FAITH STATEMENT

PREAMBLE

Family Connect Int’l Church stands firmly in the mainstream of historical Christianity. It takes the Bible as its all-sufficient source of faith and practice, and subscribes to the historic creeds of the universal church. In common with historical, evangelical Christianity, it emphasizes Christ as Savior and coming King. It also presents Christ as Healer, and it adopts the distinctive position that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence when Christ  aptizes in the Holy Spirit.

We believe:

1. That creation is the supreme act of God. God made everything that is invisible and visible, physical or spiritual, small and great. Gen 1:1, Ps 8:3, 33,6, 89: 11,12, Is 40: 25, 26, Heb 11: 3

2. In the Divine Trinity:
There are three different distinct persons in the Godhead the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit. These three agree in everything and they act as one.

THE GODHEAD
The Godhead exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, having the same nature and attributes and are worthy of the same homage, confidence, and obedience. Matt 3:16, 17, 28:19, 2Cor. 13:14

a. THE FATHER
The Father exists eternally as the Creator of heaven and earth, the Giver of the Law, to whom all things will be subjected, so that He may be all in all. Gen1:1, 1Cor 15:28

b. THE SON
The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal and only begotten Son of the Father, is true God and true man. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and by His sinless life, miracles and teaching, gave full revelation of the Father.
He died upon the cross, the Just for the unjust, as a substitution sacrifice. He rose from the dead.
He is now at the right hand of the Majesty on high as our great High Priest. He will come again to establish His kingdom in righteousness and peace. John 1:1,14, 10:30, 17, Phil 2;6,7, Heb 1:8, Luke 1:26-35, John 12:49,Acts 2:22, 2Cor 5:21, Heb 7:26, Rom 5:6,8, 1Cor 15:3, 1Peter 3:18, Matt 28:6, 1Cor 15:4,20, Acts 1:9-11, 2:33, Heb 8:1, Matt 25:31

c. THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is also God, performing actions and possessing the attributes of the Deity. His personality is shown by the fact that He has personal characteristics and that individuals may relate to Him as a person. Acts 5:3,4, John 16:13-14

3. In the Holy Bible:
That the bible is God-breathed. Holy men of God wrote the bible as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They wrote from different places and at different times. No writer contradicts another. And that the Bible contains the word of the living God, and these words convey God’s will and plans for man.

4. In the virgin birth of Jesus
He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit put the seed of God’s word in Mary’s womb and in due time she gave birth to Jesus. Joseph is not directly the father of Jesus. After the birth of Jesus, Mary gave birth to other children for Joseph.

5. In the fall of man:
When man disobeyed God by eating the fruit, he died spiritually (his spirit was separated from God and united with the devil. Man handed over everything God had given to him to the devil therefore Satan became man’s master. Spiritual death affected man’s spirit soul/mind and body – man’s soul became corrupted and his body became vulnerable to physical death, sickness and disease etc. It also affected the productivity of man, resulting in poverty, lack and want, failure etc.

6. In God’s plan of redemption:
That God sent his Son our Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins, to taste death for all men. He walked the earth, died on the cross went to hell for 3 days and was resurrected by the power of the holy Spirit and has gone to heaven, seated at the right hand of God.

7. That Jesus has destroyed the lordship of Satan over man. Therefore whoever calls upon His name shall be saved. That the man in Christ is a new creation, he is the son of God, and is free from every work of darkness (spiritual death, poverty, curses, failures etc)

8. That righteousness, salvation, justification, sanctification and eternal life are God’s free gifts. We don’t have to work to receive them, all we have to do is to believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ and stand in the mercy/grace of God.

9. That there are three baptisms namely:

a. Baptism into the body of Christ this is the born-again experience

b. Baptism in water
Water baptism, following conversion as commanded by Christ as a symbolic sign that the people of God are buried and resurrected with Christ. Showing outwardly what has happened to our spirit when we became born-again.

c. Baptism with the holy spirit – is receiving the holy spirit or the indwelling of
the holy spirit – it is an endowment of power subsequent to conversion, given by God to anoint the believer for sanctification and evangelism. It is our understanding that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are active within the body until the coming of the Lord.

Furthermore we believed that the development of these gifts ought to be encouraged under the guidance of local ministry authorities. The initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth. Matt. 3:11; Acts 1:5; Eph. 5:18, Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4, 8, Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6, Acts 8:12-17; 10:44-46.

10. That divine healing and prosperity are for every child of God through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

11. We believe that the callings of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher are functional within the Body of Christ, until the Lord’s return. Furthermore, these are given for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry- that the body of Christ be edified.

12. That heaven and hell are real

13. In the rapture This is the taking away of the saints from the earth to heaven

14. In the tribulation after the rapture that immediately after the rapture there will be great tribulation on earth for 7 years.

15. In Christ’s millennial reign:
This is the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on earth which will be ushered in by the coming of Jesus back to earth with his saints

16. In the new heaven and new earth after the 1000 years reign of Christ, God will judge the whole nations and also create a new heaven and a new earth. This present Heaven and Earth will be melted by fire and destroyed.

17. Tithing was divinely instituted by God under the old covenant and was compulsory upon the people who worshiped God. Under the new covenant we are not bound by arbitrary laws; but the principles of right and wrong, as expressed by the law, are fulfilled in the believer's life through grace. Grace should produce as much as or more than law demanded. Regular systematic giving is clearly taught in the New Testament. It is known as the grace of giving. The gauge or rule of this systematic giving is defined in the Old Testament, known as the law of tithing. All Christians
should conscientiously and systematically tithe their income to God. Mal. 2:16, Lev. 27:30-32; Mal. 3:10, 2 Cor. 9:6-15.

18. In the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We believe in the operations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through believers in a church.

19. In the Lord’s Supper, which is the Holy Communion. It is an ordinance of the New Testament. It is commanded by our Jesus Christ. The broken bread represents the broken body of Jesus Christ. The drink represents His blood which is shed for us.

20. We believe – that the scriptures teach a life of holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. By the power of the Holy Ghost, we are able to obey the command. “Be ye Holy, for I am Holy”. Entire sanctification is the will of God for all believers and should be earnestly pursed by walking
in obedience to God’s word (Heb 12:14, 1Pet 1:15-16, 1 Thess. 5:23-24, 1 John 2:6).

POSITIONS AND PRACTICES

MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

Marriage is a provision of God wherein one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others enter into a lifelong relationship through a marriage ceremony that is recognized by the church and legally sanctioned by the state. Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:6

Marriage establishes a "one-flesh" relationship that goes beyond a physical union and is more than either a temporary relationship of convenience intended to provide personal pleasure or a contract that binds two people together in a legal partnership. Marriage establishes an emotional and spiritual oneness that enables both partners to respond to the spiritual, physical and social needs of the other. It provides the
biblical context for the procreation of children. Matt. 19:5; Mal. 2:15, Gen. 2:18; 1 Cor. 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4

Marriage is to be an exclusive relationship that is maintained in purity. It is intended by God to be a permanent relationship. It is a witness to the world of the relationship between Christ and His church.
Eph. 5:3, 26, 27 77 Eph. 5:25, 31, 32

Marriage requires a commitment of love, perseverance and faith. Because of its sanctity and permanence, marriage should be treated with seriousness and entered into only after counsel and prayer for God's guidance. Christians should marry only those who are believers. An individual who becomes a believer after marriage should remain with his/her partner in peace, and should give witness to the Gospel in the
home. 2 Cor. 6:1, 14, 15, 1 Cor. 7:12-14, 16

The Bible holds family life as a position of trust and responsibility. The home is a stabilizing force in society, a place of nurture, counsel, and safety for children. Eph. 6:4

Marriage can only be broken by pomeia, which is understood as marital unfaithfulness involving adultery, homosexuality, or incest. While the Scriptures give evidence that the marriage vow and "one-flesh" union are broken by such acts and therefore recognize the breaking of the marriage relationship, the Scriptures do recommend that the most desirable option would be reconciliation. Matt. 5:32; 19:9, Eph. 4:32

DIVORCE
We believe that divorce is not God's intention. It is God's concession to the "hardness of men's hearts." We, therefore, discourage divorce by all lawful means and teaching. Our objective is reconciliation and the healing of the marital union wherever possible. Marital unfaithfulness should not be considered so much an occasion or opportunity for divorce but rather an opportunity for Christian grace, forgiveness,
and restoration. Divorce in our society is a termination of a marriage through a legal process authorized by the State. While the Church recognizes this legal process as an appropriate means to facilitate the permanent separation of spouses, the Church restricts the idea of divorce, in the sense of dissolution of marriage, to reasons specified in Scripture. Matt. 19:8

The weight of the biblical record is negative and the explicit statement is made, "God hates divorce." Divorce is more than an action of the courts which breaks the legal contract between partners in a marriage. It is also the fracture of a unique human relationship between a male and a female. Divorce has profound consequences for the children. Divorce is evidence of the sinful nature expressed in human failure. Jesus gives one explicit cause for the dissolution of marriage: pomeia or marital unfaithfulness. Mal 2:16

Where all attempts at reconciliation have failed and a divorce has been finalized, we extend Christ's love and compassion.

REMARRIAGE

Remarriage is the union, legally sanctioned by the State, of one man and one woman, one or both of whom have been previously married. It is regarded as acceptable in Scripture in the event of the death of a former spouse. It is also regarded as acceptable if there has been sexual immorality on the part of the former partner or if the former partner has remarried.