{ Thankful }

Today, we're thankful for the freedom and the

opportunity to gather as a body of believers.

 

Here's the kiddos this morning before we left for church.

It's been almost two years since Joe and I began attending Madison Square Church.  We've been challenged, and we've been changed.  It's taken us a long time to commit to Madison because it's so different than any other church we've been to, but now that we have committed to it, I wouldn't want it any other way.  We're grateful to have found such a wonderful church family, and we're thankful for Pastor Dave's leadership. 

Pastor Dave Beelen

For those of you who may be interested,

the following is a statement of beliefs our church holds to. 

Everyone has beliefs. But why are beliefs important? Everyone believes certain things about life and the way it works. Are beliefs important because what we believe identifies who we are? Could we say that our beliefs drive our values? Our values drive our expectations. Our expectations drive our actions. Our beliefs influence everything about who we are and what we do and don't do. They become a foundation for everything in our lives. But can beliefs simply be wrong? If the builders of a skyscraper believe that it doesn't matter if half of the foundation is on rock and the other half on sand, does it matter how strongly they believe it?

What do you believe?  This is what we believe...

The Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God and our only guide for faith and living.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"

Jesus Christ is fully divine; a person must trust him alone as Savior in order to have eternal life.

Acts 4:10 "Then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed."

Because God is sovereign and rules over all His creation, we recognize no split between the 'sacred' and the 'secular'.

Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;" Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'"

The Holy Spirit gives gifts to each believer. All of these biblical gifts are still available and in operation today.

1 Peter 4:10 "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."

Reconciliation (repaired relationships) is at the heart of the Gospel and is, therefore, not an optional truth or practice.

2 Corinthians 5:18 "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation"

We acknowledge the priesthood of all believers.

1 Peter 2:9-10 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

The church is above all, a community of believers, called to be the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12 "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."

Christ has commissioned His church to make disciples of all people.

Mathew 28:16-20 "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"