“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Students should develop and use their God-given gifts and abilities to serve the school, church and community.

Students should be in a Christ-centered environment to best develop spiritually, intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally.

Under the authority of the Good Shepherd Church Elders, the school leadership, faculty, staff and parents should work together for the best interest of the students.

The school should assist parents in preparing students to be responsible Christians while living in a secular culture.

The school participants should be learning together to live like Christ and reaching out in His name.

ABOUT THE BIBLE

We believe that …

• The real author of the Bible is God.
• He has given us the Bible perfect, complete and free of errors.
• The Bible gives us God’s standards for how to live well.
• The Bible is the final authority for the family of Good Shepherd Community Church.

Because of this confidence in the Bible, we also believe its teaching that …

¨There is one God who has always been and will never cease to be and who exists in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

¨God the Father is in total control over every detail of the universe. Yet even though He is so great, He’s still lovingly interested in our lives so that He hears and answers prayer and saves from sin and death all who trust Jesus Christ.

¨Jesus the Son is totally God and at the same time totally human. He was born to the virgin Mary, lived without sin, died as a substitute for us, physically rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, is now sitting on His rightful throne in heaven and will return in the sight of all the world.

¨The Holy Spirit took an active role in the creation of the universe, the writing of the Bible and Jesus’ ministry on earth. His role now is to convince the hearts of men and women of their sin and their deep need of salvation before a righteous God and judge. He helps people come to faith and new life in Christ. Then He comes to live in believers; helping them grow, make right decisions, understand the Bible and find comfort in hard circumstances.

¨Mankind was created by God to enjoy God’s company and to obey His will. The first man and woman chose to disobey God, and all the rest of us have inherited the same rebellious nature. Because of our sin (before we trust Christ) we are separated from God; that is, we are spiritually dead.

¨Jesus Christ died to pay the price we owe for our rebellion against God, and then He rose from the dead as the final victory over death. There is no other payment, other than the sacrifice of Jesus, that is great enough to pay the price we owe. All who trust in the complete adequacy of Jesus’ death in our place will be forgiven for all past, present and future sins and will receive eternal life that can never be lost.

¨All who have trusted Christ have been born into a new life and are part of God’s family—the universal church, including all true believers of all times and places. God instructs each of His children to be an active participant in a local church.

¨One day every human being will be raised from death. Believers in Christ will enjoy eternal life with God, but those who haven’t believed in Christ will experience eternal separation from God

Statement of faith

We believe …

…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.

…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.

…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.

…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.

…God offers loving forgiveness and eternal life with Him. God, in His immeasurable compassion and grace, offers to save us from our sin through the life, death and resurrection 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 receive Jesus as their only hope for salvation.