Salvation
The act of putting one's faith in the finished sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Whereas before, your sin separated you from God and his love, now through your belief in the life, death and resurrection of Christ your relationship with God has been made right once again. This is God’s plan for your life because He loves you and wants a relationship with you. Salvation brings new life which includes (among other things) eternal life, peace with God, peace in your life, forgiveness of all your sins, purpose in this life and the next.
1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Baptism
A picture of salvation; It is not part of your salvation experience. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by grace, and not by anything we do. This includes baptism. Baptism is a physical act where you physically enter into the water, your body goes under the water and is lifted up out of the water again. This physical action represents a great spiritual truth. Romans 6:1-14 describes this beautifully, telling us how our salvation is like a spiritual baptism that identifies us with Jesus who died, was buried, and rose again. Our physical baptism publicly identifies us as Christians and pictures this truth for all to see.
Baptism is an “ordinance.” This means God has ordered it to be done. He gave this ordinance to the church – to baptize those who have become Christians. If you need to obey God by getting baptized please contact us at livingfaithls.info@gmail.com. We would love to discuss this great milestone in your life.
Acts 8:37-38 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
Discipleship
The biblical process by which one is conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ's own words, as found in Luke 14:25-33, no earthly relationship, possession, or interest, can or should compete with discipleship. Simply stated, discipleship must be the heartbeat and priority of every New Testament local church (Matthew 28:18-20) and every New Testament believer (Colossians 1:28).
There are 4 goals of discipleship that we hope to instill in every member at Living Faith:
• To establish the believer in Worship.
• To establish the believer in the Word of God.
• To establish the believer in the local church.
• To establish the believer in the work of the ministry.
2 Timothy 2:1-2 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Membership
Making the commitment to be a part of the body of Christ in a local assembly of believers, otherwise known as the local church. This means that whatever the body is doing, the differing parts of that body are going to work in one accord to accomplish that mission.
The word "member" means body part as found in 1 Corinthians 12:27. When the various members of a body come together, the desired goal is that all the members will function together in the ways they were designed to function for the body to be whole and healthy.
1 Corinthians 12 provides a beautiful picture for the local church and the importance of fully functioning membership in the body of Christ. It details very explicitly just how much we need each other and that every part is necessary for the edification of the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Serving
Typically broken down into two different parts, ministry and service. Ministry is a service that includes the teaching of God's Word in some manner. This can include small group Bible studies, preaching, teaching with our kids and worship ministry.
Service is typically a physical, administrative or help-based activity which edifies the body of Christ. Examples of service include set up and tear down, cleaning, being a helper in Living Faith Kids, greeting people, ushering and other physical needs. The church needs many workers to function properly and we are all called to serve.
There is no “they”; there is only “us.” The Bible teaches that we are the church. The church is the body and we are members gifted to serve. We believe God has brought you here to "be" the church, not simply "go" to a church just to attend a service. One ministry mindset here at Living Faith is “Every Saint a Servant.” God wants to use you to further His kingdom. If you see a need, please look for a way to fill that need. The best way to do this is to get involved on a ministry or service team that already exists.
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Spiritual Growth
At Living Faith our discipleship equipping process has 3 stages. Once the believer completes the Discipleship 1 (D1) study, the opportunity is available for them to continue growing in the Lord by taking our Discipleship 2 and Living Faith Bible Institute classes. The goal of this education is to transform our disciples into disciplers and to train those leaders so they can powerfully communicate or serve the body of Christ according to gift-sets that God has given them.
Please visit our Equip page to learn more about how you can continue to grow in your faith, deepen your understanding of the Word and further develop your gift-sets with the hope of leading others also.
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Going
The word “Missions” (plural) refers to the activities required to accomplish the mission (singular) God has given us. According to the scriptures, that mission is to go and make disciples. We believe, in light of that, that the act of missions is for all of us, not just missionaries in a distant land. God wants to use you to be a part of his mission and you don't have to even get on plane to do it! To frame it a little differently, the Bible calls every believer to live out a missional lifestyle. That means that the totality of our lives (our behavior and actions) are to be as though we are missionaries or "sent ones" to our communities. Because of this, we should understand that missions isn't just a foreign concept. In fact, as we open our spiritual eyes we will see there are "potential" missions waiting all around us.
Living Faith will on occasion offer mission trips to places all over the world. We call this our global outreach ministry. Most of these trips are partnerships with pastors and missionaries who we already support prayerfully and financially from across the globe.
As some enter this stage of their spiritual growth, God will clearly ask you to serve somewhere for a matter of months, or years, or perhaps for the rest of your life. We hope to be an equipping church that will prepare you for this type of life. The safest way to determine whether or not God is calling you to minister elsewhere is to first make sure you're making disciples here. If you believe God might be calling you to a particular field, begin your equipping process today. Contact livingfaithls.info@gmail.com
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.