Mt. Hood Christian Center

 

A.  What do we believe?

B.  What does that mean to our everyday lives?

 

The answer to the first question would probably sound a bit like a text book.  Perhaps that is what you are looking for here.  The answer to the second question would probably sound a little more philosophical.  To answer the first determines our world view.  To answer the second determines the convictions that we live our life out with.

 

So let's start with the text book answer.  We give assent to several fundamental beliefs or what you might classify as "doctrines".

 

    When it comes to any belief or answers to life's most difficult questions, the Bible contains direct answers from God that we hold to be absolute truth.  We may not  always interpret the Bible correctly, but it's still our source for truth.

 

    This is probably one of the most difficult beliefs to absorb as well as to explain. "Trinity" is a term that is not found in the Bible but a word used to describe what is apparent about God in the Scriptures. The Bible clearly speaks of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit...and also clearly presents that there is only one God. Thus the term: "Tri" meaning three, and "Unity" meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity. It is a way of acknowledging what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three "Persons" who have the same essence of deity.

 

    We try to give human illustrations for the Trinity, such as H₂O being water, ice and steam (all different forms, but all are H₂O).

 

    God the Son (Jesus) is fully, completely God. God the Father is fully, completely God. And God the Holy Spirit is fully, completely God. Yet there is only one God. In our world, with our limited human experience, it's tough to understand the Trinity.  We see God this way throughout Scripture.

 

    Man isn't basically good, he is basically evil.  Because of the sin of Adam & Eve, the nature and consequences of sin has been passed on generation to generation.  Sin led not only to physical death, but to spiritual death.  That spiritual death is also called "separation from God".

 

    Though we are born separated from God, there is hope.  The Bible is a love story about how God cared about mankind so much that He made it possible for us to avoid a future without Him.  We are saved from a future without God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and the work that He accomplished on our behalf during His birth,  life, death, resurrection and ascension.

 

    We believe that being baptized (immersed in water) in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is an essential response to Jesus’ command, testifying to His lordship as Christ and King.  We believe in observing the Lord’s Supper, receiving the broken bread and the fruit of the vine with joy and faith as we acknowledge the life and triumph of Christ.  We believe that the practice of baptism and communion are physical symbols of a spiritual work.  

 

    The Bible conveys a myriad of examples of what the Holy Spirit accomplished in the early church.  The same Holy Spirit that was present then is still alive and well today.  The same gift of power and empowerment is available to every believer today who earnestly seeks it.

 

    What does that look like?  It doesn't look the same for everybody but some of the experiences that flow out of the Holy Spirit include:

• a deeper reverence for God
• a more active love for Christ, His Word and for people
• increased boldness
• power for living out your faith
• power for living right (righteousness)
  
• a greater dedication to His work
• a greater desire for His purposes for your life
• the ability to speak in  unknown languages
  
• the ability to be a conduit for healing
• and much more!

    This topic of the Holy Spirit always raises question after question and we have people who would love to walk you through those questions.

 

7.  The purpose of the Church

• through the Church the world sees and hears and gains understanding of the plans and purposes of God
• the Church is the corporate body through which an individual may worship God
• through the Church, believers may grow and mature as followers of the ways of Jesus Christ

8.  Divine healing

    Christ's suffering and death provides the opportunity for escape from sickness.  We believe that healing can be imparted through faith by the "laying on of hands" which simply means that we pray for people to be healed.  Is everybody always healed according to how we prayed?  No.  Have we ever observed healing after prayer?  Absolutely.

 

    This is referred to as the "Second Coming" or "the Rapture".  Christ ascended into the clouds after His resurrection 2000 years ago and promised that He would return in the same way that He left.  His return is the most significant event that is yet to happen to the church.  It will be at that time that this world will cease to be under the dominion of Satan and it will be returned to the state in which it was originally created with Jesus as the King over all.

 

 

There are certainly other things that we believe but these nine are a summation of what we believe to be "non-negotiable".  These act as a lens through which we view, discern, guard, and practice what we believe to be true.

 

To answer the second question of "what does this mean to our everyday lives?", Mt. Hood Christian Center has taken all of this doctrine and boiled it down to one phrase that sums up the entirety of Scripture.  That phrase is simply

 

"love God, love people, serve both"

 

and we believe it encompasses everything that God has told His people as well as His purposes and plans for us specifically as a church.