About
Mission Statement
Jesus Loves is a ministry of encouragement that desires to awaken souls afresh to the deep and abiding love of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We do this through a variety of mediums designed to recapture the wonder, explore the depth, and spread the good news of the world’s greatest love.
What We Believe
This statement of faith is certain to fall short in describing the fullness and complexities of the Almighty God. Here we will make an attempt to give an overview (albeit certainly incomplete) of what we believe and understand from the Holy Scriptures. Our prayer is that it is presented in such a way that the good news of Jesus Christ and his love for all of us shines through…
We base all our beliefs on the Bible as the inspired and infallible Word of God. We believe in its authority and sufficiency to reveal God’s character, His plan of redemption, His will for our lives, and His love for the world. (Psalm 119:89; John 1:1-4,14; Galatians 1:12; 1Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
We believe there is one true and living God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 11:7-9; Psalm 90:2; Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 65:16; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; John 10:30; Romans 3:30; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4–6; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Peter 1:2; Revelation 1:4–6; Revelation 4:8)
We believe God to be perfectly holy. His holiness sets Him utterly apart and encompasses many of His other attributes, such as his perfect sense of justice, love, mercy, goodness, and wisdom. He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-present/infinite), and omniscient (all-knowing). (Leviticus 11:44, Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 4:31; Deuteronomy 32:4; I Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 24:14; 2 Chronicles 6:41; Psalm 89:14; Psalm 99:3,5,9; Psalm 139; Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah 43:3, 14; Isaiah 54:5; Daniel 9:9; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 11:33-36; Colossians 2:2-3; Hebrews 4:13; I Peter 1:16; 2 Peter 1:3; I John 4:8; Revelation 4:8)
We believe God created the world and everything in it, including all humankind. As Creator, He has authority over humankind. (Genesis 1:1-27; Genesis 5:1-2; Deuteronomy 4:32; Job 4:17; Psalm 121:2; Psalm 139:13; Psalm 148:5; Proverbs 22:2; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Isaiah 40:26; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:12, 18; Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 10:6)
We believe God created Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) in His image to be a reflection of His goodness and glory. In their original state, they were able to dwell with God. And everything was good. However, once they broke trust with God, by eating the (forbidden) fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a shift occurred, and the reflection shattered. Now, rather than knowing only good, they would also know evil. Their sin introduced a dichotomy. Rather than only love, there would also be hate. Rather than only order, there would also be chaos. Rather than only ease, there would also be struggle. Rather than only comfort, there would also be pain. Rather than only life, there would also be death. Since that time, human nature has been corrupted by sin, which leads to death. All humans sin and fall short of the goodness and glory of God. (Genesis 1:26-27,31; Genesis 3; Proverbs 10:16; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Romans 6:16,23; Romans 8:10; I Corinthians 15:56; James 1:5; James 3:9; 1 John 1:8)
We believe a holy God cannot coexist with sin, in a similar way that light cannot coexist with darkness. However, we believe that God loved the world so much that He made a way for reconciliation between God and humankind: Jesus Christ. (Matthew 4:16; John 1:5; John 3:16-17, 19; John 8:12; John 12:46; John 15:9-13; John 16:27; Romans 5:10,18; Romans 8:35-39; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:4-5; Ephesians 3:17-19; I Peter 5:6-7; 2 Peter 3:9; I John 1:5; I John 3:1; I John 4:9-10,16,19)
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. We believe He was fully God and fully man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. We believe He lived a sinless life, died on the cross to atone for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will return one day in power and glory. (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20,23; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:27-31,35; John 1:1-4,14; John 20:31; Romans 8:34; Romans 9:5; Acts 1:9-11; Acts 2:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:1-4; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:24; Revelation 22:12)
We believe that Jesus came into the world to save sinners from death by providing a way for reconciliation with God. Because of Jesus, salvation is possible for all who repent of their sins and believe (have faith) in the work that He accomplished through his death and resurrection. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness by imputing His own righteousness onto us. We are saved by grace through faith, not by our own works. (Luke 24:46-47; John 6:29; John 14:6; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:25-28; 4:25; Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; I Timothy 1:15; I Peter 3:18; 1 John 1:9)
We believe in the Holy Spirit who convicts and draws sinners to faith in Jesus. We believe His indwelling enables Christians to live godly lives and empowers them for service in the Church. We recognize the Holy Spirit as the divine Comforter and Helper who sanctifies, instructs, and seals the believer for the day of redemption. We believe that every believer in Christ is the temple of the Holy Spirit. (John 3:5-8; John 14:16,26; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38; Acts 4:31; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-23; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30; Titus 3:4-7)
We believe in the establishment of the global Church as a unified spiritual body, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God by building its members up in the faith, to equip and nurture believers by instruction of the Word of God, to encourage one another through regular fellowship, to provide a means of keeping the sacraments prescribed in the scriptures, and to send proclaimers of the good news of Jesus Christ out into the world. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 15:5-7; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:13-19; Ephesians 3:17-19; Ephesians 4:3-13; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13,27; I Corinthians 14:26; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; 2 Timothy 4:1-3)
We believe Christians are called to live holy and fruitful lives as we make every effort to love one another and follow the example of Jesus. We should be lights in a dark world that point the way to salvation and abundant life found in Christ. (Matthew 5:16; Matthew 7:17; John 10:10; John 13:34-35; John 15:16; Romans 7:4; Romans 12:10; Romans 14:19; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 1:6,9-10; Colossians 2:6-7; Hebrews 10:24; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 Peter 3:8; 2 Peter 1:5; 2 Peter 3:11,14; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 4:7,11)
We believe that all humans will ultimately face the judgment of God and the dichotomy will end. Those who are deemed righteous (because Jesus imputed His righteousness to them in response to their faith) will enter into God’s presence for eternity to dwell with Him as redeemed reflections of His goodness and glory. Those who are deemed unrighteous will enter into eternal death and separation from God. We believe that both heaven and hell are real places. Heaven is where Jesus is actively sitting at the right hand of the Father and preparing a place for all who have confessed their sin and trusted in Him for their salvation. Hell is a place prepared for the devil, but where those who deny or oppose Jesus will also spend eternity. (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 10:28,32-33; Matthew 13:30,41-42; Matthew 25:41; Luke 23:43; John 14:2-3; Acts 2:33; Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; 2 Timothy 4:1a; Revelation 2:7, Revelation 20:11-15)