tHIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE

DECLARATION OF FAITH

Gateway Church believes the whole Bible to be completely and equally inspired and that it is the written Word of God. We are affiliated with The Church of God (Cleveland, TN), who has adopted the following Declaration of Faith as its standard and official expression of its doctrine.

We Believe:

In the verbal inspiration of the Bible.

In one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

That Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary. That Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. That He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as the Intercessor.

That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.

That justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.

In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.

Holiness to be God’s standard of living for His people.

In the baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to a clean heart.

In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

In water baptism by immersion, and all who repent should be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Divine healing is provided for all in the atonement.

In the Lord’s Supper and washing of the saints’ feet.

In the premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years.

In the bodily resurrection; eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.

CORE VALUES

God’s Presence 

We believe one moment in the presence of God will do more than a lifetime in religious duty. At Gateway, we are passionate about worshipping God and experiencing His presence. Exodus 33:14-15, Acts 3:19

God’s Word

We place an emphasis on the teaching and preaching of the Word in all that we do, because we believe the Bible to be living and active. We believe the world is turned upside down (or right side up) when cultural preferences give way to biblical mandates. Hebrews 4:12, 1 Peter 1:23, Acts 17:6, Proverbs 30:5

Growing in Community 

If you want to change your life, change your friends. We believe that people grow best in community. Community is the incubator for Kingdom transformation. We are intentional to grow smaller (small groups, serve teams, organic friendships) as we are growing larger (worship experiences, local body). Acts 2

Spirit-Empowered Witness

Jesus carried out His ministry in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus is not the exception, but our example. We believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are graces from God empowering us to carry out our shared mission. Acts 1:8, Luke 24:49, Acts 2:1-4, Mark 16:20, James 1:22

Giving God Our Best

We believe common tasks can become worshipful actions when done as unto God. We believe in always giving our best, because God gave us His best. We also believe an undeniable fruit of the Church is that of generosity. Colossians 3:23, Acts 2:44, Acts 4:32, 2 Corinthians 9:5, Acts 11:28-29

Loving Loudly

Disciples of Jesus are known by the love they have for one another. This is the greatest mark of Christian maturity. We do not measure our maturity by intellectual ascent, but by transformed affections. We are intentional to love all people that we experience in a way that is too “loud” to ignore. John 13:35, John 13:34

Honor

Honor is at the heart of Gateway. We honor all people as those created in the image of God. We also honor those that God has placed in authority (Parents, Governments, Spiritual leaders) over us. We believe it requires honor to receive the gifts that God has placed inside of people. If we honor a prophet, we get a prophets reward. Matthew 10:41-42, Exodus 20:12, Romans 13