About the Bible: The Holy Spirit inspired human authors to write the books of the Bible. God Himself chose every word of Scripture. The Bible is God’s love letter to all of humanity and is the final authority in every issue it communicates. It is complete Truth, and we can trust it for all matters in this life and eternity.

About the Godhead: Scripture teaches that God created everything we can see (and even everything we can’t see) out of nothing.  He is one, yet has existed since the beginning of time as three distinct and equal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

About the Father: God the Father is the greatest of all.  He is the source of the Word.  The ultimate purpose of all humans is to have a good relationship with Him.

About Jesus: Jesus Christ is God’s Son and an equal of the Father.  He existed with God in the beginning, yet lived on earth during the first century A.D.  Throughout His earthly life, He was completely God and completely human at the same time.  After living a perfect, sinless life, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for every human being who has ever lived by dying on a Roman cross.  After three days in the grave, He defeated sin and death by rising from the grave.  He then ascended to Heaven and will return to earth one day to reign as King.

About the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity.  He works in the world to make all people understand their need for Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit lives inside every follower of Jesus from the moment they decide to follow Him. The Spirit is our power source for life, ministry, and spiritual growth. To tap into that power, we must continually yield to the Holy Spirit.

About Salvation: Our disobedient nature has eternally separated us from our Creator.  No matter how hard we try, we can never earn our way back into God’s presence.  Our only hope is to trust Jesus as God’s provision for our disobedience.  Whenever you make that decision, you step into the eternal and abundant life Jesus promises for all believers.

About Eternity: God made you to exist forever. Heaven is a perfect place, and since none of us is perfect, we are all headed for an eternity of separation from God. That’s why God sent Jesus: to pay the price for our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him. What you decide about Jesus Christ in this life will determine where you will spend eternity. If you reject Him, you’ll be eternally separated from God in Hell. If you accept Him, you’ll spend it eternally connected with Him in Heaven.

About the Church: The Bible tells us that the church is the body of Christ in the world today. The New Testament tells us the church is a local body of baptized believers. The head of the church is Jesus Christ. The biblical purposes of the church are worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry to others.

About Christ’s Return: God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. 

About Water Baptism: We baptize in water by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit after someone has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.  It is an outward action that symbolizes an inward reality.

About Holy Spirit Baptism: All believers should expect and seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit which opens up an ability to speak in other tongues and power to operate in the gifts of the Spirit. 

About Sanctification: Believers are preserved as holy even as they live imperfect lives because of the work of Jesus’ blood.  Believers have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved.  However, the proof of this process of sanctification is fruits of repentance throughout the believer’s life.  Sanctifying grace does not give license to do what we want but power to do what we ought.  

About Divine Healing: Our physical bodies and souls can be healed of diseases, disorders, traumas, demonization, and handicaps because of Jesus paying the penalty for our sins.  It is often prayers of faith accompanied by the laying on of hands that are the vehicle for divine healing.

About Communion: Throughout the year, we worship Jesus Christ through the ritual of Communion.  The bread represents Jesus’ broken body and the cup represents the new covenant in His blood.  It is only for believers to participate in Communion because anyone who participates without first believing in Jesus Christ’s death for their sins, burial, and resurrection cheapens the act.  Their life doesn’t reflect the meaning of the ritual; thereby dishonoring what Jesus did.

About Human Sexuality: We believe that every person was created by God as either a male or a female; although we do acknowledge the difficulty of intersex ambiguity. 

We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Gen. 2:18-25). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt. 15:18- 20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10).

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Tabernacle of Praise as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to Tabernacle of Praise’s members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Tabernacle of Praise in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality (Matt 5:16; Phil 2:14-16; 1 Thess 5:22).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Tabernacle of Praise.