ABOUT JESUS

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus lived a sinless life and offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all people on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again to earth someday to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13

ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a subsequent gift/experience to salvation which empowers the believer and is available to all who ask for it. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives the spiritual gifts of : word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, various kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues to believers since the day of Pentecost and continuing until our Lord’s return.

John 14:16-17, 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 2:12-16, 6:19-20, 1 Corinthians 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:16-18; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:11-13

ABOUT THE DIVINE COUNCIL

The Council of the Gods / God. Most Bible translations show that Israel believed in an assembly of heavenly hosts under the authority of Yahweh. This assembly is similar to pantheons of ancient Near Eastern cultures. A close reading of the Hebrew text and comparisons with other ancient non-biblical texts from Canaan demonstrate this similarity. The clearest example is the cuneiform literature from Ras Shamra (Ugarit), discovered in the late 1920s. As a Semitic language, Ugaritic is closely related to biblical Hebrew—it shares vocabulary, as well as morphological and syntactical features. Many of the Ugaritic tablets describe a council of gods in words and phrases that are conceptually and linguistically parallel to the Hebrew Bible. The Ugaritic divine council was led by El, the same word used in the Hebrew Bible for deity and as the proper name for the God of Israel

Isa 40:18; 43:12

The Hebrew Bible has phrases that explicitly parallel these Ugaritic expressions. Psalm 82:1 is perhaps the best example. It calls the council (ל ֵת־א ַד ֲע, adath-el) and describes gods under the authority of Israel’s God: “God (ים ִלהֹ ֱא, elohim) stands in the council of El/the divine council (ל ֵת־א ַד ֲע, adath-el); among the gods (ים ִלהֹ ֱא, elohim) he passes judgment.” The second occurrence of ים ִלהֹ ֱא) elohim) must be semantically plural due to the preposition “in the midst of.” This does not refer to the Trinity—Psalm 82 goes on to describe how Israel’s God accuses the other ים ִהֹלֹ ֱא) elohim) of corruption and sentences them to die “like humankind.” This plurality does not refer to human beings. Psalm 89:5–7 places the God of Israel “in the assembly of the holy ones” (ים ִשֹד ְקֹל ַה ְק ִב, biqhal qedoshim) and then asks “For who in the clouds (ק ַח ַש ַב, bashshachaq) can be compared to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God (ֹי ֵנ ְב ים ִל ֵא, beney elim), a god greatly feared in the council of the holy ones (ים ִשֹד ְוד־קֹס ְב, besod-qedoshim)?” Psalm 29:1 commands the same sons of God (ים ִל ֵאֹי ֵנ ְב, beney elim) to praise Yahweh beney ,בְ נֵ יֹהָ אֱ ֹלהִ ים ,elim beney ,בְ נֵ יֹאֵ לִ ים) “God of sons “Divine .obeisance due him give and ha'elohim; or ים ִלהֹ ֱא י ֵנ ְב, beney elohim) appear in other biblical texts.

Gen 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; and Deut 32:8–9, 43 (Septuagint; Qumran)

Citation Reference: Heiser, MS, “Divine Council,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary, John D. Barry and Lazarus Wentz, eds. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012). Page 2. Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:29 PM December 11, 2013.

ABOUT THE BIBLE

The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any error.

2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105; Psalm 119:160; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5

ABOUT HUMANITY

We believe every person matters to God. All people were created in the image of God to have relationship with him, but became separated from God through sinful disobedience. As a result, people are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts.

Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1-2; Titus 3:5

ABOUT SALVATION

Salvation is God’s free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.

Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9, Hebrews 9:12-15; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6

ABOUT ETERNITY

People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.

John 3:16; John 14:17; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-9

ABOUT THE CHURCH

The church is composed of all persons who, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, are united together in faith and fellowship. The church is to fulfill its five-fold ministry according to Ephesians 4:8-16:

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers.

To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:8-16; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 28:16-19; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 2:19-22, 4:3-4; Hebrews 10:25

The Hope Center of Lower Brule is affiliated with the Assemblies of God 

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