Vision & Doctrine

 

Why we exist.

We believe all of life is all for Jesus. And that’s true for us as individuals and as a church. At Southside, we strive to live all for Jesus in three dimensions:

  1. Devotionally—through Deep Roots in God’s Word, the Bible.

  2. Relationally—through Strong Ties with God’s people, the Church.

  3. Missionally—through a Wide Reach in God’s world, both locally and globally.

What we believe.

We seek to be unified in the essentials of the Christian faith, but recognize that there are certain non-essentials around which followers of Jesus differ.  We don’t allow these non-essential doctrines to divide us.  We rely on the Spirit of God to lead individuals in those matters.  Our clear aim is to be united around our Lord Jesus Christ and God’s revealed Word as found in the Bible.

Our aim in this statement is to communicate our understanding of some biblical truths that we believe are core elements of our faith.  These statements are not new to us.  They reflect twenty centuries of historic, biblical understanding of “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).

 

13 Core Beliefs

  • We believe in one God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).

  • We believe God created and sustains the universe by His power (Genesis 1:1).

  • We believe God in His fundamental nature is Spirit; He is eternal and all-powerful. Most importantly, He is holy and He is love (John 4:24, 1 Timothy 1:17, Jeremiah 32:17, Leviticus 19:2, 1 John 4:7-8).

  • We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human (John 1:1, 14).

  • We believe the moment we receive Jesus as Lord He lives in us in the Person of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-11).

  • We believe the Bible is God’s Word and the final authority in faith and life for us as individuals and for the church (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

  • We believe God created people in His image and all have worth, but human beings sin and are thereby separated from God (Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 3:23).

  • We believe that a person comes into a right relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ alone solely by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

  • We believe that the church is God’s chosen people and Jesus’ body on earth (1 Peter 2:9-10, Romans 12:4-5).

  • We believe that by God’s design marriage is the union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19:3-6; Ephesians 5:22-33). We believe God intends sexual intimacy only for a husband and wife within the sacred union of marriage (1 Corinthians 7:2).

  • We believe that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are Jesus’ visible signs to us of His grace (Acts 2:38-39, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). (Note: for further explanation see the pamphlets from the elders on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.)

  • We believe each believer has received spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit and is responsible to use those gifts in service to the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

  • We believe Jesus Christ will return to earth soon to judge the world and usher in the Kingdom of God in all its fullness (Hebrews 9:27-28).