Church Beliefs

Why We Worship The Way We Do

Why We Worship God

A Brief History of the Church of God Denomination

What the Church of God Is...

Declaration of Faith:

Doctrinal Commitments

Why We Worship The Way We Do
We have provided this Web Page to help you understand our Pentecostal Heritage. Many people in the world today do not understand Pentecostal Worship. We trust that the information on this page will answer any questions about our beliefs, denomination, and local church. We encourage you to read the following topics on Why We Worship God, A Brief History of the Church of God Denomination, What the Church of God Is, our Declaration of Faith, and Doctrinal Commitments, as well as, listen to the online audio messages of the preached word and anointed singing on our Web site.

Why We Worship God
God, our heavenly Father desires to be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth!

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:23-24 (KJV)

In Luke 19:29-40, we read the story of Jesus riding into the city on a colt and the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psalms 150:1-6 (KJV)

Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. Psalms 63:4 (KJV)

O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Psalms 47:1 (KJV)

We make no apologies for our open worship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The New Testament teaches that we should worship the Lord our God. He is the only one we should serve, because there is no salvation in any other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Matthew 4:10 and Acts 4:12)

If the world can get excited enough over a football game to shout and praise their team, why can’t the church get excited over Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World? He deserves our praise!

A Brief History of the Church of God Denomination
The Church of God was founded in 1886 upon the principles of Christ as they are revealed in the Bible, the Word of God. It has its foundation of faith and practice in the Scriptures and the vital experience of its constituents is scripturally oriented.
A group of eight sincere Christians in a crude meetinghouse on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, where the Church of God traces its roots had a deep desire for a closer relationship and life with Christ. Realizing the futility of reforming their own churches, they established a new church whose objective would be to restore sound scriptural doctrines of the Bible, encourage deeper consecration and promote evangelism and Christian service. Twenty-one years after the formation of the Christian Union that evening at the Barney Creek Meeting House, the growing movement would establish themselves permanently as the Church of God.

From this seemingly insignificant origin has grown one of the most influential worldwide Pentecostal denominations. For nearly 120 years the Church of God has been a distinctive movement focused upon communicating the gospel in the power of the Holy Ghost. Presently, the Church of God has a worldwide membership of over 5 million with a presence in more than 145 countries.

What the Church of God Is ...

CHRISTIAN
First and foremost, the Church of God is a determinedly Christian church. It is built upon the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The doctrines and practices of the church are based upon His teachings.

PROTESTANT
The Church of God is founded upon the principles of Protestantism, although it is not a traditional follower of any specific leader of the Protestant Reformation. The denomination stands firmly for justification by faith, the priesthood of believers, the authority of the Bible, religious freedom, and the separation of church and state. It stands against abuses and extravagance of ecclesiastical ritualism and dogmatism.

EVANGELICAL
Evangelical is the term used to describe those who affirm the primary doctrines revealed in the Scriptures. These doctrines include the inspiration and authority of the Word of God; the Trinity; the deity and virgin birth of Jesus Christ; salvation by faith in the atoning death of Christ; His bodily resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father; the ministry of the Holy Ghost; the second coming of Christ; and the spiritual unity of believers in Jesus Christ.

PENTECOSTAL
In 1896, many members of the Church of God experienced a spiritual outpouring they identified as the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Because it was so similar to the experience of the early Christians on the day of Pentecost, it came to be called a Pentecostal experience, an enrichment of the Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit that empowered believers to be effective witnesses of Christ. The principle distinctive of the Church of God as a Pentecostal organization is its belief in speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance and that this is the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost.

EVANGELISTIC
From its inception the Church of God has been a revival movement. Evangelism has been in the forefront of all its activities. The church has maintained an aggressive effort to take the message of Christ throughout the world by all means and methods. Every program of the church reflects an evangelistic attitude: revivals, worship services, teaching, preaching and its missionary efforts.

CARING
From its beginnings, the Church of God Denomination has felt its responsibility to benevolence ministries. The Headquarters of the Church of God operates a number of specialized programs and institutions: Homes for Children, Youth and Unwed Mothers, Operation Compassion, and a variety of Ministries by Chaplains.

MISSION MINDED
The heart of Missions is the implementation of a global strategy of evangelism, church planting and training. Its scriptural purpose is to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ; share Christ's love for the world; minister to the totality of human need; bring men and women to the knowledge of God and His redeeming grace; and obey Christ by confessing Him to the world. Today, Church of God missions is carried out in 157 countries organized in eight geographical regions.



Declaration of Faith:
The Church of God believes the whole Bible to be completely and equally inspired and that it is the written Word of God. The Church of God has adopted the following Declaration of Faith as its standard and official expression of its doctrine.

We Believe:

• In the verbal inspiration of the Bible.
  
  
• In one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
  
  
• That Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary. That Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. That He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as the Intercessor.
  
  
• That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.
  
  
• That justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.
  
  
• In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.
  
  
• Holiness to be God's standard of living for His people.
  
  
• In the baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to a clean heart.
  
  
• In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
  
  
• In water baptism by immersion, and all who repent should be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
  
  
• Divine healing is provided for all in the atonement.
  
  
• In the Lord's Supper and washing of the saints' feet.
  
  
• In the Premillennial Second Coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years.
  
  
• In the bodily resurrection; eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.

Doctrinal Commitments
The following Doctrinal Commitments represent the core beliefs of the denomination as outlined in Scripture.

• Repentance. Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3; Acts 3:19.
  
  
• Justification. Romans 5:1; Titus 3:7.
  
  
• Regeneration. Titus 3:5.
  
  
• New birth. John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:9.
  
  
• Sanctification subsequent to justification. Romans 5:2; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 13:12.
  
  
• Holiness. Luke 1:75; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; Hebrews 12:14.
  
  
• Water baptism. Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:9, 10; John 3:22, 23; Acts 8:36, 38.
  
  
• Baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to cleansing; the enduement of power for service. Matthew 3:11;Luke 24:49, 53; Acts 1:4-8.
  
  
• The speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance as the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost. John 15:26; Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:1-7.
  
  
• The Church. Exodus 19:5, 6; Psalm 22:22; Matthew 16:13-19; 28:19,20; Acts 1:8; 2:42-47; 7:38; 20:28; Romans 8:14-17: 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 12:12-31; 2 Corinthians 6:6-18; Ephesians 2:19-22; 3:9, 21; Philippians 3:10; Hebrews 2:12; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 1:6, 7; Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17.
  
  
• Spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:1, 7, 10, 28, 31; 1 Corinthians 14:1.
  
  
• Signs following believers. Mark 16:17-20; Romans 15:18, 19; Hebrews 2:4.
  
  
• Fruit of the Spirit. Romans 6:22; Galatians 5:22, 23; Ephesians 5:9; Philippians 1:11.
  
  
• Divine healing provided for all in the Atonement. Psalm 103:3; Isaiah 53:4, 5; Matthew 8:17; James 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:24.
  
  
• The Lord's Supper. Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:2 3-2 6.
  
  
• Washing the saints' feet. John 13:4-17; 1 Timothy 5:9, 10.
  
  
• Tithing and giving. Genesis 14:18-20; 28:20-22; Malachi 3:10; Luke 11 : 42 ; 2 Corinthians 9:6-9; 16:2; Hebrews 7:1-21.
  
  
• Restitution where possible. Matthew 3:8; Luke 19:8, 9.
  
  
• Premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the dead saints and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years. Zechariah 14:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Jude 14, 15; Revelation 5:10; 19:11-21; 20:4-6.
  
  
• Resurrection. John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:5, 6.
  
  
• Eternal life for the righteous. Matthew 25:46; Luke 18:30; John 10:28; Romans 6:22; 1 John 5:11-13.
  
  
• Eternal punishment for the wicked. No liberation nor annihilation. Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 3:29; 2 Thessalonians 1: 8, 9; Revelation 20:10-15; 21:8.