We at Cultivate Church want to point people to Jesus and a relationship with Him, not a list of rules or requirements that somebody has to do in order to be someone God pays attention to. God already loves you. God already wants you. God is not impressed by us or the things we do, but like a loving father, wants to draw us close, teach us, and give us life. God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it.
Our beliefs are probably best summed up in the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
God
We believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity.
Genesis 1:1, Genesis 17:1, Exodus 3:13-15, Exodus 33:20, Deuteronomy 6:4, Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 40:28-29, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19, John 1:1-2, John 4:24, John 16:13, John 17:3, Acts 5:3-4, Acts 17:24-25, 1 Corinthians 8:4, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 2:18, Philemon 2:6, Colossians 1:16-17, 1 Timothy 1:17, Hebrews 1:8, 1 John 5:20
Father Almighty
With the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father made humanity, male and female, in His image. He relates to people as The Loving Father, desiring the best for His kids. The Father both seeks and receives people who desire to turn away from sin and embrace the calling of God on their lives.
Psalm 68:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 7:11, John 3:17, Romans 8:15, 1 Peter 1:17
Jesus
We believe in Jesus Christ's virgin birth, His sinless life, His death and resurrection, and His promised return in the future. Jesus came so that we might know what God is like, that we might be able to see God, and to understand Him. Jesus died on a cross as a substitution for people everywhere so that they might be able to have a real and good relationship with God. God says that our sins keep us from Him because He is perfect and just. But Jesus, having done nothing wrong and still being a man, could stand in our place and take the punishment for our sins, and give us the ability to know God once again.
Psalm 16:8-10, Matthew 1:21, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 11:27, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 27:62-66, Matthew 28:5-9, 1617, Mark 10:45, Mark 15, Mark 16:6-7, Luke 1:27, Luke 1:31, Luke 1:35, Luke 24:4-8, Luke 24:23, John 1:1, John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16-17, John 20:26-29, John 21, Acts 1:2-3, Acts 2:24-31, Acts 4:12, Acts 10:40, Romans 5:10, Romans 5:18, Romans 8:34, Romans 14:9, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 1 Corinthians 15:14, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Galatians 1:4, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 4:4-5, Ephesians 5:2, 1 Timothy 1:15, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 10:12, Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:14
The Cross
We believe Christ died for all men and women and none can be saved except through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Christ rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we can know and believe that our sins are forgiven, have a changed life, and seek the reward of eternal life with God in heaven.
John 3:14-17, Ephesians 2:1-9, Colossians 1:20-23, Colossians 2:13-14
The Holy Spirit
We believe in an active work of the Holy Spirit, God's invisible presence today on earth, to guide, direct, and draw people to live a transformed, Christ-like life. He is the deliverer of grace to all, and shows us our sin, makes us new or regenerates us, sanctifies or cleanses us of the desire to do wrong things, and glorifies us or transforms us into people who act and think more like God’s Son: Jesus. He is always present with believers, assuring, preserving, guiding, teaching, and enabling the believer to do what God wants.
Job 33:4, Matthew 28:19, John 4:24, John 14:16-17, John 15:26, John 16:13-15, Acts 5:3-4, Romans 8:9, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 4:6, Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 5:18
The Church
We believe in the church, the collective group of Christian believers, and we believe God works through this body here on earth. The purpose of the Church is to tell the world about Christ through its worship, witness, and loving deeds. This work the Church does includes: preaching the Word of God, practicing the sacraments of baptism and communion, making disciples of Christ, and living in obedience to all that Christ commands.
Matthew 16:18, Matthew 18:17, Acts 2:41-47, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:22, Acts 12:5, Acts 14:23, Acts 15:22, Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:2, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 3:9-10, Ephesians 3:21, Ephesians 5:22-33, Colossians 1:18, Colossians 1:24, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 12:23, James 5:14
The Sacraments
We believe that Sacraments are the outward sign of an inward faith. They do not save us, but God uses them to comfort and strengthen our faith. The Sacraments that Christ instituted and our church practices are Baptism and Communion. All believers should be baptized and should participate in communion regularly. Through prevenient grace, God chooses and accepts us before we can choose or accept God. Children born to Christian families are fully part of the church, and baptism is the ritual by which we are initiated into the body of Christ. That's why, for nearly 2000 years, converts to Christianity and children born to Christian parents have participated in baptism. It signifies the outpouring of God's grace and our union with Christ, the beginning of new life with him as part of the Christian community. Later, children who have been baptized can reaffirm their entry into the faith through their testimony and by participating in communion. Communion is open to all believers as an act of obedience and faith.
Matthew 3:13-17, Matthew 28:19, Mark 1:9-11, John 3:5, John 3:22, John 3:26, John 4:1-2, Acts 2:38-39, Acts 2:41, Acts 8:12-17, Acts 8:36-38, Acts 9:18, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, Acts 18:8, Acts 19:5, Acts 22:16, Romans 2:28-29, Romans 4:11, Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27-29, Colossians 2:11-12, Titus 3:5, Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, John 6:48-58, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, 1 Corinthians 10:3-4, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Being Saved
We believe a person is lost without Christ and one needs a personal relationship with Christ to be saved. Scripture teaches that everyone who has ever lived (other than Jesus) has done wrong things. These wrong things are sins, and God who is perfect and holy and totally just and right about everything, hates sin. A big problem comes up then; God loves people, and God hates sin, and people have sinned. The Bible says that its a lot like what happens when a husband or wife cheats on their spouse; the relationship breaks and while there was great love between them, now there is a great big barrier.
God sent His Son Jesus to remove that barrier. Jesus lived a life that honored God and died on the cross. The Bible says that Jesus took the punishment for our wrongdoing and removed that barrier between God and humanity. All we need to do is repent or turn away from our sins, believe that Jesus did what we couldn’t and removed the barrier, and then live the life God intended for us. That means to be filled with God’s Spirit, be part of a church, be a disciple of Christ, and Love God and other people.
Salvation is wholly a work of God’s free grace, received by repentance and faith.
Salvation is God's gift to you if you'll accept it. We can never make up for our sin with self-improvement or good works. It is only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness that you can be saved from sin's penalty. Eternal life begins the moment you receive Jesus Christ into your life by faith.
Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 14:6, John 1:12, Titus 3:5, Galatians 3:26, Romans 5:1
The End
We believe in the afterlife; all will be resurrected and judged by God with heaven or hell as our final destination. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was and is God, and became and is a human man. He was really born, really lived, really died, and really rose again. The Bible also teaches that Jesus ascended into Heaven and that Jesus will come back to Earth. On that day, Jesus will show up and the way things have been will change forever.
You were created to exist forever. We believe that forever is spent in one of two places: eternally separated from God because of sin or in union with God because of His forgiveness and salvation. When you die, you will either spend eternity in heaven or hell. Eternal separation from God happens in hell. Eternal union with God occurs in heaven.
Job 19:25-27, Isaiah 11:1-12, Zechariah 14:1-11, Matthew 24:1-51, Matthew 25, Matthew 26:64, Mark 13:1-37, Luke 17:22-37, Luke 21:5-36, John 14:1-3, Acts 1:6-11, 1 Corinthians 1:7-8, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Titus 2:11-14, Hebrews 9:27-28, James 5:7-8, 2 Peter 3:1-14, 1 John 3:2-3, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 22:6-7, Revelation 22:12, Revelation 22:20
The Bible
We believe the Bible is God's inspired Word to us. The Bible is God’s word about Himself, what He has done, and what we should do. The Bible is the highest source of written authority for God’s plan for His people; it reveals how to live out that plan, individually and together. We think that beliefs, practices, priorities are to be anchored in clear biblical teachings.
The sole basis of our belief is the Bible. The Scripture in its entirety is composed of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, which originated with God, and was given through the instrumentality of many different chosen authors.
Psalm 19:7, Matthew 5:17-19, Matthew 22:37-40, Luke 24:27, Luke 24:44, John 1:45, John 5:46, John 17:17, Acts 17:2, Acts 17:11, Romans 1:2, Romans 15:4, Romans 15:8, Romans 16:26, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 1:8, Ephesians 2:15-16, 1 Timothy 2:5, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 10:1, Hebrews 11:39, James 1:21, 1 Peter 1:23, 2 Peter 1:19-21, 1 John 2:3-7, Revelation 22:18-19
Our beliefs are probably best summed up in the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
God
We believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity.
Genesis 1:1, Genesis 17:1, Exodus 3:13-15, Exodus 33:20, Deuteronomy 6:4, Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 40:28-29, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19, John 1:1-2, John 4:24, John 16:13, John 17:3, Acts 5:3-4, Acts 17:24-25, 1 Corinthians 8:4, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 2:18, Philemon 2:6, Colossians 1:16-17, 1 Timothy 1:17, Hebrews 1:8, 1 John 5:20
Father Almighty
With the Son and the Holy Spirit, God the Father made humanity, male and female, in His image. He relates to people as The Loving Father, desiring the best for His kids. The Father both seeks and receives people who desire to turn away from sin and embrace the calling of God on their lives.
Psalm 68:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 7:11, John 3:17, Romans 8:15, 1 Peter 1:17
Jesus
We believe in Jesus Christ's virgin birth, His sinless life, His death and resurrection, and His promised return in the future. Jesus came so that we might know what God is like, that we might be able to see God, and to understand Him. Jesus died on a cross as a substitution for people everywhere so that they might be able to have a real and good relationship with God. God says that our sins keep us from Him because He is perfect and just. But Jesus, having done nothing wrong and still being a man, could stand in our place and take the punishment for our sins, and give us the ability to know God once again.
Psalm 16:8-10, Matthew 1:21, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 11:27, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 27:62-66, Matthew 28:5-9, 1617, Mark 10:45, Mark 15, Mark 16:6-7, Luke 1:27, Luke 1:31, Luke 1:35, Luke 24:4-8, Luke 24:23, John 1:1, John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16-17, John 20:26-29, John 21, Acts 1:2-3, Acts 2:24-31, Acts 4:12, Acts 10:40, Romans 5:10, Romans 5:18, Romans 8:34, Romans 14:9, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 1 Corinthians 15:14, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Galatians 1:4, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 4:4-5, Ephesians 5:2, 1 Timothy 1:15, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 10:12, Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:14
The Cross
We believe Christ died for all men and women and none can be saved except through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Christ rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we can know and believe that our sins are forgiven, have a changed life, and seek the reward of eternal life with God in heaven.
John 3:14-17, Ephesians 2:1-9, Colossians 1:20-23, Colossians 2:13-14
The Holy Spirit
We believe in an active work of the Holy Spirit, God's invisible presence today on earth, to guide, direct, and draw people to live a transformed, Christ-like life. He is the deliverer of grace to all, and shows us our sin, makes us new or regenerates us, sanctifies or cleanses us of the desire to do wrong things, and glorifies us or transforms us into people who act and think more like God’s Son: Jesus. He is always present with believers, assuring, preserving, guiding, teaching, and enabling the believer to do what God wants.
Job 33:4, Matthew 28:19, John 4:24, John 14:16-17, John 15:26, John 16:13-15, Acts 5:3-4, Romans 8:9, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 4:6, Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 5:18
The Church
We believe in the church, the collective group of Christian believers, and we believe God works through this body here on earth. The purpose of the Church is to tell the world about Christ through its worship, witness, and loving deeds. This work the Church does includes: preaching the Word of God, practicing the sacraments of baptism and communion, making disciples of Christ, and living in obedience to all that Christ commands.
Matthew 16:18, Matthew 18:17, Acts 2:41-47, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:22, Acts 12:5, Acts 14:23, Acts 15:22, Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:2, Ephesians 1:22-23, Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 3:9-10, Ephesians 3:21, Ephesians 5:22-33, Colossians 1:18, Colossians 1:24, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:15, Hebrews 12:23, James 5:14
The Sacraments
We believe that Sacraments are the outward sign of an inward faith. They do not save us, but God uses them to comfort and strengthen our faith. The Sacraments that Christ instituted and our church practices are Baptism and Communion. All believers should be baptized and should participate in communion regularly. Through prevenient grace, God chooses and accepts us before we can choose or accept God. Children born to Christian families are fully part of the church, and baptism is the ritual by which we are initiated into the body of Christ. That's why, for nearly 2000 years, converts to Christianity and children born to Christian parents have participated in baptism. It signifies the outpouring of God's grace and our union with Christ, the beginning of new life with him as part of the Christian community. Later, children who have been baptized can reaffirm their entry into the faith through their testimony and by participating in communion. Communion is open to all believers as an act of obedience and faith.
Matthew 3:13-17, Matthew 28:19, Mark 1:9-11, John 3:5, John 3:22, John 3:26, John 4:1-2, Acts 2:38-39, Acts 2:41, Acts 8:12-17, Acts 8:36-38, Acts 9:18, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, Acts 18:8, Acts 19:5, Acts 22:16, Romans 2:28-29, Romans 4:11, Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27-29, Colossians 2:11-12, Titus 3:5, Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, John 6:48-58, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, 1 Corinthians 10:3-4, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
Being Saved
We believe a person is lost without Christ and one needs a personal relationship with Christ to be saved. Scripture teaches that everyone who has ever lived (other than Jesus) has done wrong things. These wrong things are sins, and God who is perfect and holy and totally just and right about everything, hates sin. A big problem comes up then; God loves people, and God hates sin, and people have sinned. The Bible says that its a lot like what happens when a husband or wife cheats on their spouse; the relationship breaks and while there was great love between them, now there is a great big barrier.
God sent His Son Jesus to remove that barrier. Jesus lived a life that honored God and died on the cross. The Bible says that Jesus took the punishment for our wrongdoing and removed that barrier between God and humanity. All we need to do is repent or turn away from our sins, believe that Jesus did what we couldn’t and removed the barrier, and then live the life God intended for us. That means to be filled with God’s Spirit, be part of a church, be a disciple of Christ, and Love God and other people.
Salvation is wholly a work of God’s free grace, received by repentance and faith.
Salvation is God's gift to you if you'll accept it. We can never make up for our sin with self-improvement or good works. It is only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness that you can be saved from sin's penalty. Eternal life begins the moment you receive Jesus Christ into your life by faith.
Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 14:6, John 1:12, Titus 3:5, Galatians 3:26, Romans 5:1
The End
We believe in the afterlife; all will be resurrected and judged by God with heaven or hell as our final destination. The Bible teaches us that Jesus was and is God, and became and is a human man. He was really born, really lived, really died, and really rose again. The Bible also teaches that Jesus ascended into Heaven and that Jesus will come back to Earth. On that day, Jesus will show up and the way things have been will change forever.
You were created to exist forever. We believe that forever is spent in one of two places: eternally separated from God because of sin or in union with God because of His forgiveness and salvation. When you die, you will either spend eternity in heaven or hell. Eternal separation from God happens in hell. Eternal union with God occurs in heaven.
Job 19:25-27, Isaiah 11:1-12, Zechariah 14:1-11, Matthew 24:1-51, Matthew 25, Matthew 26:64, Mark 13:1-37, Luke 17:22-37, Luke 21:5-36, John 14:1-3, Acts 1:6-11, 1 Corinthians 1:7-8, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Titus 2:11-14, Hebrews 9:27-28, James 5:7-8, 2 Peter 3:1-14, 1 John 3:2-3, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 22:6-7, Revelation 22:12, Revelation 22:20
The Bible
We believe the Bible is God's inspired Word to us. The Bible is God’s word about Himself, what He has done, and what we should do. The Bible is the highest source of written authority for God’s plan for His people; it reveals how to live out that plan, individually and together. We think that beliefs, practices, priorities are to be anchored in clear biblical teachings.
The sole basis of our belief is the Bible. The Scripture in its entirety is composed of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, which originated with God, and was given through the instrumentality of many different chosen authors.
Psalm 19:7, Matthew 5:17-19, Matthew 22:37-40, Luke 24:27, Luke 24:44, John 1:45, John 5:46, John 17:17, Acts 17:2, Acts 17:11, Romans 1:2, Romans 15:4, Romans 15:8, Romans 16:26, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Galatians 1:8, Ephesians 2:15-16, 1 Timothy 2:5, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 10:1, Hebrews 11:39, James 1:21, 1 Peter 1:23, 2 Peter 1:19-21, 1 John 2:3-7, Revelation 22:18-19