The elders of Murrieta Valley Church believe in the one universal Church, composed of all those, in every time and place, who are chosen in Christ and united to Him through faith by the Spirit in one Body, with Christ Himself as the all- supplying, all- sustaining, all- supreme, and all-authoritative Head (1). We believe that the ultimate purpose of the Church is to glorify God (2) in the everlasting and ever-increasing gladness of worship (3).
We believe it is God’s will that the universal Church find expression in local churches (4) in which baptized believers covenant together to hear the Word of God proclaimed (5), to engage in corporate worship (6), to practice the ordinances of baptism (7) and the Lord’s Supper (8), to build each other’s faith through the manifold ministries of love (9), to hold each other accountable in the obedience of faith through Biblical discipline (10), and to engage in local and world evangelization (11). All local churches are subject to doctrinal error and false Christians, even to the degree of ceasing to be a true church of Christ; nevertheless, Christ has and will always have true churches manifesting His kingdom in this world until He returns (12.).
The Church is a body in which each member should find a suitable ministry for His gifts (13); is lead by pastors who are helped by deacons (14); is the household of God in which the Spirit dwells (15); is the pillar and bulwark of God’s truth in a truth-denying world (16); and is a city set on a hill so that men may see the light of its good deeds – especially to the poor (17) – and give glory to the Father in heaven (18).
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footnotes
1. Hebrews 12:23; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 3:6; Ephesians 4:15-16; Ephesians 5:23; 2. Ephesians 3:10; Matthew 5:14-16; 3. Revelation 5:9-12; 4. Acts 8:1; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 5. Ephesians 4:11-12; 2 Timothy 4:1-2; 6. Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 3:15-16; 7. Matthew 28:19; 8. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 9. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Romans 12:6-8; 10. Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20; 1 Corinthians 5:7, 11-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15; 11. Colossians 4:5-6; Romans 15:24; 3 John 7-8; Matthew 28:18-20; 12. 1 Corinthians 5; Revelation 2; Revelation 3; Revelation 18:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12; Matthew 16:18; Psalms 72:17; Psalm 102:28; Revelation 12:17; 13. 1 Corinthians 12:13-18; 14. 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1; 15. Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Corinthians 12:13-18; 16. 1 Timothy 3:15; 17. Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:26; Luke 14:13-14; 18. Matthew 5:14-16
