Crosswell Beliefs
The following are the core beliefs of Crosswell Church based on the foundational truths taught in the Bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.
1. God
There is one God, who eternally exists in three persons: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal, co-eternal, and distinct from each other, yet one. The doctrine of God’s Triune nature is called the Trinity. (I John 5:7; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 3:7-11).
2. Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. On earth, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on the cross for mankind and thus, atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory. (John 1:1,14, 20:28; I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5-6; I Timothy 2:5).
3. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. According to the Scriptures, The Holy Spirit comforts us, teaches us, gives gifts to us, reminds us of everything Jesus has spoken, and leads us into all truth (John 14; 16:8–11; 2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor.12:12–14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 5:18).
4. The Bible
The Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible and inerrant. (2 Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26).
4. Mankind
God created Man in His own image and likeness as an upright moral and spiritual being. By voluntary transgression against God’s Word, Man fell; his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Gen 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21).
5. Salvation
The fall of man caused separation between God and all people, rendering man ultimately hopeless and in danger of eternal damnation. God in His love, not wanting anyone to perish, sent Christ into the world. The sacrificial death of Jesus, and His blood shed on the cross, provides the only way of salvation through the forgiveness of sin. Salvation occurs when people place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin. Salvation is a gift from God, and it cannot be earned through any self-effort. We are saved because of God’s grace manifested in the sacrifice of His Son to the whole of humanity and through our faith in Jesus Christ; His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22).
6. Church
The church is the body of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and made up of born-again believers, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Christ. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving Him and by making Him known to the lost world. Church membership for each believer means belonging to the body of Christ and functioning as its member (Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23; John 17:11, 20-23; 1 Corinthians 12:27).
7. The future
Jesus Christ will physically and visibly return to earth for the second time to establish His Kingdom. This will occur at a date undisclosed by the Scriptures. After living one life on earth, unbelievers will be judged by God, eternally separated from Him, and tormented in the lake of fire prepared for the Devil and the fallen angels. Believers will spend eternity with God in a conscious state of bliss thanking Him for all eternity for the victory of overcoming this life; they will enter into eternal blessing (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43-48; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 14:9-11, 20:12-15, 21:1-5; Matthew 24:30, 26:63-64; Acts 1:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:15-17; II Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 1:7).
Crosswell Values
As a community of followers of Jesus, we value first and foremost Him, His Word, and His will. We believe God has the ultimate authority and monopoly on real and universal truth. As truth incarnate, Jesus defines what is and what is not true. No human being or group of people has a higher authority than Jesus. He is the Lord of lords, the King of all kings, the President of all presidents, the lawgiver to all lawmakers, and the ultimate Judge of all judges. We value family, peace, love, patience, humility, evangelism, and revival. The list of Crosswell Church essentials below is not exhaustive, but it is where we begin to build our community. We expect all who are or aspire to become a part of it to learn and exhibit the following values.
1. Humility
During His earthly life, Jesus was the embodiment of the omnipotent yet humble God. He showed the ultimate example of humility for each of us to follow. The contrast between self-humbling and pride is the contrast between the character of God and His archenemy, Satan. As followers of Jesus, we have no other way than to be humble as He is.
2. Overcoming Prayer
Jesus also modeled the life of continuous and effective prayer. For us, prayer is more than just a way to talk to God. It is the way to get answers. We emphasize the continuous and overcoming prayer that gets results.
3. Workers
We realize that we are the products of the work of Jesus, who was selfless, sacrificial, and voluntary. We understand that anything that Jesus commanded to do requires work, hard, selfless, and enthusiastic work. Therefore, we highly value those who do God’s will, working for Him within our community.
4. Love
Everything that God does, He does out of love because He is Love. It means that even His wrath or discipline comes from His love towards fallen humanity. We love Him and, therefore, love each other. We cannot afford to do anything out of any other motivation than love, even when we must confront someone or something.
5. Church
Jesus bought His church with His blood. Therefore, we value His church as a community of those who have believed in Him, repented of their sins, and committed their lives to Him. Our church is more than a family. It is a community. We value our common walk with Jesus and each other.
6. Faith
Jesus did what He believed in. Our actions can only be genuinely Christ-like when our faith is Christ-like. For us, faith is more than just statements, intellectual assertions, or doctrinal confessions. It is confidence in God that He takes personally and honors by answering our prayers.
7. Holiness
We take seriously the command of Jesus to be holy, the way God is holy. We crave God’s holiness as the only norm for the Christian life. Our recognition of not being able to achieve on our own and our failures to achieve it are no excuses for not following God’s will.
8. Honesty
We believe that honesty is not just the best policy, but the only policy. It fosters trust, which we cannot live without. We believe lies have no color and anything that is not true is false, regardless of perception. We strive for honesty with ourselves, others, and, most importantly, with God.
9. Generosity
We believe in giving and that God loves an enthusiastic giver. We never pressure for resources we need, never manipulate by guilt, greed, or any other compulsion. However, we highly value generosity, which can only be voluntary.
You can watch video sermons on our essential values here