Jesus states that the most important thing we can do is to love God and to love others. Because of this, we seek to Love God through worship that exalts and glorifies him, and centers on the gospel/good news that is found in the Bible. We seek to Love Others by sacrificially serving each other, our neighbors, and our city.
Jesus also instructed all who follow him to tell others about him as they go through life. Because of this, we seek to Make Disciples by teaching and training others to follow him, and raise up leaders to lead others. We seek to Live Sent as individuals, and as a church, by telling others about who Jesus is and starting new churches.
WORSHIP
We believe that God desires our worship. While we are called to view everything we do as worship, we are also to regularly gather for a time of public worship that includes singing songs that are God-centered, reading Scripture, prayer, and preaching.
COMMUNITY
We believe that God desires us to focus on smaller expressions of biblical community than the traditional Sunday morning gathering. These smaller groups can provide a space to cultivate genuine community, as well as a greater opportunity to engage in God’s mission.
As a small group we meet regularly to discuss the basic principles of Jesus’ life and teachings, invite each other into a deeper level of relationship with God, and show how that relationship impacts our other relationships. We seek to be an extended family on mission by celebrating life together.
Our desire is that these missional communities will have an UP dimension (time spent with God), an IN dimension (time spent together with each other as Christians), and an OUT dimension (time spent on mission together, stepping into the brokenness of the world).
MISSION
We believe that God has given all believers the mission to share their faith in Jesus through word and deed wherever they go. As a church we are also called to start other churches in other locations so that new people will have the opportunity to place their faith in Jesus.
KINGDOM
The Kingdom of God is the lens that informs what a disciple is, how the disciple lives in society, and what the church will look like. The Kingdom of God is most fully described in the Sermon on the Mount, is the focus of Jesus' mission, and is the picture of the early church.
DISCIPLE
Simply put a disciple is one who is following Jesus, being transformed by Jesus, and on mission for Jesus. A disciple hears and obeys the Holy Spirit.
SOCIETY
Disciples of Jesus are to use their gifts and talents primarily in society and live on mission for Jesus among the people who cross their paths. Disciples live with the certainity that God seeks to reconcile all things to himself and they are to play their part in that plan.
CHURCH
By living for the Kingdom of God as Jesus' disciples who impact society, churches will be birthed both domestically and internationally.
When you put all of the above elements together you have the VISION for Restoration Church. We seek to be a community of Christ followers joining God in his restoration of our neighborhood, our city, and our world. We do this for God's glory and the good of people. As we make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus Christ we will fulfill our mission!
GOD
We believe that there is but one living, true, and eternal God, the Father; of whom are all things, from everlasting to everlasting, glorious and unchangeable in all His attributes. We believe that God is the only proper object of worship. The mode of His existence, however, is a subject far beyond the understanding of mankind. There is no thing in all creation that can adequately represent Him. He is the source of all existence, and the Scriptures teach that He is Spirit, present everywhere, all knowing, all powerful, independent, good, wise, holy, just, merciful, redeemer, Savior, sanctifier, the judge of mankind and all other attributes ascribed to Him in the Bible.
CHRIST
We believe that there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who was truly God and truly man, whom God freely sent into this world, because of the great love wherewith He loved the world; and Christ as freely gave himself a ransom for all, tasting death for every person; who was buried and rose again the third day, and ascended into Heaven from whence we look for him the second time, in the clouds of Heaven, at the last day to judge both the living and the dead.
We believe that the Scriptures ascribe to Christ all the attributes of God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that there is one Holy Spirit, the precious gift of the Father through his dear Son, who is the divine presence in our lives, who regenerates and sanctifies us, and whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and in whom we find our strength and help.
We believe that the Scriptures ascribe to the Holy Spirit all the attributes of God.
THE TRINITY
We believe that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God, without beginning or end, who is indivisible in His nature or being.
HUMANITY
We believe that in the beginning God created humans in His own image and placed them in a state of glory without the least mixture of misery, from which they voluntarily by transgression fell, and by that means, brought on themselves a miserable and mortal state subject to death. Unbelief is the reason why humans are condemned in the sight of the just and righteous God.
We believe that the human will is always active and may rebel or respond to the call of Christ in His redemptive offer, that through the grace of God humans may be saved.
THE CHURCH
We believe that the Church is the body of Christ, all Christians everywhere. We believe that the local church is an organized body of believers in Christ who statedly assemble to worship God and who sustain the ordinances of the Gospel. The local church does not exist in isolation; rather, those churches who believe and practice the Original Free Will Baptist faith and order join together to form a denominational church. Neither the local church nor the denominational church exists independent of the other.
THE BIBLE
We believe it consists of the Old and the New Testaments, that they were written by holy men, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are God’s revealed word to humans. We believe that it is a sufficient and infallibly true rule and guide to salvation and all Christian worship and service.
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is the restoration of humans to their right relationship with God.
General Provision: We believe in the doctrine of General provision made of God in Christ, for the benefit of all people who repents and believes the Gospel. We believe that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth, that they might be saved.
We believe that sinners are drawn to God the Father by the Holy Spirit through Christ His Son, and that the Holy Spirit offers His divine aid to all the human family so that they all might be saved, if they accept His divine teaching; and if any fail of eternal life, the fault is completely his own.
Repentance: We believe that the repentance which the Gospel requires includes a deep conviction, penitential sorrow, open confession, decided hatred and an entire forsaking of all sin.
Regeneration: We believe that regeneration is an instantaneous renewal of the heart by the Holy Spirit, whereby the penitent sinner receives new life and becomes a child of God.
Justification: We believe that justification means that persons who accept by faith the atonement of Christ are pardoned and absolved from the guilt of sin and restored to divine favor where once they stood guilty before God.
Sanctification: We believe that sanctification is the setting apart of the believer for continuing growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, for service to God and people.
THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
We believe that those who abide in Christ have the assurance of salvation. Christians, however, retain their freedom of choice. Therefore, they should watch and pray since it is possible for them to turn away from God and be eternally lost.
THE ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL
Christian Baptism: We believe that this is the immersion of believers in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in which are represented the burial and resurrection of Christ, the death of Christians to the world, the washing of their souls from the pollution of sin, their rising to newness of life, their commitment to serve God, and their resurrection at the last day.
The Lord’s Supper: We believe that this is a commemoration of the death of Christ for our sins, in the use of bread which He made the emblem of His broken body, and the cup, the emblem of His shed blood; and by it believers expresses their love for Christ, their faith and hope in Him, and pledge to Him perpetual fidelity.
Washing the Saints’ Feet: We believe that this is a sacred ordinance, which teaches humility, the necessity of the servanthood of every believer, and reminds the believer of the necessity of a daily cleansing from all sin. It was instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ as an example on the night of His Last Supper and betrayal.
CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP
We believe that good works are the fruits of saving faith and include being good stewards of all God’s blessings. Christians are to be responsible in the use of their time and talents. Furthermore, Christians are required to be faithful in the use of their finances for the expense of the program of Christ in the world.
*taken from “The Articles of Faith and Principles of Church Government for Original Free Will Baptists (of the English General Baptist Heritage)”
Restoration Church is affilated with The Convention of Original Free Will Baptist Churches