YAOTW - We strive to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to young adults by evangelizing, discipling, and sending (Matthew 28:19). We want to help young adults find and make Christian Community, teach them who they are in Jesus, grow in their personal relationship with God, and equip them to be on mission. We exist to be disciples that make disciples.
CORE VALUES
Statement of faith
1. God
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
Gen 1:1; Deuteronomy 4:39; 6:4; Mark 12:29; Is 46:9; 2 Corinthians 13:1; Acts 7:24,28; Heb1:3
2. The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
Psalm 119:160; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Hebrews 1:1-2, 4:12
3. The Human Condition
We believe that God created Adam and Eve, and all of humanity since, in His image, distinctively male and female, to enjoy His fellowship and to fulfill God’s will on earth; but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7, 22; 3:3-4; Romans 1:18-32; 3:10-23; Ephesians 2:1-3 4. Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ has eternally existed, is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures forever. Jesus – Israel’s promised Messiah – was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
John 1:14-18; Acts 1:11; Romans 3:24-26; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:17-18; 10:12; 12:2; 1 John 2:1
5. The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. All who repent and believe in Him are declared justified by the Father on the grounds of Jesus’ substitutionary death and resurrection. All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith have been transformed. They become, thereby, the children of God and members of the one true church, the universal Body of Christ.
Mark 1:15; John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; 14:6; Acts 2:28, 4:12, 11:18; Romans 3:21-26; 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; Titus 3:4-7; Hebrews 10:10-12; 1 John 5:11-13
6. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He transforms sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. From the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers to live a lifestyle pleasing to God. He gives the members of the Church special gifts which equip believers to accomplish distinct ministries, planned beforehand by God the Father.
John 3:1-8; 15-16; 16:4-15; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:18-21
7. The Church (the Body of Christ)
We believe that the Church, the universal body of Christ, comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by local churches in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God; two main ways the Church carries this out is through its strategic purpose of leading others to Christ and equipping them for personal ministry. Matthew 16:13-28; 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-47; 4:1-16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29; Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:11-13; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 5:1-3; Colossians 3:17, Ephesians 1:1-14 (6,12,14)
8. Christian Living
We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God’s greatest commandment is for His people to love Him supremely (love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind) and to love others sacrificially (love your neighbor as yourself; even as I have loved you). We live out our faith through obedience to His commands and particularly in obedience to the Great Commission; where we are to make disciples of all nations and therefore do our part in our greatest purpose of spreading God’s glory.
Phil 1:6; Matthew 22:37-40; John 14:23; 1 John 2:17; Matthew 7:24; Matthew 28:18-20; Habakkuk 2:14
9. Marriage and Sexuality
We believe that God has established marriage as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman. All intimate sexual activity outside the marriage relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise, is immoral and therefore sin. God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders reflect God’s image and nature. All conduct with the intent to adopt a gender other than one’s birth gender is outside of God’s design. Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:24-25; Exodus 20:14, 17; Deuteronomy 22:5; Matthew 19:4-6, 9; Mark 10:6; Romans 1:18-31; I Corinthians 6:9-10, 15-20; Jude 7
10. Christ’s Return
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Acts 1:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; John 14:1-3; I Thessalonians 4:15-17; Phil 3:20; Titus 2:13; 1 Peter 1:7, 13; 5:4, James 5:7-8; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Rev 22:7, 12
11. Response and Eternal Destiny
Every person will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or in union with God through forgiveness and salvation. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.
Acts 17:30; Romans 6:17; Heb 5:9; John 6:29; Romans 1:16; Mark 1:14-15; 1 Thes 1:8-10; John 1:12; John 5:28-29; Matthew 22:23-32; Acts 24:15; John 3:36; Matthew 7:13-14; 25:31-33; Romans 10:13-15; Acts 4:12; John 14:6; Luke 24:46-47; Acts 26:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:1-8; Rev. 20:13; Matt 16:27; Romans 2:8; 1 Thes 1:9; Revelation 14:9-11
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