WHAT WE BELIEVE
Community Evangelical Free Church of Mahomet is a Member of the Evangelical Free Churches of America
From Pastor Jason...
What we belong to, and what we
believe is crucial to what we are becoming.
I have a family member who struggles with substance abuse, and their struggle began
with belonging to a group that used substances in excess. Over time my family member
began to believe that substances could cure their problems and solve their suffering.
It wasn't a shock that they inevitably became defined by their abuse.
Where we belong, what we believe frames who we are becoming.
If you are at CEFCM, you will inevitably hear me talk about belonging, believing
and becoming because I believe that when we belong to Jesus, when we believe
in Jesus, we are becoming disciples in His name.
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. erefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. ey are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. e true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. e Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. ough they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
We believe in glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ at a time predetermined by God the Father.
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.
MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY
Sexuality is a significant, but not a central feature of individual identity. Sexuality is a gift not
a right; it is the embodiment of the union between a biological man and a biological woman in
the context of holy marriage. Within a Christian marriage, sex is a powerful way to celebrate
each other, unify the couple and glorifying God.
Sex also carries the potential to create life, fulfilling the call for humans to be fruitful and
multiply within God’s world. Sexual expression outside marriage is damaging to the self
and to others, and it is dishonoring to God.
Bodies matter to God because bodies are created by God, and will be redeemed by God
in fullness through the resurrection to come. For the Christian, we recognize that our bodies
belong to God and are a temple of the Holy Spirit. As such, our life in the body now must
honor God— this includes our sexuality and sexual expression.
However, one of the ways that sin manifests in this life is through our experience of
sexual brokenness. We believe that we depend fully on the grace of God and the power of
the Holy Spirit to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God as a response to His abundant mercy.
GIVING AND GENEROSITY
WHY DO WE GIVE?
Every good gift comes from our good and generous Father. As children of God,
we want to allow the Holy Spirit to help us cultivate lives of generosity that
demonstrate the heart of our Father.
We learn from the Old Testament practice of tithing that giving of our resources
is to be done regularly and symbolically. The principle of “first fruits” invites us
to honor God with the fruit of our labor as a sign that everything we have comes
from God and belongs to God. In the New Testament, we find that giving to God is
to be an act of worship that is brought to the house of worship (Acts 5), continuing
a theme from the various practices of tithes and offerings in the Old Testament.
Both Jesus and Paul urge us to give generously not begrudgingly.
Living with generosity requires embracing simplicity and contentment, both of
which are virtues the Bible exhorts us to embrace. At CEFCM, we desire followers
of Jesus to give regularly, symbolically, and generously to God through the local
church as an act worship.
At CEFCM we will never "pass the plate" during a worship service.
Instead we have a box for your generous giving.
WOMEN IN MINISTRY
Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Both male and female are created in the image of God, therefore both men and
women have equal status, value and dignity before God. We believe that the
partnership between men and women is vital in the work of ministry.
This is known as the "complementation" view - that we complement one another.
We also believe that the Holy Spirit empowers both men and women for the work
of God, and that the gifts of Spirit, which are for that work, are available to both
women and men.
The EFCA does not formally ordain women based on an understanding of the biblical
text (Genesis 3; 1 Corinthians 11:3-16; 14:33b-36; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-33;
Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 1 Peter 3:1-7). Furthermore, of ordination, the
EFCA states that: "This credential (ordination) is designed for qualified males who serve
in pastoral ministry in the local church whose primary ministry responsibility is preaching
and teaching the Word.”
In the EFCA, women can and do, however, serve in vocational ministry, and the EFCA
recognizes and celebrates this by offering a Certificate of Christian Ministry to both
men and women who are not ordained.
We agree with the EFCA position scripturally, and also acknowledge that there
is historical and cultural context addressed in these texts, therefore we strive to
teach what the Bible says regarding this, and all issues, clearly and in context.
We do so to remove any division between men and women, and maintain the bonds
of unity that is crucial for the shared work of ministry.
At CEFCM we believe that with the exception of the Lead Pastor, or Elders, women
have a vital role in disciple making in the church. Therefore, we celebrate and
encourage the unique and different ways God builds His church through the service
of both Spirit-empowered men and women.