(Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”)

As members of Christ’s Church, our beliefs and practices are based on the words of Jesus Christ, His inspired disciples, and the examples of His followers contained within the inspired Word of God: the Bible. In scripture, the Lord’s servant Peter says in 2 Peter 1:3 that God’s “… divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” The following are some of our key beliefs about life and godliness contained within scripture, given to us by God.

The Bible teaches that God created and sustains all things (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:3). He is eternal and has existed forever, without beginning or end (1 Timothy 1:17). He is a God of both love and justice (1 John 4:8; Deuteronomy 32:4). He created us to live for Him and to enjoy fellowship with Him. God is one God and yet three distinct persons within that one Godhead. Each person of the Godhead is equal and one in both unity and purpose. These three persons are: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the man from Nazareth, was born of a virgin, as the Messiah (the coming One) and the Son of God (Matthew 1:23; Mark 1:1). He is divine and came from Heaven in the form of a man to live a perfect, sinless life and to sacrifice Himself on a cross as a perfect and holy sacrifice on behalf of the sins of the world (Hebrews 4:15; John 3:16). Three days after His crucifixion, He rose from the dead, as predicted (Matthew 16:21) and conquered death so that we too may be able to conquer death spiritually (Acts 10:40; Romans 6:4) and one day literally when the dead rise with Christ at His second coming (1 Thessalonian 4:16). Jesus ascended to God after He appeared to many of His disciples and remains there at the Father’s right hand, making intercession before God on our behalf (Acts 1:9; Romans 8:34). “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. He is divine and responsible for the inspiration of scripture (2 Peter 1:21). He was active in the creation of the universe and acts on our behalf as a comforter sent to us by Jesus Christ after Jesus ascended to Heaven (Genesis 1:2; John 14:16; Romans 8:11, 26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:19). For a time, the Spirit was active in bestowing supernatural spiritual gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues (various earthly languages previously unstudied by the individual), upon followers of Christ in order to verify the message that they preached. Outside of the special instances of Holy Spirit baptism at Pentecost (Acts 2) and subsequently to verify God’s approval of the spread of the Gospel to the Gentile world (Acts 10), the apostles were granted power to impart supernatural gifts to others by the “laying on” of their hands (Acts 8:18). These signs helped to confirm the validity of the message (Mark 16:20) during the Church’s infancy stage. When the apostles and those to whom the apostles had imparted miraculous gifts passed away, the miraculous at the hands of men ceased and had fulfilled its purpose.

The Bible, as the inspired Word of God, includes both an Old and New Testament. The Old Testament was a covenant/law under which the people of God lived before the sacrifice of Christ. Once Christ was sacrificedand the message of the Gospel went forth to the Jews and then the Gentile world (which then encompassed everyone),the Old Law was no longer in effect but instead the New Law of Christ, the New Testament, became the active covenant (Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 8:13). Many principles of the Old Testament were carried over into the New Testament and remain commands for us (ex: commands against murder, adultery, lying, etc.). The Old Testament is filled with examples for our learning (Romans 15:4). We still use and glean from the Old Testament in study. However, the New Testament is the covenant/law by which Christians must strive to live.

The Bible teaches that mankind was created as a free moral agent. The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were created to have fellowship with God and to have dominion over the earth (Genesis 2:15-17). Mankind was tempted by Satan, a rebellious being who opposes God, and sinned against God, separating the human race from God because of His holiness (Genesis 3; Romans 3:23). Sin entered the equation and death was the penalty for disobedience to the law of God (Romans 5:12). However, God loves us unbelievably and did not leave man without an opportunity to change and to return to Him. God’s grace provided us with Christ’s sacrifice (John 3:16). Our acceptance of that sacrifice and faith in Him leads us to an obedience of His will through confessing the name of Christ before men (Matthew 10:32, Romans 10:9), repenting of our sins (Luke 13:3), and being baptized (immersed) into water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27; Acts 22:16), which allows us to participate in such a meaningful way in the sacrifice of Christ by re-enacting the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself (Romans 6:4).

The Bible teaches that once we have been cleansed of our sins at baptism, we are added to the body of believers who strive to make Christ their Lord and obey God’s will (Acts 2:47). This body is the Church. The Church is not a building or an idea but a group of people and a family. Each member of the Church participates in the mutual worship of God and fellowship of His believers along with the spreading of the good news about Christ’s sacrifice to the rest of the world. Jesus Himself established that this group would be His Church in Matthew 16:18 and that Church, the Kingdom, came in power on the Jewish day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was given to the Apostles to confirm the message of Jesus’ resurrection and “…those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). The church continued in their meetings with learning from the apostles, fellowshipping, partaking of the Lord’s Supper (expressed by the term “breaking of bread”)(discussed below) and praying together.

Those who continued to be saved through their obedience to the message of repentance (a changing of mind) from sin and baptism into Christ for the washing away of those sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16) were continually “added to their number” by the Lord (Acts 2:47). There is only one Church/body of Christ, because there is only one God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the only way to God (John 14:6). The New Testament pattern for the Church is a worldwide body of believers made up of independent, local congregations that worship and fellowship according to the God-given pattern of beliefs and practices laid out in inspired Scripture, united in those teachings and of one mind (I Corinthians 1:10), using the Bible as the final authority for matters of faith and practice.

The Bible gives us a picture of worship in the Church that consists of several avenues that have been given to us by either command or example in scripture. The simplicity and beauty of God’s plan for worship seen in the New Testament provides us with a way to worship and connect with our God while encouraging and building up each other.

The main purpose for our gathering together each Lord’s Day (Sunday) is to participate in the memorial of Jesus’ death and sacrifice that He instituted before He was crucified: the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:14-20). Members of the Church partake of both unleavened bread (to represent His body) and the fruit of the vine (grape juice (to represent His blood)) every Sunday. We partake of this each and every week because of our desire to follow the New Testament example followed by Jesus’ earliest disciples (Acts 20:7). It’s an incredible blessing to be able to remember our Lord’s sacrifice for us together.

While we are gathered together to remember Christ through this memorial, we use that time to worship the Lord in other ways that we see in the example of His followers as well. Prayer is a large part of our worship because God has set this avenue in place for us to communicate with Him as His children (1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Peter 5:7). At Millview, we will pray at both the beginning and ending of worship as well as have special prayers for specific concerns from time to time. Since reading and studying the word of God both glorifies God and encourages and teaches us (2 Timothy 2:15), both sermons and readings from scripture can be expected during worship at Millview.

God has given us an incredible avenue to praise Him and to edify one another through singing (Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:16-17). We sing “a cappella” (without accompaniment of mechanical instruments) which derives from the Italian meaning, “in chapel style”. Though instruments were arranged for use in worship in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 5:13-14; 7:6; 29:25-26) and the earliest members of the Lord’s Church (as Jews) would have been familiar with their use in the Temple, their absence in the worship of the Church on earth in what we gather from the New Testament corresponds with voices of history which display opposition to the introduction of the instrument into the corporate worship of the Church for centuries after the establishment of the Church, in favor of worship through simply the voice. More can be said here concerning the nuances and complexities of belief about this issue. But for the sake of brevity, we conclude here in this place that at Millview we do not just prefer but are convicted that we ought to take the New Testament command to sing at face value and exclude the addition of mechanical instruments.

As we think about the sacrifice of Christ at the beginning of each week and reflect on the blessings of God, we also take up a collection of money to give back to God a portion of what He has blessed us with in order to help further the work of the Church. We do this in accordance with example from the New Testament (1 Corinthians 16:2).

At Millview, our worship services will be led by male members of the Church. This is not because either we or God believe males to be superior or females to be inferior, but that God has set in place various functional roles in the body of the Church (1 Corinthians 12:18-20), including roles for male and female. We find the role of leadership in the Church exclusive to males in the New Testament (1 Timothy 3:1-13, 1 Timothy 2:8-15; I Corinthians 14:34-35).

The Bible teaches that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, and that these two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Genesis 1:26-27). We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:18-25), and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4). We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Millview as the local body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the members of this congregation and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Millview in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by these statements. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the beliefs of the Church of Christ at Millview.

The Bible teaches that all human life is sacred as created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend and protect all human life.

The Bible teaches that Christ will return one last time to judge the world and that the physical earth will perish (2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10). Each individual will be judged for the path they chose to take in life and spend eternity in one of two final places designed for either followers or enemies of God (Romans 14:10-12). The ultimate destiny of a person is up to each individual. No matter how much God loves us, both His holiness and justice will not allow for sin to enter into Heaven with us. Therefore, despite His desire for mankind to be with Him (2 Peter 3:9), the Bible teaches that a place referred to as Hell has been prepared away from God for the Devil, his angels, and those of mankind who choose to continue in rebellion against God (Matthew 25:41). However, God has created a plan for salvation and sacrificed Himself on our behalf that we might choose to be with Him instead and join Him after death in Heaven, a place of rest in the presence of God that Jesus has gone to prepare for us (2 Thessalonians 1:7; John 14:3).

This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of the Church of Christ at Millview’s local practice and policy, a group of appointed individuals, the eldership, who meet the required specifications in Scripture for holding that authoritative role (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), are the authority in those leadership capacities and decisions. They do not hold any supernaturally inspired position nor possess any specific divinely imparted guidance outside of what has been given to us in Scripture already. Rather, they uphold the authority given to them by Scripture to make decision in matters of expediency, in accordance with Scripture, for this particular congregation of the Lord’s worldwide Church that meets here in this place.

Accordingly, the congregation will not knowingly allow its facilities or premises to be used by groups or individuals who do not support the Biblical teachings stated above.