At Woodland you’ll find people from a broad range of backgrounds. Some of us are just learning what it looks like to follow Jesus as part of a church family, while others have been part of a church for a long time.

Important to us in our diversity is that we believe that we are changed by faith in Christ, like the New Testament tells us (Acts 16.31; 2 Corinthians 3.16-18; Ephesians 2.8-9). This mission, to see people changed by faith in Christ, is what we’re excited about. And alongside that mission that unites us there are some other basic, Christian doctrines that bring us together.

Here’s the list of basic teachings that we believe. We’ve also included Scripture references to show where we find these truths in the Bible. Pastor Bryan and our elder team love to talk about God’s truth in the Bible, so don’t hesitate to call or write, if you have questions about what we believe at Woodland: Bryanupnorth@gmail.com.

Woodland Statement of Faith

• • We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as fully and verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
  • We believe in one God (I Cor. 8:6), Creator of all things (Rev. 4:11), infinitely perfect (Psalm 18:30), and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mathew 28:19).
  • We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true Man (Mathew 1:18, 23).
  • We believe in the personality (1 Cor. 2:10-11; Eph.4:30), and deity (Acts 5:3-4; Ps. 139:7) of the Holy Spirit, who is the author of the Scriptures (Acts 4:25; 2Peter 1:21) and the One who regenerates (Titus 3:5), indwells (1 Cor. 6:19) baptizes (1 Cor. 12:13), and seals (Eph. 1:13) all those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation. He also sovereignly bestows gifts to believers for the building up of the church (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:7-16). We acknowledge that certain gifts were more prevalent in the beginning days of the church and were for the purpose of pointing to the Apostles as revealers of divine truth (2 Cor. 12:12). We hold that no singular gift should be regarded as essential for the spiritual growth of the believer who, at conversion, has everything sufficient for fullness in Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 31; Eph. 3:16-19).
  • We believe that man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1: 26-27); that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death (Rom. 5:12) but also spiritual death, which is separation from God (Rom. 6:23);that all human beings are born with a sinful nature (Rom. 3:10, 23)and, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become accountable in thought, word, and deed (Eph. 2:2-3).
  • We believe that God has created each person male or female and that these two, complementary genders are an expression of humankind’s unique identity as image-bearers of God (Gen. 1:26-27). We believe that God, even before humankind’s fall into sin, established “marriage” to be the lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman, so that those called to marriage might help and enjoy one another (Gen. 2:25; 1 Cor. 7:1-5), produce offspring as God grants (Gen. 1:28), serve together in a “one flesh” relationship (Gen. 2:24), and make a picture of Christ’s love for his church (Eph. 5:25-33). We believe all sexual activity taking place outside the marriage relationship to be sinful, falling short of God’s plan (Ex. 20:14; Lev. 18:22-23, 20:13; Matt.19:4-6, 9; Rom, 1:18-31; 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 15-20; Heb. 13:4; 1 Tim. 1:8-11).
  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice and that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood (Rom. 3: 24-25; Heb. 9:22). All who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born again of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12-13) and only in this way become children of God.
  • We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord (1 Cor. 15:3-4), in His ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9-11), and in His present life and ministry there for us as our High Priest and Advocate (Heb. 1:3, 4:14; 1 John 2:1).
  • We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust (1 Thess. 4:16-18; Acts 24:15), the everlasting blessedness of the saved (1 Cor. 15:52-53), and the everlasting punishment of the lost (Rev. 20:6, 14-15).
  • We believe in the imminent and physical return of Christ for His church (1 Thess. 1:4,16-17; 5:9; 2 Thess. 2:1-12; Rev. 3:10) and in His return to reign on the earth (2 Sam. 7:5-17; Rev. 20).
  • We believe our Lord Jesus Christ has left to His church two ordinances, the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-26) and water baptism (Matthew 28:19; Acts 8:38-39), to be observed as the Scriptures teach.