Our Beliefs

Beliefs Matter

Pleasant Valley Church teaches, celebrates, and seeks to live by the good news about Jesus: he is the King, and by his life, death, and resurrection, he offers forgiveness of sin, freedom from death, and fellowship with God. Because this is who Jesus is, we invite everyone to trust and follow Jesus with us as we love God, love one another and reach the world with the Gospel.

Core Beliefs

• We believe that the Scriptures are the inerrant, infallible, inspired, and authoritative Word of God.
• We believe in one God who exists eternally in three distinct, fully divine persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His perfect life, His perfect sacrifice for sin, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of God the Father, and His imminent return in power and glory.
• We believe in the full deity of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every true believer, enables them to obey God, and preserves them for the day of redemption.
• We believe that all humans are separated from God because of their sin, and that salvation comes to a person only by God’s grace, and is received by trusting in Christ alone.
• We believe that the local church is an assembly of baptized believers voluntarily associated by covenant in faith for fellowship, worship, accountability and service.

For a detailed explanation of our beliefs, see the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

Church Membership Matters

Every Christian is part of the worldwide church of Christ, but that church has specific, local manifestations. Membership in a local church is an important means of the assurance of our salvation, loving others, showing solidarity with the worldwide church of Christ, being accountable for spiritual growth, and advancing the cause of God’s kingdom in the world to the glory of God.

Members’ Covenant

As those who have been brought to faith in Jesus by the powerful working of God’s Holy Spirit, and having been baptized as believers, we pledge with God’s help to the following commitments:

• We will submit to the Scriptures as the final authority on all issues of belief and life.
• We will hold fast to the Gospel of Jesus for our life and salvation, putting no confidence in our flesh for our standing, status, or security before God and His people.
• We will center our lives on Jesus and His mission, as our Head, trusting and obeying Him as we seek to make disciples among our neighbors, neighborhoods and the nations.
• We will pursue our Lord Jesus Christ through regular Bible reading, prayer, fellowship and practicing the spiritual disciplines.
• We will actively, consistently, and joyfully participate in the corporate life of the church, serving in its ministries, engaging in groups, and attending weekly services to worship, receive God’s Word, and observe the Ordinances.
• We will submit to our Elders, and other appointed leaders of the church, out of reverence to and in recognition of the loving authority of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• We will seek to exemplify true Christ-centered community, paying attention to the many “one-anothering” commands in the New Testament, striving to maintain the unity of the Spirit by loving, serving, caring for and admonishing one another by the abundant supply of God’s grace.
• We will seek to discover, strengthen, and use our spiritual gifts for the glory of God as we all grow into full maturity in Christ.
• We will cheerfully, sacrificially, and regularly give to support the ministries and expenses of the church, to relieve the poor and needy, and to advance the spread of the gospel through all nations.
• We will honor marriage as a permanent and exclusive covenant between one man and one woman for the sake of demonstrating the Gospel to the world, while striving to honor and provide friendship and spiritual family to those who are single among us.
• We will declare God’s mighty acts to the next generation, partnering with our parents as we nurture them in Jesus.
• We will embrace as members those due to physical health conditions are unable to keep all the practices of this covenant. We will seek to serve them as our homebound members in need of support, encouragement, prayer, and fellowship.
• We will hold one another accountable to this covenant, exhorting and equipping one another to keep these promises and seeking to gently restore those who persistently live contrary to them.
• We will, upon leaving this congregation, notify the appropriate leaders and, as soon as possible, unite with another church that seeks to embody the spirit and doctrine of this covenant for God’s glory.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.