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STATEMENT OF FAITH
What we believe, our purpose....
Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of
Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed to His image by the power of
the Holy Spirit.
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We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ's agape
love, which is greater than any of our differences, and without which we have no right to be
called Christians.
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We believe that worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain
flexible and yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship. We also believe
that worship of God should be inspirational; thus, we use music in worship.
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We believe that worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services
are designed with great emphasis upon the teaching of the Word of God. We do not allow interruption
during the teaching of the Word (e.g., loud speaking in tongues or prophecy), as we do not believe
that the Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself - nor should anyone else. We also believe that worship of
God should be fruitful; thus, we look for His love in our lives as the greatest sign that we have been truly
worshiping Him.
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We believe that the Scriptures (both Testaments) are the inspired, inerrant Word of
God.
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We believe that God is eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
and that He is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.
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We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was born of a virgin,
lived a sinless life, provided the only means for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the cross, was
bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever
lives to make intercession for us.
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We believe that, after Jesus ascended to heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers
in Jerusalem , enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by
all believers today.
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We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin,
but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When
a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save them, they are
immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit; all their sins are forgiven; and that person becomes a child of
God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord.
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We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid
for today so long as they are exercised according to Scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best
gifts, seeking to exercise them in an orderly fashion and in love, that the whole body of Christ might be edified. We
believe that love is more important than the most spectacular of gifts, and without love all exercise of spiritual
gifts is worthless.
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We believe that church government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy; we
depend on the Holy Spirit to lead, rather than on fleshly promotion.
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We await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and we believe that the second coming of
Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible.
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We are motivated by the above to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent
study of God's Word, regular fellowship, participation in baptism by immersion, and Holy Communion.
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We seek to teach the Word of God (both expositorily and topically) in such a way that its
message can be applied to an individual's life, leading that person to greater maturity in Christ, and equipping
them for ministry.
HISTORY
South Hill Calvary Chapel started in the South Hill area on June 14, 2001, with a small Bible
study at Mel Korum YMCA. Within a few months, on October 14th, Sunday services began at
Ferrucci Junior High School. On March 17, 2002, the Lord opened up an opportunity for us to
meet at the more permanent facility of the Cascade Early Childhood Development Center. Formerly
a church building, the center is fully equipped with all the classrooms and sanctuary necessary for
effective ministry. Truly, our relationship with Cascade has been a match made in heaven.
South Hill Calvary Chapel is affiliated with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California, which was founded by
Pastor Chuck Smith, who has remained their senior pastor to this day. Pastor Chuck was one of the human instruments
God used to bring about the "Jesus Movement" of the late 1960's and early 1970's; he is the author/teacher of the
national radio program: The Word for Today. The Calvary Chapel movement has spawned over 1200 churches in the United
States and around the world.
Pastor Ron Sanchez was ordained as a Calvary Chapel pastor in 1992; he was sent out to South Hill as a church plant
from Calvary Fellowship in 2001. Calvary Fellowship's senior pastor is Wayne Taylor, who has been instrumental in
planting over 30 Calvary Chapel churches in Washington, Russia, Germany, France, England and Japan.
For more information on the history of the Calvary Chapel movement and the distinctives of Calvary Chapel
contact the church office. We would be happy to send you a complimentary copy of the books Harvest and Calvary
Chapel Distinctives. Both of these books can also be accessed on the RESOURCES page of our website, under
'Calvary Books Online'.
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