Living Truth Christian Fellowship
Royal Family Kids Camp Ministry Agreement
As a servant in Living Truth Christian Fellowship’s Royal Family Kids Camp ministry, I am in agreement with and support Living Truth’s Statement of Doctrine, as well as its Beliefs, Practices, and Values (see below).
I understand that my agreement is necessary for children attending camp to receive clear and consistent Godly wisdom and instruction from all volunteers, and that any disagreement as to doctrine, beliefs, practices, and values may constitute my not being invited to participate in camp at the discretion of Living Truth Christian Fellowship’s Board of Elders.
Statement of Doctrine
1. We believe that the Bible (Old and New Testament) is the inspired Word of God, inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts, a complete and final revelation of God. (II Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:160; Hebrews 1:1-2, Proverbs 30:5)
2. We believe that there is One Living and True God who is personal and knowable. He is sovereign, Creator of all things, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and perfect in all His attributes. Within the Nature of the One True God, there simultaneously exist three Eternal Persons, namely God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three Persons are Co-equal in all the attributes of the Divine Nature. (Isaiah 43:10-13, 44:24, 45:11-12; Psalm 139:1-10; Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 90:2 John 6:27; I John 5:20; Acts 5:3-4; Luke 3:21-22)
a. The Trinity - We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons; that these three persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) are co-equal in every divine perfection; and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption. (Deuteronomy. 6:4; Isaiah 48:16-17; Matt 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14)
b. God, the Father - We believe in God, the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and life. We believe that He concerns Himself mercifully with the affairs of men; that He hears and answers our prayers; and that He saves from eternal damnation all men who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. (John 4:24; 3:16-17)
c. God, the Son, Jesus Christ - We believe in Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary, atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and His personal and visible return. (Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14, 8:58; Acts 1:9-11; I Corinthians 15:3-6; II Corinthians 5:21; I John 1:7; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; Hebrews 7:25)
d. God, the Holy Spirit - We believe in the Holy Spirit who was sent from the Father and the Son to convict the world of sin, and to generate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is their abiding helper, guide, teacher, seal, author and interpreter of the Word. (John 16:8-11; 16:13-15; John 15:26; Romans 8:14-17; Ephesians 1:13-14)
3. We believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh (fully man and fully God).
4. We believe that Jesus Christ is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Creator of all things, virgin born, sinless, and the only Savior of mankind. (John 1:1-3, 14; Hebrews 2:17-18; John 8:58, 10:30; 14:6,9; Colossians 1:15-19, 2:9; Luke 1:26-35; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
5. We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins with His blood. He was buried, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended to heaven. (Romans 5:6-9; I Peter 3:18; Luke 24:36-43; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:9-11).
6. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells and seals every believer at the moment of salvation. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and that the Biblical gifts of the Spirit are available to believers today. We believe the Holy Spirit came to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment and to regenerate, sanctify and empower all believers for witnessing and ministry. (John 14:16-17; I Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 1:13-14; I Peter 4;10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Romans 12:4-8; John 16:7-11; John 3:3-8; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 5:18; Acts 1:4-8)
7. We believe that sin is falling short of God’s divine standard and that sin separates man from God. (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1-2)
8. We believe that everyone is a sinner by nature, guilty before God, deserving of judgement, and in need of the Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 3:9-26; Romans 5:12-21; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; Psalm 51:5)
9. We believe that Hell is a place of eternal punishment for the unbeliever, and that Heaven is a place of eternal blessedness for the believer. (Rev. 20:10-22:5; II Corinthians 5:1-10)
10. We believe that salvation from sin is by God’s grace through faith, is not earned or deserved, and is based upon the work of Jesus Christ alone. (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:39; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
11. We believe that saving faith requires repentance and will result in a pattern of good works in the believer’s life. (Acts 3:19, 17:30-31, 26:20; James 2:14-26; I John 2:3-6)
12. We believe that Jesus Christ will visibly return to earth, in the same manner in which He ascended, to establish His millennial kingdom. (Acts 1:9-11; Matthew 24:21-31; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:4-6)
Beliefs, Practices and Values
1. God is alive, personal and knowable. (Psalm 14:1; Acts 17:24-27; Romans 1:20; James 4:8)
2. God has made Himself known and His existence evident through creation, conscience, human history, the Word of God, and ultimately, through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1, 2, 3; Heb. 1:1-3)
3. Jesus Christ is the Son of God (God in the flesh). He is the only way of salvation and the only true hope for mankind. His presence in the life of the believer brings wholeness and makes sense of life itself. (John 1:1, 14, 8:24, 10:7-11, 24-30, 14:6; Hebrews 1:1-8)
4. God’s word is truth and God’s Spirit makes that truth alive and known. At LIVING TRUTH CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, our primary method of teaching is verse by verse exposition of the Biblical text. (Nehemiah 8:1-8; John 17:17; I Corinthians 2:9-16; Ephesians 6:17, I Timothy 4:1-13; Hebrews 4:12) Additionally, we will not hesitate to deal with current issues of our time and apologetic issues to strengthen and equip the church body.
5. God’s strong presence is sought in our worship, mined in His word, and beseeched through our prayer. (Psalm 119; Matthew 7:7-11; John 4:23-24; Acts 20:27)
6. We are a church that believes prayer must be central in our fellowship, therefore we encourage believers to gather together for midweek prayer time to lift up the needs the body of Christ, families, community, country and the unsaved world. (I Samuel 12:23; Ephesians 6:18-19; Colossians 1:9-14; I Thessalonians 5:17; I Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:14-15)
7. We are open to all God has for us as a church including all spiritual gifts. However, we will be Biblically balanced in our approach, look to God for the results, to the leading of the Holy Spirit for direction and to the elders of the church for Biblical guidance. All of these things will be governed by sensitivity to others, unity among brethren, edification of the body, order and most of all love. Within the body of Christ believers possess different gifts. No one “spiritual gift” is ever required for salvation. Furthermore, it is the Holy Spirit, according to His will, Who sovereignly gives all the gifts. The diversity in the body is by God’s design. There is no room in the body of Christ for believing one merited his gift or for looking down on another’s gifting. The greatest evidence that one is submitted to the power of God and filled with the Holy Spirit is love. (I Corinthians 12-14)
8. We reach out as a church family to our brothers and sisters, and the community at large, who have genuine material need. We also care for the poor, orphan and widow as the Bible commands. (Proverbs 21:13; Isaiah 58:6-11; Jeremiah 22:16; Matthew 22:37-40, 25:31-40; Romans 15:25-26; Galatians 2:10; I Timothy 5:3-15; James 1:27)
9. We believe in the sanctity of life from the moment of conception and the sanctity of life for all human persons. However, we believe capital punishment is Biblical. (Exodus 20:13; Leviticus 19:32, 24:17; Psalm 127:3, 139:13-18; Romans 13:1-5)
10. We support (Biblical) marriage and family because they are by God’s design, precious to Him and the basic institution of society. This church defines ‘marriage” as the exclusive covenantal union of one man and one woman in which such union is a lifetime commitment. A civil government’s sanction of a union will be recognized as a legitimate marriage by the church only to the extent that it is consistent with the definition of “marriage” found in these Bylaws. We encourage parents to raise their children to be equipped Christians and provide Biblical training and encouragement to our children and youth. (Genesis 1:26-28, 2:18-24; Deuteronomy 6; Proverbs 18:22; Ephesians 5:25-31, 6:1-4)
11. We believe legitimate sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Hence, sexual activities outside of marriage (referred to in the New Testament as “porneia”) including but not limited to adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, and pedophilia are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Further, lascivious conduct, transgender behavior, and the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography, are incompatible with the biblical witness.
12. Although we do not believe that the below ordinances are requirements for salvation, we will be obedient to conducting them as acts of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26):
Water baptism - The act of baptism is a solemn and beautiful emblem of our faith and identification in the crucified, buried and risen Savior; and it signifies our death to sin and our resurrection to a new life in Christ. (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12)
Communion - We believe that Communion sets forth in a sacred manner, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf, and our union with Him in the body of Christ. We believe the emblems used are not literally the transubstantiated body and blood of Christ. This ordinance is for believers only and to partake only has value if it is unified with the faith and repentance of the communicant. (I Corinthians 11:23-32)