Who is God?
The core of what we believe and stand on is the truth that there is one living and true God. This God, our creator, is infinite, all-knowing, perfect in all His attributes, and eternally existing in three Persons - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each having precisely the same nature, core attributes, and perfections.
What does God want us to know?
God has created us, but has not left us alone. Instead, God has communicated His nature and His will to us through His Word, the Bible. Though an ancient document, the Bible is the most amazing and miraculous book ever written. It’s comprised of 66 parts we call “books”. These books were written by dozens of authors over approximately 1500 years. They are God’s words to man, our manual, the operating instructions for life. Every word of it is inspired by God, every word of it is important. For us at Wellington Community Church, the Bible is not just a good book or merely an interesting piece of inspirational literature; instead, it is the authoritative and binding rule for every part of our lives, and we seek to know it and obey it.
What's our dilemma?
The problem, however, is that although God has communicated the “hows” and “whats” of living obediently before Him, in reality all people have cast off God’s rules and sought to live life by our own standards. This is sin. Sin is more than just “being human”; it is rebellion against God. God’s Word explains that all law-breakers will be banished from God’s presence to a place of eternal wrath called Hell. There is nothing we can do to remove the fact that we sin. Even our good works don’t erase the fact that we are lawbreakers. That is why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to solve our problem.
What's the Solution?
One of our most cherished beliefs is that the Lord Jesus Christ is also our Savior. Jesus is God in the flesh. He came through the virgin birth, He lived His life always obeying the Father. He performed amazing miracles, proofs that demonstrated that He was Lord of Heaven and Earth. He allowed Himself to be crucified on the cross. While the mobs thought they were getting rid of a religious fanatic, in reality His life and death served as a sacrificial sin-offering that covers the sin of those who believe in Him. After three days of being buried in a guarded tomb, Jesus proved He was the author of life by His resurrection from the dead. This wasn’t just “coming back from the dead”; instead it was a total transformation to a glorified body that cannot be bound by death. After He rose, Christ further taught us—not just about how to live, but who we are in Him. While currently in heaven, Jesus promised to come again but next time in the power and glory of His kingdom. We await His return when those who believe in Him will be resurrected to eternal life in Heaven, and those who have not believed in Him will be resurrected to eternal life in Hell.
What do we do with all this?
As we just mentioned, Christ’s death provides the basis for forgiveness and salvation for His people. A person receives this forgiveness and salvation when the Holy Spirit works within their heart, through His Word, to cause them to be “born again.” When God is working, suddenly they understand that because of their sin they need to call out to God for mercy and forgiveness with a heart to repent and forsake their sin. Once they do so, they are forgiven and reconciled to God. This is salvation and it brings God's life into the new believer. In an instant, they have gone from death to life; they are born again. The life they receive is Christ’s life; it is eternal, never ending, secure forever. It is a miracle, completely performed by the grace of God where He hears our plea for forgiveness, applies the merit of Jesus’ blood to our account and pours His life into our dead souls.
Consequently, we also believe that the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, lives within each believer. This indwelling begins at the moment of salvation where God enters the believer and begins cleansing their lives of that which displeases Him. The new life of Christ begins to work itself out in the life of the believer in things like putting off old sin habits and putting on new righteous habits. The Spirit guides the believer through these changes. He instructs them through His Word, church, prayer, fellowship, etc. He empowers them to serve Him and His people. And He holds them secure until the day He brings that person into His presence in glory.
In many ways, our time together at Wellington Community Church is helping one another learn to walk in fellowship with the Lord. We are a church, one of thousands and thousands of churches around the world that comprise Christ’s presence here on Earth. While we don’t align ourselves with any particular denomination, we do heartily consider ourselves brothers and sisters of any other church family that holds to the clear, core teachings of scripture. Despite some differences in doctrine, we still count these other Christians and churches as fellow members of God’s household and we look forward to the day when we all assemble together before our Lord in glory to offer Him all worship and praise.
This sums up the core of who we are. If you would like a more detailed explanation of our beliefs, please check out our "Beliefs” page.
