CHURCH BELIEFS

As a visitor to our ministry website, you might be interested in who we are and what we believe. Engrafted Word Church is what is often referred to as a “Charismatic” or “interdenominational” ministry. The term “Charismatic” refers to the belief that Jesus Christ is the same today as He always has been and, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, He is still moving in the earth to save people from their sins, to offer healing to people, and to manifest Himself through the gifts of the Spirit. The term “interdenominational” means we are comprised of people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

In our ministry, the staff and local congregation are people from dozens of different religious backgrounds as well as those who previously had no religious training or affiliation. We are not an “exclusive” group who thinks we are the only true Christians. We gladly acknowledge as fellow members of the Body of Christ all people who confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Whatever your background, we want you to feel comfortable with us. We share the following information in the event some aspects of our ministry are new to you. Some of the things you may notice at our local church include the following:

THIS WE BELIEVE:

  1. Our God is triune in personality (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), yet one God.
    • Deut 6:4
    • Matt 3:16,17
  2. All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.
    • 2 Tim 3:16
  3. God’s people perish from a lack of His Word.
    • Hos 4:6
  4. The Word of God is alive and powerful, divides asunder the soul and spirit and joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intents of our hearts.
    • Heb 4:12
  5. By the hearing of God’s Word, faith comes to the believer.
    • Rom 10:17
  6. Faith is exercised by believing in the heart, confessing what one believes of the Word of God, and being a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.
    • Mark 11:23
    • James 2:18
    • James 1:22
  7. Through faith we have access to all the graces of God: salvation, water baptism, laying on of hands, baptism of the Holy Spirit, knowledge of His Word, answered prayer, and a personal relationship as a child of God.
    • Rom 5:2
    • Matt 9:29
  8. God wants all believers to be healthy and prosperous. Through His principle of giving and His law of sowing and reaping, we live under a more efficient economic system with God as our source and supply.
    • 3 John 2
    • Matt 6:31–33
  9. All believers have power over all the power of the enemy and they are to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, and preach the good news.
    • Luke 10:19
    • Matt 10:7,8
  10. The manifestation of the miraculous power of God is in the lives of all believers through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, through the fruit of the Spirit, and obedience to His Word.
    • 1 Cor 12:7–10
    • Gal 5:22,23
  11. Christ is an overcomer—victorious, more than a conqueror, and thus as His body, we are the same through Him.
    • Eph 1:19–23
  12. Christ is the Head of the Church. All attention and glory are directed to Him alone; and it is Christ whom we preach, praise, worship, and serve.
    • Eph 1:22
    • John 12:32
  13. The Head of the Church has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and these are actual, literal offices functioning in the Church today.
    • Eph 4:8, 11,12
  14. Christ will literally come again for His Church—perfected, without spot or blemish, looking for faith in the lives of believers.
    • Luke 18:8
    • Eph 5:27
    • 1 Thess 4:16,17
  15. All will be judged: the saints for their works, the sinners to condemnation, and satan and all his demons to the Lake of Fire.
    • 1 Co 3:13–15
    • Rev 20
  16. The saints, the bride of Christ, shall reign with Him forevermore.
    • 1 Thess 4:17
  17. All must be “born again” to enter the Kingdom of God, to obtain His blessings, to have peace with God, and to meet Him in the air as His bride, without spot or blemish. This is done by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord and God has raised Him from the dead.”
    • Rom 10:9
    • John 3:3

Free Expression During Worship
 – We believe, as the Bible teaches, all things are to be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40), and we also believe the Scriptures encourage God’s people to worship Him with great joy and fervor. As a result, we endeavor not to be overly formal or ritualistic. Instead, we consider our services to be a time of celebration and rejoicing.

The Raising of Hands 
- The Apostle Paul admonished believers by saying, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Tim 2:8). Psalm 134:2 says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” We lift our hands in worship as an outward expression showing we are also lifting our hearts and lives to the Lord.

The Laying On of Hands 
- Speaking of believers, Jesus said they would lay hands on the sick and they shall recover (Mark 16:18). The Bible also admonishes Christians to “…pray one for another, that ye may be healed…” (James 5:16). According to the Bible, when Jesus and others ministered healing to people, it was often done through the laying on of hands. Also, when people were sent into ministry, hands were laid upon them to formally separate them unto the work to which God had called them (Acts 13:2,3).

There are a number of situations in which we practice the laying on of hands and pray for those around us who request such prayer. At other times, members of the pastoral staff may lay hands on individuals who come to the front of the sanctuary to receive ministry. On occasion, we also lay hands on and pray over cloths to be taken or sent to sick people who are not able to be with us. The biblical precedent for this is found in Acts 19:11,12: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit 
- In chapters 12 and 14 of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul discusses the different ways the Holy Spirit moves in the Church and in the lives of believers. The pastoral staff endeavors to be sensitive to the Spirit of God when He might choose to manifest Himself in any of these ways. For instance, God may give a “word of knowledge” regarding those in the congregation with a particular problem whom God is desiring to minister to. There may also be a “prophecy” – an inspired utterance – which edifies, exhorts, and comforts God’s people.

The Bible also speaks of different kinds of tongues. In the Book of Acts, when believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in other tongues (Acts 2:4). There is one type of tongues requiring a public interpretation to be in order. Another type of tongues has a devotional purpose, which Paul referred to when he said in 1 Cor 14:15, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”