About Us
MISSION AND VALUESThe most important thing in your life is how you respond to God. That will determine how you live your life in relation to friends, family, and God. And it will ultmately determine how you spend eternity.
The most important question you can ask us is, "What does Good Shepherd believe?"
We don't begin to assume we have all the answers, but we believe God does and we believe He has shared what we need to know through His Word, the Bible. As we study His Word together and act upon what we learn, we believe we can find lasting answers to living fulfilled, useful lives that will be pleasing to Him. That's why we adopted the motto:
Reaching out in Jesus' name...while learning together to live like Christ
We learn by focusing on the wisdom found in Scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit, how to live the way God intends. And that's a lifelong process. No one has arrived. From the youngest child to the eldest elder, we're all learning. We learn together because that's God's plan, that we be a family of believers who are strongest and most effective when we serve and rely on one another.
We focus on Jesus Christ, the One who died in our place to make full payment for our sins and who was raised from the dead by God the Father. Then, knowing it's through faith in this sacrifice that we can inherit eternal life, we reach out to others to tell them about this wonderful gift offered to all. We do it all in His name, as His representatives, never imagining ourselves to be the focus or the source of a healthy Christian life. Christ is our all-in-all.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Specifically, we believe...
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in the Bible. We believe the Bible—the Old Testament and New Testament which together contain 66 books—is inspired by God and is without error. Therefore we believe it to be our only true and reliable written source for understanding and obeying God’s will.
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you can understand the Bible. We believe there’s only one correct method of interpreting any portion of the Bible and that’s to take a “literal” approach. In other words, Scripture means literally or exactly what it says unless a study of the original grammar, culture and/or history indicates some figurative meaning was intended by the writer and understood by the reader. Therefore, Scripture is not subject to change from era to era nor is it a matter of “what it means to me.” An accurate understanding by the reader requires both diligent study and illumination by the Holy Spirit to determine what the Scripture was intended to mean to its original readers, not what it can be made to mean.
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God surely exists. We believe the Bible teaches there is but one true and living God who is one in His unchanging nature, and yet who has eternally existed in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though it’s hard for us as finite (limited) creatures to fully understand an infinite God, Scripture tells us each person of this trio—called the Trinity—has exactly the same nature and qualities, and each is equally worthy of our confidence, obedience and worship.
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man’s sins separate him from God. Man was originally created by God to enjoy close, personal fellowship with Him, but by his own sin and disobedience man has received the penalty of death and separation from God.
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God offers loving forgiveness. God, in His immeasurable compassion and grace, offers to save us from this condition through the death and sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. We must understand this gift is freely offered but not automatically bestowed. God gives this gift of forgiveness and eternal life to those who humble themselves, confess their sinfulness, repent (turn around), and accept this sacrifice of Jesus as their only hope for salvation.
BYLAWS
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