This page can be helpful for those who want to know our foundational evangelical position. More than anything we want you to know God is real, He is holy, He is love, He is Lord, He transforms lives, He brings peace and there's a great future for those who follow Him

Statement of Faith

At Emmanuel Christian Centre we unite around the beliefs of historic, biblical Christianity which also align with the Evangelical Alliance Basis of Faith.

We believe in...

The one true God who lives eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit;

The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world;

The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God - fully trustworthy for faith and conduct;

The dignity of all people, because they are made male and female in God's image to love, be holy and care for creation, yet corrupted by sin, which incurs divine wrath and judgement;

The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who was born of the virgin Mary; truly divine and truly human, yet without sin;

The atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross: dying in our place, paying the price of sin and defeating evil, so reconciling us (who believe on Him) with God;

The bodily resurrection of Christ, the first fruits of our resurrection; His ascension to the Father, and His reign and mediation as the only Saviour of the world;

The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ;

The ministry of God the Holy Spirit, who leads us to repentance, unites us with Christ through new birth, empowers our discipleship and enables our witness;

The Church, the body of Christ both local and universal, the priesthood of all believers - given life by the Spirit and endowed with the Spirit's gifts to worship God and proclaim the gospel, promoting His justice and love;

The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgement, bring (the fulness of) eternal life to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new earth.

The word 'distinctive' is defined as a characteristic of a person or thing that distinguishes it from all others. In Christian contexts this usually refers to what a local church believes and is known for, particularly what makes it different to the other churches in an area. These tabs briefly highlight a few of our distinctives. Please request a 'distinctives document' for a more comprehensive overview of our beliefs and practices.

We teach and practice believers’ baptism by full immersion in water (credobaptism). The word baptism itself means to dip, immerse or submerge and has no other use. We actively encourage all to be baptised in obedience to Christ’s ordinance when they profess faith in Him, count the cost of following Him, and turn to God through Him (Acts 2:38). Baptism signifies and symbolises cleansing from sin, dying to the old life and being raised to a new life in union with Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). In response to the grace of God, we believe each person should make a personal decision at a suitable age. This may include older children who call on the Lord if they also demonstrate saving-faith (Acts 2:38-39). Baptism is usually undertaken in a nearby lake or our main hall pool. We also believe that Jesus is the Baptiser in the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16, Acts 1:5).

Taking communion in the form of bread and wine (grape juice) is a continued sign of God’s fellowship with us, a reminder of the price that Jesus Christ paid and a call to remember His return (1 Cor. 11:24-26). The bread is symbolic of Jesus' life and body, and the wine is symbolic of His blood which ratifies the new covenant (John 6:48-51, Matt. 26:28). We believe it should be taken regularly by all who, after personal reflection, are in right standing with Jesus and His Church (1 Cor. 11:28-29). There is no 'supernatural' change to the bread and wine itself but we do believe Jesus is with us by His Spirit. As an ordinance received by faith, it unifies God’s people and ought to demonstrate this when taken. For some not to participate is part of our church discipline because it signifies broken communion with Christ and/or His Church (1 Cor. 11:27-32, 2 Thess. 3:14).

We believe Jesus' prayer for unity is too powerful to disregard (John 17:21) and that's why we have taken the view that we can work together with sincere believers and biblically-minded churches for the sake of the gospel in specific areas. We cherish 'unity of the Spirit' until we reach 'unity of the faith' (Eph. 4:3 & 13), but we balance that with a prayerful consideration to be holy and to stand for the historic Christian faith as revealed in Scripture (Matt. 24:35, 2 Tim 3:16, 1 Pet. 1:16-17). As a member church of the Evangelical Alliance, our doctrinal stance is based on what is considered the authentic, mainstream evangelical position. Therefore, we cannot enter formal working relationships with churches or denominations that adopt a progressive divergence from essential doctrines of the Faith. We wholeheartedly seek spiritual unity, love and Christian fellowship with those who affirm biblical truth and call on the Lord with a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22, 1 Pet. 1:22).

We believe in spiritual gifts which are not learned skills or inherited talents, but particular gifts received by grace (Rom. 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-11 & 28-31). The gifts are to be used for the edification of the Church and for the glory of God (1 Cor. 12:4, 1 Pet. 4:11). We do not believe there is any particular gift which a believer must manifest to validate their salvation or to prove they are baptised in the Holy Spirit. However, the gifts are not esteemed greater than growing spiritual fruit or maturing in love, and therefore we do not promote the seeking of charismatic encounters over consistently walking in the Spirit (John 15:8, Acts 8:18-21, 1 Cor. 12:31-13:1-3 & 14:1-33, 1 John 4:1-8). While we recognise that God may grant a variety of gifts as He chooses, we are circumspect about hyper-charismatic manifestations which do nothing to build up the Church (1 Cor. 14:12, Gal. 5:25, 1 Thes. 5:19-21, 1 John 4:1).

You can request our distinctives document if you want a more comprehensive overview of our beliefs and practices. Any of our beliefs are based on the best light or insight we have been granted at any given time. We are open to change should the Word by the Spirit confirm that in our fallibility we have not discerned correctly. In areas of Chistian doctrine which we have not yet reached a clear view on, we will lean to a conservative and evangelical position to mitigate moving beyond the truth of Scripture and/or God's order. This would typically be in line with the Assemblies of God USA positional papers on which our Constitution was founded, while prayerfully considering the views of other denominations associated with the Wesleyan Holiness Connection.