• GOD: God is the creator and ruler of the universe and the one who redeems, saves, or rescues humankind from sin and its painful consequences. He has eternally existed in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal in nature and attributes and are one God.

 

• HUMANKIND: Humankind was created good and upright, in the spiritual image of God. God created humans, the supreme object of his creation, to be like Himself in character. However, people by willful choice ignored God’s instructions, choosing to engage in what they knew to be wrong and evil. This disobedience and fall from innocence and goodness brought about physical death as well as spiritual death, which is separation from God.
  
  Humans were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or in union with God, through the forgiveness and salvation God provided through Jesus Christ. To be eternally separated from God is hell. To be eternally in union with him is eternal life in heaven. Heaven and hell are both places of eternal existence. One day, all Christians, living or dead, will go to be with God forever.
   

• JESUS CHRIST: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, co-equal with the Father. He has always existed, for he is without beginning or end. Jesus became human by being born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. He lived a sinless human life, performing many miracles during his ministry. He offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all by dying on a cross. He rose from the dead after three days to demonstrate his power and victory over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return again to earth to establish universal peace and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

• SALVATION: Salvation is God’s gift of deliverance from spiritual death and enslavement by sin. Humans can never make up for their sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by accepting God’s free offer of forgiveness in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, can people be saved from sin’s penalty. Salvation is received as a person repents before God for their sins and believes in the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection (supernatural restoration to life) brings forgiveness for their sin. Eternal life begins at the moment one receives Jesus Christ into their life by faith.

 

• THE HOLY SPIRIT: We believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in and empowers every believer for service to Christ and the Church. We believe that every Christian can expect this empowerment in faith and should eagerly seek spiritual gifts from God. We affirm that spiritual gifts, including the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, are still given by the Holy Spirit to Christians for the edification of the Church today, and we eagerly expect to see the power and work of the Holy Spirit in our midst.

 

• CHRISTIAN LIFE: Each person who has received new birth by committing their life to Jesus Christ grows to separate themselves from that which is evil, and to dedicate their whole lives to God. Through this lifelong process, called sanctification, newborn children of God grow to become more like Jesus Christ, “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). This process of progressive transformation takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in each believer, enabling the Christian to live a holy life.

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• WATER BAPTISM & THE LORD’S SUPPER: Jesus gave certain visible ordinances or practices for his church to perform, baptism in water and Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper.
  
  Baptism in water is the public demonstration that the believer is now committed to Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and that God’s grace of salvation has been given and received. All who become believers in Christ are to be baptized in water, as they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with him to walk in newness of life.
  
  The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements of bread and the fruit of the vine, is the symbol of expressing our sharing in Jesus Christ’s divine nature by which we are new creatures in Christ; a memorial of his suffering and death; and a prophecy of his second coming; and is commanded for all believers until He comes. We commemorate the Lord’s Supper as a sacred symbolic act that demonstrates our continued dependence on our once crucified and now risen Lord.​

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• HEALING: Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers. Both physical sickness and disease, as well as eventual physical death, are results of the fall of man that all human beings experience. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross destroyed the power of sin and death in the lives of all who believe in him. Healing is part of God’s love and mercy: “I am the Lord your healer” (Exodus 15:26). Each individual healing that occurs is a gift of God’s grace. 
   

• THE BIBLE: The Bible is God’s word to all humankind. All of the words of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally Inspired of God as human authors wrote under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the revelation of God to humans, the authoritative source of truth for Christian faith and living. Because the Bible is inspired by God, it is fully trustworthy as God’s truth, without any error. We accept the scriptures as the revealed will of God and the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice for all believers.

 

• WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: We fully affirm that men and women are made in the image of God and are equal in the eyes of God. We affirm that the Holy Spirit gives all varieties of gifts, including giftings for leadership roles within the church, to both men and women. As equals, both men and women may serve at all levels of leadership at The Bridge International Church. This affirmation extends to all roles within the church, including the role of teacher, pastor, and board member.

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