was given by God to pay the death price for humanity, that by receiving Him as their Savior, they might escape the penalty of rebellion and be permanently reconciled to the Father. Salvation is the work of God alone. It is a free gift to all who accept it. The only saving work a person can perform is to repent or turn from sin and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and follow Him as the Lord or leader of their life.
The Church
The church is universal. All who receive Jesus Christ as Savior are immediately members of the body of Christ because of their new birth. The scripture commands that believers gather together for worship, teaching, fellowship, communion, baptism, and to devote themselves to the work of God in the world. It is through this local gathering of believers that ministry is accomplished, individuals are won to Christ, and Christians are taught to live a God-honoring life.
Christian Lifestyle
Wherever God’s people regularly meet for these purposes, there is a local expression of the universal church. At this local level there is established leadership, support, and guidance that directs God’s people toward the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ with their lives.
