Foundational Principles

• Our guiding principle in ministry is the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. (Luke 9:23)

• Prayer undergirds all that we do at Antioch. There is no major move of ministry or direction that is not first prayed into existence. We believe that when we are submitting to the headship of Christ, He will lead us, and we will hear His voice. (Matthew 6:9-13; Ephesians 6:18)

• We are a non-denominational congregation that acknowledges Jesus as the sole authority and head of His church. We reject sectarianism. (Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 1:20-23, 5:23; John 17:20-23)

• Leaders are servants who help members of the body grow spiritually. Leadership is a spiritual gift assigned by God and cultivated by the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:8-13)

• We seek to strive for excellence in everything we do. (1 Corinthians 15:58; Colossians 3:23)

• We affirm God’s ordination of the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Marriage is the only legitimate and accepted sexual relationship. We also value God’s gift to the church of holy Christian singleness.

• Flexibility is a key aspect of our philosophy. We are willing to take risks and try new things (within the freedom allowed in Scripture) in order to reach our culture for Christ. If something we are trying does not work, we will learn what can be learned, and try something that works better. (1 Corinthians 9:22)

• We are committed to the ongoing pursuit of revelation from the Holy Spirit concerning the forms by which we are to spread the gospel. We stress the importance of function over form and realize that a form (wineskin) that once worked may need to be changed. The Lord’s current leading involves the following forms:

  • Sunday morning celebration service – both celebrative and reflective. We desire to have meaningful worship while being sensitive to unbelievers who might be in our midst. We encourage creativity in communicating the good news to the current generation. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit leads, we make use of modern music forms, drama, multimedia, and the arts.

  • LifeGroups – the primary place where lasting life change happens, where gifts can be used to edify the body, and where meaningful Christian ministry is modeled to each other and our children. Just as cells are the basic building blocks of the body, so LifeGroups are to the Church. Our intention is that any new ministry will be prayerfully reviewed within the context of the LifeGroup vision.

  • Various ministries directed to different segments of the Church body and the city in which we serve.

• We believe that without faith it is impossible to please God. So we seek to trust God and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit in all situations and circumstances in the life of this congregation. (Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:6)

• Although Antioch is not prohibited from incurring debt, we seek to avoid debt. The Lord will provide all the resources that are needed to do His work. (Romans 13:8)

Affirmations of Belief

• We affirm that there is one God, infinitely perfect and eternally existent in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• We affirm the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, His bodily resurrection, His Ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in power and glory.

• We affirm the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.  We affirm the fullness of the Holy Spirit as the empowerment of the Christian for witness and service.  We affirm that the Holy Spirit provides one or more spiritual gifts to all believers, manifesting them as He wills.  We affirm that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are operative today.

• We affirm that salvation is by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  We affirm that repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation.

• We affirm the resurrection of the body.

• We affirm the one, universal church, which is the Body of Christ. We affirm Christ as its head. We affirm all who are born-again as its members. We affirm the church’s purpose as offering worship to God; fellowship, ministry, and instruction to itself; and evangelism and service to the world. We affirm the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. We affirm that the church is God’s instrument for revealing His purpose on the earth. We affirm 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.

• We affirm believer’s baptism by immersion in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.

• We affirm the importance of regular participation in the Lord’s Supper.

• We affirm the ministry and presence of angels, and the reality of the devil and demonic forces.