The beliefs + Doctrine of Arrowhead Church
In a world of ever-shifting cultural norms and values, we want to provide clarity on what we believe as a church and why.
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Timothy 4:16
All of our beliefs come from the Bible.
We believe and follow the Bible. This sounds simple, and in some ways, it is. But of course, there is complexity and disagreement in how Christians interpret Scripture. How we interpret the Bible- our understanding about what the Bible says and what it means- this is called doctrine.
Our view is that the Bible should speak for itself, regardless of the surrounding culture. The statements you’ll find on this page are how our church understands the Bible and seeks to live in accordance with God’s good design. Put simply, we want to be a church that faithfully follows God. To do that, we need to know what He says.
At Arrowhead, we stand on the shoulders of 2,000 years of faithful men and women who have studied the Bible and listened to the Holy Spirit for guidance. So we didn’t invite any new statement of beliefs. Instead, we stand inline with those who have gone before. We have prayerfully and thoughtfully adopted these beliefs as our own. Scroll through this page to explore them all.
Our core BELIEFS
These are the simplest and most foundational beliefs that we hold. Getting these right determine what it even means to be a Christian. Tap on any topic to expand.
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(2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21)
The Bible is inspired by God, and it is the revelation of Him to man. It is fully authoritative and without error. We can trust it in every circumstance and situation. It provides the foundation for all other doctrines and practices.
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(Genesis 1, Deuteronomy 6:4)
God has always existed in perfect power and holiness. He is Creator of the universe, and He rules over every aspect of creation still today. He exists in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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(John 1:1-18, Colossians 1:13-22)
Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully man. He lived a perfect life, died on a cross, and after three days, He defeated sin and death and rose from the grave. He will return one day to rule and reign.
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(Genesis 1:2, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 1:13-14)
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He works in the world to make all people understand their need for Jesus Christ, and He indwells every believer from the time of salvation. He empowers Christians to live a supernatural life.
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(Genesis 3, Romans 3:10-23, Romans 6:23, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:8-9)
Because of our sinful nature, man cannot enter into heaven no matter how good of a life he may have lived. Jesus Christ came to earth to take the punishment for sin, and our only hope for salvation is faith in the truth that Jesus died for our sin and made a way for us to gain the righteousness it takes to enter heaven.
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(Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-47, Colossians 1:18, 1 Peter 5:1-5)
The Bible teaches that the universal Church is the body of Christ in the world today. A local church is made up of baptized followers of Jesus Christ, gathered for worship and scattered to serve. The church should live out the mission of Christ as His body, taking the gospel to the community and the world around them. The church is led by a group of men known as elders or pastors, who serve as spiritual leaders and shepherds.
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(Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:9, Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12)
Baptism is an act of obedience for every believer. We practice baptism by immersion, symbolizing the imagery of salvation through Jesus - that our old selves have been crucified and buried, and that we now live in new life by the power of His resurrection.
The baptist faith and message 2000
Adopted by Arrowhead Church in October of 2021
Our church is aligned with the doctrines presented in The Baptist Faith and Message 2000. These 18 simple statements of belief are born straight out of Scripture and held by the Southern Baptist Convention, with which Arrowhead Church cooperates. These statements cover a broad range of topics, from salvation itself, to communion, to religious liberty, to the moment life begins in the womb.
The Chicago statement on biblical INERRANCY
Adopted by Arrowhead Church in August of 2023
Arrowhead Church affirms The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy - a set of short statements which clarify why we trust the Bible as our source for truth.
The Nashville statement & The Danvers statement
Adopted by Arrowhead Church in August of 2023
Arrowhead Church is aligned with the Nashville Statement - a set of 14 clear positional statements on what the Bible says about God’s design for ourselves, gender, marriage, family, and sexuality.
We also affirm The Danvers Statement- a set of 10 statements about the Bible’s teachings on the gender roles, biblical manhood, and biblical womanhood.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22
Doctrine matters.
Maybe all those statements seem like a lot to you. We get it! But they also really matter.
At Arrowhead, we believe that the Bible is living and breathing - that God uses it to help us know the truth about Him, the world, and ourselves. We need to know what it means to follow Jesus. We want to be obedient to our loving Father. We want to be holy as Christ is holy. We want to serve and love others well. We want to know how to practice repentance, grace, and forgiveness. We want to worship Jesus, to be known, to get trained, and to make disciples. To do those things and more, we need to know what our Bible says and what it means. This is called doctrine.
At Arrowhead Church, we prioritize knowing the Bible and getting our doctrine right. But knowing what the Bible says is only the first step. With the Holy Spirit’s help, those beliefs become actions - our doctrine leads us in how we take next steps with Jesus everyday. We have to be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
This is where the daily grace of Jesus is so obviously crucial because if you’ve hung around any of us at Arrowhead, you’ll know that we are far from perfect. But we study our Bibles, we seek the truth, we repent, we rest in Jesus’ perfection on our behalf, and we keep taking next steps with Him.