What We

 

Believe 

 

 

in accordance with our mission organization

www.novo.org  www.innerchange.org 

 

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WE BELIEVE:

 

1. God exists and has revealed Himself to humanity. The Bible is a special expression of this revelation, and it finds its ultimate expression in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God is spirit and eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, indivisible and of one substance.

 

2. The Bible—all the books of the Old and New Testament—is Holy Scripture, the inspired Word of God, infallible and inerrant in the original writings. It is fully authoritative and our only absolutely trustworthy guide for faith and life.

 

3. Human beings were created in the image of God. Men and women sinned, incurring not only physical death but also the spiritual death that is separation from God. All human beings are born with a sinful nature.

 

4. Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, preexistent with God the Father, God of very God. He is the eternal Word become flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He was crucified, suffered, bled, and died. He was buried and three days later rose from the grave victorious over death and the powers of darkness. He ascended to the right hand of God the Father, where He is glorified as Lord of all. He is the only mediator between God and human beings. He is the God-given atonement for the sins of the world. There is salvation in Him and Him alone.

 

5. The Holy Spirit convinces men and women of sin, effectually calls them, and is the divine agent by whom they are born into the kingdom of God. He indwells, enlightens, and empowers believers to live in union with Christ.

 

6. Human beings are accountable for their response to believe and accept the forgiveness, pardon, and reconciliation offered them in the Lord Jesus Christ. When an individual trusts in Jesus for rescue from sin and death, the person is justified by God and adopted into His family. Failure to believe in Him results in eternal separation from God.

 

7. God’s will for those who are disciples of Jesus is that they exhibit transformed lives evidenced by purity, holiness, and growth in Christ-like character. He desires that they each participate according to their spiritual gifts in the task of effectively sharing the Gospel message of salvation with those near and far who have yet to believe in Jesus.

 

8. The Church consists of all those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ  for rescue from sin and death. The primary purpose of the Church is to worship God and glorify Him by building up believers and effectively reaching the world with the Gospel of Christ.

 

9. Jesus Christ will one day return, raise the dead, judge all men and women, and establish His glorious kingdom.

 

 

OUR VALUES:

 

1. Humility

 

First, seeking to imitate Christ who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.

Second, gratefully recognizing my great privilege to minister among the needy as both a minister to Christ and with Christ as a co-laborer.

Third, guarding against the inclination to patronize the poor, remembering that my humility encourages their essential human dignity.

 

 

2. Simplicity

 

Recognizing that “the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains” and that I own nothing.

Voluntarily accepting a level of income and lifestyle which allows me (and my family) to live incarnationally with the poor to whom Christ has called me to minister. Through this lifestyle, I will seek to better discover the presence of Christ and what it means to be rich in faith and relationship with Him without relying on material possessions.

Modesty and temperance in all things so that there may never be an offense to the gospel because of my covetousness.

Giving joyfully and generously of the life and resources God has given me in order to see the urban poor experience the love of Jesus and to model freedom from the tyranny of self.

 

 

3. Purity

 

Freedom to love. Purity means going beyond chastity and asceticism to discovering liberating ways to pledge undivided love to Jesus Christ, to the community, or to my marriage partner.

To view my singleness or marriage as a gift which God wants to use to His glory; a resource for which He will ultimately ask me to give account.

Honesty, transparency and fidelity in my relationships with all whom I co-labor and with all to whom I minister.

 

4. Service

 

Compassion for the poor demonstrated by words and action.

According to my gifts and working in concert with my team members, to share the good news of eternal salvation with the poor and to renew existing churches or to establish new, relevant expressions of Christ’s kingdom, the church, among them.

With prayer, fasting and the leading of the Holy Spirit, I will wage peaceful war against all that is contrary to God and the establishment of His kingdom.

 

 

5. Community

 

Support of my fellow team members in prayer, love and reconciliation.

Expression of my gifts as a complement to my team members. Love and encouragement as they work to develop and use theirs.

The willingness to share my belongings within the guidelines prescribed by each team.

Faithfulness in serving on the team and under the authority of the team director.

 

 

6. Prayer

 

A life of discipline — stillness before God, listening before speaking, and meditation upon His word.

A life of intercession — of being, as Paul described, “in labor” for others, recognizing that prayer is ministry.

A mystical sharing — letting God, who could take, borrow my voice to express His thoughts on behalf of the poor; and God, who has no need, letting me participate in the speaking of His redemptive word.

A surrender of my will — letting God set me aside to pray for an hour, a day, or a season, despite the world’s notions of “effective activity.”

A kindling of faith — remembering that prayer to God, who is unseen, opens the gate to faith, the conviction of things unseen.

A transcendent ministry — remembering that God’s Spirit unfettered, passes beyond my physical boundaries.