What we believe and our vision at New Leaf Church…

Statement of Faith

The Scripture
The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. It was uniquely, verbally, and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and was written without error in the original manuscript. It is the supreme and final authority in faith and life in every age.

God
There is but one God, infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness and love, Creator of the universe, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-each of whom possesses all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.

Man
God created man in His own image, and man as he was originally created, was innocent before God. But man chose to sin by disobeying God, and therefore was alienated from his Creator and came under divine condemnation. Thus all human beings are born with a corrupted nature and without spiritual life, and are totally incapable of pleasing God in and of themselves.

Jesus Christ
God the Father, by His own choice and out of love for sinful men and women, sent Jesus Christ into the world to reconcile sinners to Himself. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He was God in the flesh, both true God and true man. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and voluntarily suffered and died as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sins, thus satisfying God’s justice and accomplishing salvation for all those who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He bodily ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, makes intercession for His own. He will return to earth personally, visibly, and bodily to judge all men and establish His kingdom.

Salvation
Men and women are freed from the penalty for their sins not as a result, in whole or in part, of their own works, goodness, or religious ceremony, but by the undeserved favor of God alone. God declares righteous all who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation.

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ, to convict men and women of their sins, and to impart new life to all who place their faith in Christ. He indwells believers from the moment of spiritual birth, seals them until the day of redemption, and empowers them to live a life pleasing to God.

Assurance
All who are born again of the Spirit can be fully assured of their eternal life from the very moment they put their faith in Christ. This assurance is not based on any kind of human merit, but upon the fact of God’s election, upon Christ’s complete payment for our sins, and upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.

The Resurrection of the Dead
At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his or her body to everlasting glory, and blessing. At physical death, the unbeliever enters into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his or her body to everlasting suffering, judgment, and condemnation.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Jesus Christ has instructed those who believe in Him to be baptized in water as a symbol of their new birth in Christ. Baptism is only for those who have personally believed in Christ. Our practice is to baptize by immersion. The Lord also instituted the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of His suffering, death, and resurrection. Neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper has any merit in helping a person obtain eternal life.

The Church
All true believers make up the church worldwide and should assemble together in local churches for worship, prayer, fellowship, and teaching, in order to become conformed to the image of Christ and to become equipped to carry out the ‘Great Commission’ that Christ gave His followers in Matthew 28:19-20.

Vision

New Leaf Church exists to see lives changed by the good news of Jesus (John 3:16). Standing on the truth of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16) and relying on the power of prayer (James 5:16) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13), we will seek God’s Kingdom together (Matthew 6:10).

Values

There are values given in Scripture that are universal to the church. We are called to love one another, to be “salt and light”, not to show favoritism and so on. The values described here are not our attempt to say what every church should be like, or even what should be most important in every church. Rather, they are our attempt to take the unchangeable truths of Scripture, and apply them to our specific church situation in 21st century central Maryland. It is not comprehensive – there are many more things than this that we value – but here are some of the major themes that should be apparent in our church.

Building Authentic Relationships
‘Authentic’ is perhaps an over-used word in the modern church, but we simply mean that we want our relationships to be real. What we say on a Sunday morning is what we do all week long. If we say to someone “I can come over and help you with that ” or “I’d love to get together for breakfast one day this week”, we follow through and actually do it. We meet in small groups (which we call Life Groups) during the week to study Scripture, pray for one another, help & encourage one another, and just enjoy being together. And we expect to spend time together outside of organized church activities. We desire to live out the command given by Jesus to the disciples in John 13 – “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We seek to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24) and to function as a body of different parts as described in Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, and Romans 12.

Pursuing Intentional Discipleship
We are committed to spiritual growth for all believers, however new or mature we are in our faith. Jesus commanded us to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). This starts when (or even before) a person is saved and continues as part of a lifelong journey. It is our hope that we will be transformed “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Building Strong Families
Strong families are the foundation for strong churches. Therefore we make it a priority to equip, strengthen and support members in building their family relationships. (Acts 10:2) This includes helping individuals and families to heal from or reconcile the broken relationships and past hurts that characterize most of our families.

Serving Our Community in Jesus’ Name
The two greatest commandments call us to “love God and love our neighbor” (Matthew 22:37-39).  We recognize that as we seek to honor and love God, there is a natural overflow in our own hearts to love and serve others.  Out of that, we strive to be the “hands and feet” of Jesus within our communities and with the people we rub shoulders with on a daily basis. Our hope is to compassionately serve those around with the same heart as Jesus.

Mobilizing for Missions
Matthew 28:19-20 commands us to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded”.  Our ultimate goal and mission is to be a part of reaching the whole world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to make disciples of all the nations.