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About Us > Our Guiding Principles

The guiding principles of Oak Grove Church are based on the description of the New Testament Church found in the Bible. As believers in Christ, we are all united by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we enjoy a personal relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Head of the church and people are accountable to Him. The church does not and can not save, heal or restore - God does.

We believe that God poured out His Spirit on those who believed in Jesus on the Day of Pentecost (Acts Chapter 2). Now, every person who believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth the Jesus is Lord and Savior can be "born again", or restored to a relationship with God. By being "born again" we are saved from our past sins, delivered from the power of sin over our lives, and adopted into the Family of God. Regardless of how badly we have rebelled against God, this new birth of the Spirit transforms us into the sons and daughters of God. As His children we are now heirs of eternal life and fellowship with God, the results of Jesus' crucifixion, death and resurrection.

When we are "born again" all things become new. God comes into our lives by His Spirit and His Word and He changes us from the inside out. We experience new joy, a new power in our lives to obey God's Word, and new forgiveness in our hearts. We stand in humility, awe and fear before the presence of a holy God and are vitally concerned about maintaining the purity of the Church. We seek with all our heart and mind to live according to the pattern of life the New Testament teaches. As believers, we separate ourselves from the secular world and its value system and agree to remain set apart for God's purpose in our lives.

We believe that every person born into this world is born with a fallen sinful nature. This sinful nature is a strong influence for that which is wrong and forbidden by God's Word. We believe that it is common for every "born again" believer in Jesus Christ to experience a time of struggle in which the influence for wrong in our nature works against the influence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds. As as result, there are instances in which we find ourselves doing bad things that we don't want to do on one hand, and not doing the good things we want to, on the other. This is the reason that Christians sometimes act in very un-Christian ways.

We believe in the privilege of every "born again" believer in Jesus Christ to experience a second major work of God in our lives in which the Holy Spirit fill our hearts and mind with holy love and destroys the influence of sinful nature. This experience is know as "the baptism with the Holy Spirit" or entire sanctification". The result of this experience gives us the ability to live a consistent Christian life and the power for more effective service for the Lord. Entire sanctification is provided by the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus, is worked in our lives in a specific moment of time by faith, and is preceded by a conscious decision on our part to give God full control of our lives.

We believe that the Christian life is a life-long process of learning and growing in the grace and wisdom of God. We believe strongly that the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, Bible study, and meditation on the things of God are the keys to spiritual growth and maturity. We believe that is imperative for Christian households to pray and study the Bible together. We recognize that a strong church must be made up of strong Christian families.

We believe that every "born again" believer in Jesus Christ is given spiritual gifts by God for the building up of the church. It is important for the health of the church and for our own spiritual growth and maturity that we find a place a of ministry where we utilize our gifts. We believe it is the church's job to help believers recognize their gifts and then enable them to utilize their gifts.

We believe that we have a responsibility to love and build up other Bible-believing congregations and ministries in our city. We accomplish this by attending special community-wide services and by giving financially to local ministries who are working to meet the needs of the homeless, the hungry and the hurting.

As believers, we bear the responsibility for sharing the life-changing message of the Gospel with others. Jesus has called and empowered us to make disciples of the people closes to us - our family, friends and acquaintances, the people in our community and surrounding area, the people in our state and nation, and the people in the far-reaches of the world.. This Mission is not only emphasized through worship, teaching and prayers, but also through our actions. This involves our personal effort to bring other to Christ and the church and our giving financially to the missionary work of the Church of the Nazarene.

Missions are the focal point of the Church of the Nazarene. Through the generous giving of Nazarenes all across the world, we are currently supporting over 700 full-time career missionaries working in over 140 different world areas.

Eight Agreed Statements We believe in one God-the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that the Old and New Testament Scriptures, given by plenary inspiration, contain all truth necessary to faith and Christian living. We believe that man is born with a fallen nature, and is, therefore, inclined to evil, and that continually. We believe that the finally impenitent are hopelessly and eternally lost. We believe that the atonement through Jesus Christ is for the whole human race; and that whosoever repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is justified and regenerated and saved from the dominion of sin. We believe that believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the entire sanctification of believers. We believe that our Lord will return, the dead will be raised, and the final judgment will take place.