Essential Tenets of New Hanover Church

The Love of the Triune God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God is majestic, compassionate, and lovingly desires to be known. Therefore we worship him. God is revealed generally through creation, specifically through the Holy Scriptures, and finally in the living Word who became flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord. We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To him be all honor, glory and praise forever!

Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:13-14; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 1:25

The Authority of Scripture - The Bible is the Only Infallible Rule of Faith and Practice:

The Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Holy Spirit spoke through its authors and witnesses to us today that it is indeed and in truth the very Word of God, God's gift to the world and guide for his people. All Scripture is self-attesting and being truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God's redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.

2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Matthew 4:4; Luke 24:44-45; Psalm 119; John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:20-21

Jesus Christ is the Living Word:

Jesus Christ is the living Word, the promised Messiah, and the eternal Son of the Father, sent in mission to the earth. Incarnated in the womb of the virgin Mary, he is fully God and fully human, come to reconcile God and humanity. During his earthly ministry Jesus lived a sinless life, healed the sick, raised the dead, drove out demons, befriended sinners, preached the gospel to the poor, and died as our substitute on the cross. He rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the Father, and remains our faithful mediator and high priest. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by faith in him. He is the only head of the Church, our Lord and Savior.

John 1:1-3; John 1:14-18; Ephesians 1:7-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3;1 Timothy 2:5-6; Luke 1:31-35;2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 5:18-19; 1 John 4:2-4; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:19,21; 1 John 2:2; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:11-12; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:19-23; 1 Corinthians 1:23-25

The Work of the Holy Spirit is to Glorify Jesus Christ and to Apply His Saving Work to Our Lives:

By the Holy Spirit, the redeemed cry 'Abba' as God's adopted children. The Spirit awakens from spiritual death those whom God has chosen, convicting us of sin, comforting our hearts with the hope of the Gospel, uniting us to Christ, making Christ real to us, gathering us into a people of his own possession, and sealing our salvation. Indwelling our hearts, the Spirit sanctifies us for lives of holiness, and empowers us for ministry in the Church and mission to the world.

Genesis 1:1-2; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:9-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:19-22; John 16:13; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Timothy 4:1; James 4:5; 1 John 5:6; John 15:13; Acts 5:32;Acts 15:28; Romans 8:16; Galatians 5:16-18; John 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 2 Peter 1:21; John 14:16-18;Acts 19:1-7; Romans 8:26-27; Galatians 4:6

Our Need For Salvation and Our Call to Repentance:

In the beginning, the sovereign God created all things good. Humanity, bearing God's likeness, crowns creation. Through the disobedience of those made in the image of God, the whole of creation fell into the darkness of sin and rebellion. In love, God initiated the plan of redemption, which stands upon the historic events of the crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus the Messiah. God's gracious redemptive work results in the Church and culminates in the new creation.

The Holy Spirit leads us to repentance, turning away from sin through the indwelling power of God, in order to fully embrace the redemption available through the saving death of Jesus Christ. God credits his righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifies them in his sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.

Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 5:18-19; Psalm 51:5; Psalm 143:2; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 7:18-23; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 3:22-26; Romans 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Acts 4:12

The Church is Called to Build the Kingdom of God in the World:

The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church is the fruit of God's redemptive work; a covenanted community of worship, prayer and service, called to love God and neighbor and to live out the ethical and moral imperatives revealed in Holy Scripture. The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where Scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained.

All believers are baptized in one Spirit into this Body, which finds expression in local congregations. In our community the loving presence of God is embodied, the Gospel is preached in truth, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are rightly administered, compassionate and Godly discipline is exercised, and Kingdom mission is faithfully carried out. New Hanover Church is a connectional and confessional community in which theological, ethical and moral accountability is demonstrated.

Matthew 13:24-43; Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:10-31; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 2:19-22; Ephesians 4:1-6; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 7:9-10; Romans 11:13-24; 1 Peter 2:9-10

Jesus Will Come Again:

Finally, in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ will leave the Father's side to return to earth in glory to fulfill God's promised purposes. All believers look forward to this day when our lowly bodies will be transformed to be like Christ's glorious body and the Church, the bride, will be presented to her bridegroom. For Christ will liberate creation from its bondage to corruption, judge the living and the dead, usher in a new heaven and earth, and establish God's everlasting Kingdom. 'Even so, come Lord Jesus!'

John 14:1-3; Acts 1:1-11; Matthew 24:1-25:46; Matthew 26:64; Luke 21:5-36; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Titus 2:11-14