Beliefs and Practices

We believe there is one true God, who exists eternally in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of The Godhead.

What We Believe

What We Believe (PDF)

The Father is the first person of The Godhead, equal to the Son and the Holy Spirit who orders and directs all things according to His own purpose and pleasure. He sustains all things in the universe without any means other than Himself. By His grace, He involves Himself in the affairs of mankind, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all that come to Him through Jesus Christ.

References: John 5:18-24, Romans 11:36

The Son is the second person of The Godhead equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit who by His virgin birth came to earth as one person, fully God and fully man, and lived a sinless life. His death on the cross made atonement for man’s sin, evidenced by His bodily resurrection from the dead. He physically ascended to the right hand of God the Father, and He will return in power and glory. References : Romans 5:8, John 3:16, & Colossians 1:15-20.

References: Romans 5:8, John 3:16, Colossians 1:15-20

The Holy Spirit is the third person of The Godhead equal to the Father and the Son. He works to make men and women aware of their need for Jesus and provides them with the necessary power to live in accordance with the will of God. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer from the moment of their salvation, although His influence is experienced and enhanced as the believer yields control to Him. He equips every believer for the work of God through the giving of spiritual gifts. He is actively at work today bringing about spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, empowers us to live in holiness and equips us to fight the powers of darkness. He works interdependently with the Word of God to give wisdom and guidance for everyday life situations.

References: John 14:12,16-17, John 16:7-13, Acts 1:8, Acts 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians. 2:12, 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11, Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 1:17, Ephesians 5:18, Ephesians 6:10-12

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the complete, divinely inspired, and inerrant Word of God. The Bible is the supreme authority and guide in all matters of faith and life.

References: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21

Man and woman were created in God’s image and voluntarily fell into sin by personal disobedience to the will of God; consequently, all men and women are spiritually dead apart from Jesus Christ. The fall of humanity was a once-for-all historical fact and brought humanity under divine condemnation. Its effect spread to all people, each of whom is born with a sinful nature and is in need of salvation.

References: Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 2:1-3

We believe that all people have been created in the image of God, with free will and inherit value and dignity. As image-bearers all people have been given, by God, the freedom and responsibility to make decisions reflecting their individual will. All people will give an account before God as stewards of all that God has entrusted to them – including the stewardship of one’s mind, body, spirit and actions. We affirm that our stewardship and responsibility reflects our commitment to love God and to love and care for our neighbors.

References: Genesis 1:26-27, Matthew 22:36-40, 1 Peter 2:13-17, Romans 14:12

Salvation is by grace, through faith alone, and is a gift from God apart from works of any kind. All who receive Jesus Christ are justified by His blood. Good works are not the means of salvation, but rather the evidence of salvation.

References: John 1:12, Romans 10:9-10, 13, Ephesians 2:4-9, Titus 3:4-6

The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) serves as a reminder and a testimony of Christ’s death on our behalf. We believe the communion elements represent His broken body and shed blood. Communion is reserved for believers in Jesus and should be participated in often.

References: Luke 22:14-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

We believe through baptism a person publicly affirms their faith in Jesus and identifies with His death, burial, and resurrection. We encourage parents to dedicate their children to the Lord with full anticipation that they will be baptized when they are able to personally articulate their faith in Jesus.

References: Luke 3:21-22, Romans 6:1-4, Matthew 28:19-20

We believe Jesus is preparing a place for us and that He will literally come back again. We believe Heaven and Hell are real places, and at physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing. At physical death, the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from God and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation.

References: John 14:2-3, Revelation 20:15, 1 Corinthians 15:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Church is God’s instrument for accomplishing His purposes on the earth. We believe that the Church (the people of God) is God’s instrument to distribute His glory on the earth. The Church is defined as a gathering of believers, meeting and experiencing God together in order to display His goodness wherever they go.

References: Acts 2:37, Ephesians 1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14, 1 Peter 2:4-5

Discovery Church is a Word and Spirit Church

We believe that God has given us both His Word and His Spirit and that both are necessary in full measure to empower us to live fruitful lives as disciples of Jesus.

The vision of Discovery Church is to be a reflection of the church described in Acts 2:42-47. We believe that such a church is only possible when the Spirit of God and the Word of God are powerfully at work in the life of the church, as described in the larger story of Acts 1 and 2.

Word and Spirit Church (PDF)

Jesus consistently communicated the importance of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels and in the book of Acts. In the Gospel of John, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide the disciples into all truth. Then in Acts 1, following His resurrection, Jesus told his disciples that they must wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit would the church be able to accomplish the mission that Christ had set before them. The church could not move forward without the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, equal to the Father and the Son. He works to make men and women aware of their need for Jesus and provides them with the necessary power to live in accordance with the will of God. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer from the moment of their salvation and equips every believer for the work of God through the giving of spiritual gifts. These gifts are to be pursued and exercised within the church in a way that builds the church. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, guides us into truth, empowers us to live in holiness, intercedes on our behalf, and equips us to fight the powers of darkness.

References: John 14:16-17, John 16:7-15, Acts 1:3-8, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Galatians 5:22-25, Ephesians 1:17, Ephesians 5:18, Ephesians 6:10-12

In Acts 2, we read that the disciples of Jesus received the promised Holy Spirit. When the crowd sought to understand what was happening, Peter began to teach them by quoting directly from the Word of God. The power of the Holy Spirit in partnership with the Word of God produced a great response, with 3,000 people being baptized that day.

The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the complete, divinely inspired, and inerrant Word of God. The Bible is the supreme authority and guide in all matters of faith and life.

At Discovery Church, we are Instructed by the Word. The Gospel of John makes it clear that Jesus is the eternal Word of God, and Jesus promised that His words will never pass away. The Word is the sword of the Spirit, through which we do battle. Jesus defeated the temptations of the enemy by knowing and embracing God’s Word.

References: Acts 2:17-38, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Ephesians 6:17, Matthew 24:35, John 1:1-18

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A person receives the Holy Spirit in full at the moment of salvation, although His influence is experienced and enhanced as the believer yields control to Him. As we give Him greater access, we can experience the Holy Spirit’s filling in greater ways.

References: Ephesians 5:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:19

Deliverance is a term used to describe being set free from the influence of the enemy in a person’s life. Our modern understanding of “possession” implies ownership of the person. The enemy does not own anything or anyone but does seek to wield influence in every person’s life. This has been his method since the garden. Therefore, people are delivered from the enemy’s influence, not from his ownership. Deliverance occurs when the enemy’s influence is exposed, and the Holy Spirit provides power to destroy the stronghold of the enemy.

References: Ephesians 4:26-27, James 5:16, Luke 10:1-18, Peter 5:8-9

1 Corinthians 14:3 states: “The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging, and comfort.” Prophecy is described in the New Testament as having the purpose of edifying and building up the church. Through the spiritual gift of prophecy, the Holy Spirit provides knowledge and revelation from God that strengthens, encourages, instructs, and comforts the body of Christ. The gift of prophecy is to be “eagerly desired,” rooted in love, and always exercised in an orderly fashion.

References: 1 Corinthians 14

We believe all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament are active and available today to God’s people. These gifts are to be pursued and exercised within the church in a way that builds the church and brings glory to God. We do not believe that any one gift will be in operation in all disciples or that any one disciple possesses all of the gifts.

References: 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12:3-8, Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Peter 4:10-11

The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the complete, divinely inspired, and inerrant Word of God. The Bible is the supreme authority and guide in all matters of faith and life.

References: Acts 2:17-38, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Ephesians 6:17, Matthew 24:35, John 1:1-18

The Holy Spirit is actively at work today, capable of bringing about healing of every kind (spiritual, emotional, mental, relational, and physical). Jesus healed the sick regularly and asked those who followed him to do so as well. God is all-powerful and can heal any sickness or disease. We are asked to pray in faith and according to the will of God.

References: Luke 10:9, 1 Corinthians 12:9,28,30, 1 John 5:14-15, James 5:14-16