Washington Christian Church is a non-denominational, Bible-believing church with our heritage lying with the Restoration Movement. We aim to carry out God’s teachings in our community and around the world. One of our slogans, “In matters of doctrine, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; in all things, love,” is a reflection of our beliefs.
We believe there is one divine being who has existed eternally. He exists and reveals Himself to man in three distinct, equally divine persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While we cannot fully comprehend His divine nature, it is possible for people to know Him. At the beginning of time, God created the entire universe and all its creatures. He continues to exercise His supreme power to sustain His creation. Throughout history He has expressed His desire to be our God and to have a personal, eternal relationship with us. We believe that God loves us and wants what is best for us.
We believe that Jesus is the eternal divine Son of God. He chose voluntarily to be made in human likeness and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Although He lived a sinless life, He allowed Himself to be executed by crucifixion. His death paid the penalty for the offenses of mankind against God. However, as prophesied, He rose from the dead on the third day after His execution. After appearing to witnesses on a number of occasions for forty days, He ascended into heaven where He now serves as the Mediator between God and man. We believe that at the end of time He will again visibly return to earth to complete His eternal plan.
The third person of God is the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christ follower. His indwelling presence gives spiritual life to believers and distinguishes them as children of God. The Holy Spirit guides Christ followers in understanding and applying God’s principles and values. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, Christ followers are empowered to live Christ-like lives. The Holy Spirit also equips Christ followers with talents and abilities for the purpose of building up God’s kingdom.
God created mankind to live in relationship with Him. This relationship was to look a certain way; God over mankind, mankind over the rest of creation. But man chose to take charge rather than submit to God. This rebellion alienated mankind from God, and every human being since has suffered the consequences of that rebellion – separation from God and all that is good. We must realign this relationship with God in order to reverse the consequences, but it is impossible to do this on our own.
Our inability to realign our relationship with God leaves us dependent on God’s mercy. God graciously provided the means to reconcile this relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. Our relationship is re-established when we make a commitment to recognize Jesus as God’s son, accept Him as our only remedy to a right relationship with God, and submit to His authority as Lord of our lives and the world. Through this recognition, acceptance, and submission – what we call faith – our sins are forgiven, and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal communion with God. Practically speaking, we accomplish this by demonstrating our faith (acting upon our belief that God alone has the power to save us), repenting (turning back to God and following His way) and submitting to baptism by immersion in water.
God divinely inspired human authors to write the sixty-six books of the Bible. He communicated through these writers the values, principles, and ideals which please Him and are in our best interests. We believe the Bible is entirely accurate, complete, and reliable. We look to the Bible for the revelation of the character of God and the final authority on all matters of faith and conduct.
Once we are restored to a right relationship with God, we naturally want to spend time with Him and know Him better. The Holy Spirit enlightens us as we read God’s Word (the Bible) as we communicate with Him in prayer, and as we enter into loving relationships (biblical community) with other Christ followers. In this way, we begin to know God more intimately. As we become acquainted with God, we desire to be like Him and please Him. This process of spiritual development motivates us to seek ways to serve God and prepares us to spend eternity in fellowship with Him.
We believe the church represents Jesus Christ to a needy world. The Bible speaks of the church as Christ’s body. It compares the church to a living organism with Jesus as the head. God arranges the parts of the body (Christ followers) according to their gifts and talents. Each part contributes to the growth and maturity of the body. God works through the church to reconcile a lost world to Himself through Jesus Christ. For this reason, it is important for Christ followers to regularly gather together for the purpose of worship, fellowship and learning. By doing this, believers are enabled to serve one another and those that do not know Jesus.