About Living Stones

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 1:4-5).

God has revealed Himself to humanity:

1. In the natural world.

2. In Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.

3. In the verbally inspired, inerrant, and authoritative 66 books of the Bible

(Ps. 19:1-4; Rom. 1:19-21, 32; Heb. 1:1-4; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; 2 Pet. 1:19-21).

God created human beings, male and female, in His own image. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Jesus and bear God's image in unique and distinct ways that are not accidental or interchangeable. At creation, both received different and complementary roles that are to be lived out according to God’s design as explicitly prescribed in the Bible (Gen. 1:26-27; Eph. 5:22-30).

Adam fell into sin through the devil's temptation, bringing alienation from God and total corruption to every aspect of every human being (our bodies, minds, wills, emotions, and souls). (Gen. 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:19-22; Eph. 2:1-3).

We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to His Father, the eternal Son, Jesus, became human: the Word became flesh, truly God and truly human, one Person in two natures, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to the virgin Mary (Matt. 1:18-25; John 1:1-5, 14-18).

He perfectly obeyed His heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven (Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:6-11; 2 Cor. 5:16-21).

By His sacrifice, Jesus bore in our place the punishment due to us for our sins, making proper and complete satisfaction of God's justice for us. By His perfect obedience, He satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf. By faith alone, through grace alone, God credits Christ's perfect obedience to all who trust in Jesus for salvation (Rom. 5:1-2, 18-21; Gal. 2:15-16; 3:10-14; 2 Cor. 5:16-21).

The gospel is the good news that, through Jesus, God saves sinners and plans to renew this broken world. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, who died, resurrected, and ascended to the Father on behalf of His people. Through faith alone in this Jesus, God justifies, sanctifies, and adopts His people to the hope of eternal life with God in the new creation (1 Cor. 15:1-11; Gal. 4:4-6).

This good news is biblical (Jesus' death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Jesus died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not actually happen, our faith is worthless), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (God adopts individuals to love and relate to them as Father).

The Holy Spirit is eternally God and the third person of the Trinity. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. By His powerful and mysterious work, He regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakens them to repentance and faith, baptizes them into union with the Lord Jesus, and justifies them (Acts 5:1-4; John 16:5-15; Gal. 4:4-6).

The universal Church is the people of God. It consists of those born again to faith in Christ for salvation. God chose the church before the foundation of the world and is gathering them through history into one universal family under the Lordship of their Savior Jesus.

Local churches are gatherings of believers spread throughout the world. They gather for worship regularly and are sent into the world by Jesus to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them how to follow Christ (Acts 2:41-47; Eph. 1:3-10; 1 Pet. 2:4-5; Rev. 1:5-6).

At the appointed time, Jesus Christ will return to resurrect the dead, judge the world, and renew the heavens and the earth. His bodily return will be personal, glorious, and full of perfect justice (Matt. 16:24-27; Acts 1:10-11; 2 Thess. 1:5-10; 2 Pet. 3:8-13).

Marriage is a God-given gift to humanity to show His personality and relationship to His church. The Bible holds marriage between one man and one woman from cover to cover. Any expression of sexuality outside of that covenant is outside of God's created will and is sinful. God beautifully designed and intended His people to participate in sex only within the union of marriage between one man and one woman. (See Gen. 2:24-25, Matt. 19:4-12, Heb. 13:4)

Living Stones affirms the following historical creeds and statements of faith: Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, and The Lausanne Covenant.