The Lakeside Statement of Belief is an attempt to flesh out the essential beliefs that unify our church family and give us our identity. This statement is not a creed, but simply reflects some of the core beliefs we have developed through our collective study of Scripture. It is not intended to be a comprehensive statement. At the outset, it is important to reiterate a few core principles that guide our Church's belief:

We have some beliefs that are essential to our unity as a church. "There is one body and one Spirit... there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of us all", Ephesians 4:4-6.

We have some beliefs upon which we may differ in opinion. "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters... " Romans 14:1, 4, 12, 22

In all things, we have a commitment to practicing Christ's love. "...If I hold in my mind not only human knowledge but also the very secrets of God, and if I have faith that can move mountains--but have not love, I amount to nothing at all." 1 Corinthians 13:2

The Bible is foundational to all our beliefs and practices. We rely on the Bible for inspiration, spiritual nourishment, guidance and hope. The Bible is God's full and final authority for the Church, the centerpiece of our ministry. It is reliable and true in every respect. As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful to teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." For us, there is no book but the Bible.

Our Commitment:

• We strongly encourage every believer to personally read, study and memorize Scripture. The Bible is God's personal word to us individually and corporately.

• We have made a commitment to conform our lives and beliefs to the truths of Scripture. The Bible is only useful when it is received with a spirit of humility and obedience.

We believe that God is good and God is great. He is great because he is the singular, all-powerful, creator and sustainer of the universe. He is a God of absolute perfection, holiness and justice. But he is also a good God who is rich in mercy. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. He relents from sending calamity (see Jonah 4:2). He is the source of every good thing (James 1:16-17).

We believe that our God is a God of relationship. He exists in eternity with his Son, Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit. We call God our heavenly Father because of the personal family relationship we have with him through faith in Jesus Christ. We know that in all things, God is working out his purpose in our lives (Romans 8:28). We also know that God's greatest desire is that "... all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4-5).

We believe that Jesus Christ is the very image of the invisible God, the exact representation of his essence and being (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). We believe that Jesus is God, and that knowing Jesus is the same as knowing God. As Jesus said in John 14:6-7, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

We believe that the Holy Spirit is God; he is co-equal with the Father and Son. He lives within every Christian and has been sent to restore God's image in our lives. He convicts us of our sin, enlightens our minds, strengthens our hearts for obedience, empowers our bodies to do ministry, grants us the assurance of salvation, produces his fruit in us, guides our steps, prays with us, glorifies Jesus Christ in everything, and generally sustains our new-found life in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we... are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Our Commitment

• We have no greater priority than knowing and loving Jesus Christ. We are committed to developing a deep and vital relationship with God through faith (trust) in Jesus Christ.

• We enthusiastically invite the work of God's Holy Spirit in our lives through prayer, worship, Bible Study, Scripture memorization and by responding in obedience to the good news of Jesus Christ.

• We make it our responsibility to help the world know God by proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ to everyone in our circle of influence. Our greatest duty and privilege is to know God and make him known to others.

God created us in his own image, so that we would be like him in every way. He entrusted us with great freedom, responsibility, and the tremendous potential for doing good. As we draw closer to God in faith and obedience, this goodness (or God's image) is magnified in our lives.

Tragically, God's image has been greatly distorted by our sin (or rebellion). In our rebellion, we suppress the truth of God in our lives. We question God's goodness, and even his existence. We are easily dissatisfied and are prone to anxiousness. We lose touch with our God-given design and all sense of meaning and purpose. We wander about, lost, pursuing our own pathway of morality. We allow our hearts and minds to become darkened by the deceitfulness of sin. We alienate ourselves from God's love. We set ourselves up for judgment and death. In a word, we exasperate God's grace and mercy. We test the boundaries he has set for us in his written word.

Fortunately, despite these facts, we are of great worth in God's sight. God's love compelled him to send his Son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus took away the penalty of our sin and offer eternal life to everyone who believes. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, he sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but so save the world through him." In Christ, we have the opportunity to believe and obey and have God's image restored in us.

Our Commitment

• We have no basis for pride or presumption. We must squarely face the fact that we have sinned and continually fall short of the image (glory) of God. We greatly need restoration.

• We have a responsibility to embrace Jesus Christ as our Savior. Through faith in Jesus Christ, God is offering us forgiveness for our sin and the promise of eternal life. Jesus is God's only remedy for sin and our only hope for salvation.

• We have the privilege of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others. Jesus's death is as much for others (the world) as it is for us (the Church). It is our desire to welcome all people into God's family for restoration and salvation.

The Church is the physical presence of Jesus Christ on the earth, or as Scripture says, "the body of Christ". Universally, the Church consists of believers who simply trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Therefore, the universal Church transcends denominational labels and creeds, as well as geographical, political, economic, and social barriers. In Revelation 7:9, the Church is described as "... a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language..." 

Locally, the Church consists of believers who come together for worship, prayer, teaching, fellowship, service, and the advancement of God's purposes in a specific geographical locale (i.e. Lakeside Christian Church). In Acts, the early Christians identified with the universal body of Christ. They made themselves accountable to local congregations and the oversight of their respective Eldership. The local Church was committed to achieving unity in purpose and belief.

Personally, we each represent individual members of Christ's body. We are Christ's hands, his feet, his mouth, his touch, his ears, his love, his shoulder, and his compassionate presence to each other and the world. We cooperatively unite with other members of the body of Christ (locally and universally) to glorify Jesus Christ, who is the head of his body, the Church. Every member of the body of Christ is of equal worth in God's sight.

Our Commitment

• We are committed to advancing the purposes of Christ by cooperating with the universal body of Christ and other local gatherings of Christians. We are also committed to building and protecting the unity within our Church family so that Christ's mission is not compromised in any way.

• We are committed to the concept of local Church membership as a means of building unity and promoting the expansion of Christ's kingdom locally. We believe Christians thrive when they become accountable to a group of believers for their spiritual growth and ministry.

We believe that faith and works of obedience are indivisible. Faith produces works, and works are the evidence or "proof" of faith. James 2:26 says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." In the New Testament faith is a verb. Believers demonstrated their faith by trusting Jesus Christ for salvation, repenting (turning) away from sin, confessing Jesus as Lord, submitting to baptism by immersion, and living to please Jesus Christ in every way.

Our faith doesn't save us in an ultimate sense. The Bible teaches that we are saved by the gift of God's grace and the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Therefore, there is no cause for boasting in our faith. Apart from God's grace our faith alone cannot achieve salvation.

Our Commitment

• We promote a simple New Testament understanding of faith that is not limited to mere intellectual belief. True faith gratefully responds to Christ's work on the cross through obedience and trust.

• We celebrate the gift of God's grace by boasting in the work of Jesus Christ, and never in our works. Our works are a big thank-you to God for what he has done through his Son in providing salvation to all men.