Who We Are
Nurturing
Equipping
Transforming
Our Values
We will equip and teach in ways that exalt Jesus as the center of our love, joy, hope and rest. Believers will be equipped to honor Jesus with their lives. We will practically transform Kuala Lumpur by nurturing and equipping believers to glorify God in all they do, to live in accordance to the authority of Christ and to depend upon the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. This desire to be God-centered in all we do will expand his kingdom locally and globally. To accomplish this vision, we will start a church-planting church that is focused on God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, living out His mission, and intentionally seeking to establish new communities of Jesus-followers.
As a church we are orientated to the glory of God. Tragically, all people at all times and in all places foolishly and reprehensibly suppress the truth that God revealed through the created order. They “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Rom. 1: 23). Because of this idolatry, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3: 23). Since the church is established as a temple in which the fullness of Christ dwells through the Holy Spirit, the church is to be oriented toward the glory of God. Its members are “living stones [who] are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2: 5). The proclamation of the excellencies of the God who has been merciful is the God-glorifying purpose of the church (1 Pet. 2: 9– 10).
As a church we are focused on the Word (logos) of God. In John 1:1 we learn that Jesus is the incarnate Word (logos) of God. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we are taught the scriptures are the revealed Word (logos) of God.
o Jesus – The Word made flesh: One may wonder how we can be both Gospel-centered and logo-centric. The Gospel is the story of Jesus and his provision for the forgiveness of sins, the hope of resurrection and the transformation of believers’ lives. Being Gospel-centered is synonymous with being Jesus-centered.
o The Bible – The Word revealed and written: This saving grace of God is made known through the Word of God, intended in a different sense of logos. In this second sense also, the church is logo-centric— centered on Scripture, the inspired Word. Specifically, canonical Scripture is inspired, sufficient, necessary, truthful (or inerrant), clear, authoritative, and productive. The church is to be centered on this inspired, sufficient, necessary, truthful, clear, authoritative, and productive Word of God.
As a church we exist by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are created, gathered, gifted, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The church is a community of the Spirit. The Spirit unifies and guides the church under the authority of the Scriptures. He seeks to lead the church to glorify God, interpret and teach the Scriptures accurately and faithfully and to exalt Jesus as King of kings and Lord of Lords. Because the Spirit is the one who gifts, empowers, and guides the church, then God is the one who receives the credit for any and all perceived successes.
No Christian can or should attempt to follow Jesus alone. Paul celebrated joyful gospel partnerships. By partnering with God’s people we visibly demonstrate a need for one another. No one person possesses all the gifts; no one person understands all truth; no one person can accomplish the Great Commission. We put on display the power of the gospel when we partner together to confess the truth of Christ, accomplish his mission, and gather to encourage one another in our struggles to follow him.
o Partners: We partner in covenant as equals. We will live out the new covenant established by Jesus Christ through his blood and resurrection. This covenant is visible as we celebrate believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper. By covenanting together as a visible church we will hold one another accountable to pursue the joyful partnership we have in the gospel and recover God’s design for all human existence and relationships.
o Truth: We partner in truth. We will confess faith in Christ through verbally proclaiming the gospel in worship, teaching, witnessing and nurturing disciples. We will agree on the essentials of faith as revealed in the Bible and acknowledged by this gathered covenanted church.
o Mission: We partner as a missional body. As a gathered community and gospel partners we will live all of life on mission. Mission for EcoCity is not a program or aspect of what we do as a church, but rather it permeates everything we do so that believers are equipped and nurtured to fulfill the Great Commission and the city is transformed by our living out our radical relationship with Jesus.
o Real: We will be a real, authentic, genuine covenanted community of faith. We are not a gathering of Christian superstars, but rather a group of hurting, broken and weak sinners confessing our real need for God’s grace in our lives to pursue his design for us through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the real presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We will meet regularly to worship, learn, nurture, equip, and encourage one another to exalt Jesus in all we do.
Our Core Beliefs
These statements explain what the covenant partners of Gospel City Church confess as truth. These beliefs are foundational to all our nurturing, teaching, preaching, praying, disciplining and equipping. Gospel City Church’s covenant partners must affirm and believe the following core beliefs:
The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself to mankind divinely given through human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is entirely true, totally sufficient, and completely authoritative for matters of life and faith. (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
There is only one true and living God who is the Creator of heaven and earth. He exists eternally in three Persons – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 110:1; Isaiah 45:5-6; 46:9-10; Matthew 3:13-17; 28:17-20; John 10:30; 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 12:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5).
God created all things visible and invisible for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness. He created every molecule and galaxy. He created each species of life separately and finished His work by creating Adam from the dust and Eve from Adam. We believe that the universe has its beginning and end in God’s will. The universe is in no sense independent of Him and creation does not reflect a prior deficiency but its formation and maintenance represent a continuing exertion of His creative power and ability. (Genesis 1-2: Job 12:7-10; Psalm 19:1-7; 148; Proverbs 16:4; John 1:1-18; Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 1:3-14; Colossians 1:15-20).
Human Beings are created equally as man and woman by God to bear His image. They are the crowning work of His creation worthy of love, dignity, and respect regardless of age, race, gender or class. Both Adam and Eve were created without sin. He endued them with knowledge, righteousness and holiness having God’s natural law of conscience written in their hearts and the power to fulfill that law. They lived with the possibility of transgressing since they were left to the liberty of their own will.
(Genesis 1; 2:7; Ecclesiastes 7:29; 12:7; Job 26:13; 33:4; Psalm 24:1-2; 33:5-6; 104:24; Isaiah 55:10-11; Jeremiah 10:12; Matthew 10:28; John 1:1-3; Acts 17:24; Romans 1:20; 2:14-15; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 1:16; 3:10; Hebrews 1:2; 11:3; Revelation 4:11).
The first man and woman chose to disobey God’s command. This disobedience is called sin and the event is called the Fall. Because of the Fall, the image of God in people is distorted but not lost. Now all people disobey God through sin resulting in both physical and spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in hell. Thus, everyone needs redemption from sin. All humanity, Christ excluded, is sinful by both birth and action. All human beings are born with a sin nature and into an environment inclined toward sin. Only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ can someone be redeemed.
(Genesis 2:15-17; 3:19; 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10-18, 23; 5:8, 12-21; 6:23; 7:18; Ephesians 2:1-3; James 1:14-15).
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God eternally begotten but not made, who in history assumed to Himself a human nature for the sake of our salvation. He is both fully God and fully man. Through Him, all things came into being and were created. He was before all things, and in Him, all things hold together by the word of His power. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, suffered, died on the Cross as a substitute for mankind, was resurrected from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father until He returns for the final judgment and consummation of the Kingdom. (Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:52; John 1:1-4, 14; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3).
Salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man. No other religion, belief or person can reconcile God and man. Jesus alone can provide forgiveness and eternal salvation. Jesus Christ physically died as the sacrificial substitute to pay the penalty for sins. His death, burial and resurrection are means by which He guarantees salvation for His people.
(Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 1:20-26, 29; 10:1-18; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4,12-34; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7).
Salvation comes only through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Savior, and repentance of sin. The believer receives Christ’s forgiveness and eternal life, is reconciled to God and can now experience true life and joy. Salvation is instantaneous and accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. This salvation is wholly of God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. All the redeemed are secured in Christ forever.
(John 3:18; 10:28; 14:6; 16:8-11; 19:30 Acts 4:12; Romans 3:21-26; 5:10; 10:9-13; 2 Corinthians 5:17-18; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 4:7)
The Holy Spirit immediately places all people who put their faith in Jesus Christ into one united spiritual body, the universal Church, of which Christ is the head. A local church is the visible manifestation of Christ’s people in a particular setting. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. We believe the most faithful representation of a church of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the New Testament is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word and Spirit. The local church is to live out the ethics of the Kingdom of God, proclaim the gospel, make disciples and bless the community within which it resides. Its scriptural officers are elders/pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. Each covenant partner is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord.
(Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-47; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3)
God will bring the world to its appropriate end in His own time and in His own way. At that time, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. At this time the dead will be physically resurrected. Christ will judge both the saved and unsaved. Those who have trusted Christ will receive a glorified body and dwell forever with the Lord. Those who have not trusted in Christ will spend eternity in hell, the place of everlasting punishment.
(Matthew24:29-31; 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 1:11; 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 1:7)
Our Convictional Statements
In Genesis 1, God created all people in his image (Gen 1:27). This means that all people have equal worth, value, and purpose in God’s design. Both men and women were intended to govern God’s good creation in God-glorifying ways (Gen 1:28). Men and women have different roles within God’s purposes, but together they can flourish and fulfil God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28).
However, this initial depiction of men and women flourishing together as governors over God’s creation came into disorder when Adam and Eve sinned against God (Gen 3:1-8). As a result of the Fall, men and women often relate to each other in ways that dishonour God (Gen 3:16). Christ came into the world to redeem the world from sin and begin the process of renewal, which looks forward to the new heavens and earth (Col 1:15-20). One day, Jesus will return and make right all that has been tainted by sin because of the Fall. Christians now look forward to a restored creation, where all people will be free of sin and relationships will be rightly ordered once more (Rev 21:1-4).
For Christians, who live between Jesus’s first and second comings, men and women both have distinct and complementary roles. Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters all have unique, God-given characteristics and are encouraged to relate to each other in distinct, yet God-honouring ways (Eph 5:21–6:4; Col 3:18-21). Christian men and women should always relate to each other according to Christ’s example of sacrifice, humility, and love (Phil 2:3-11). Jesus sets the standard for both Christian men and women in the home, church, and society at large.
At Gospel City Church, we believe that all Covenant Partners, irrespective of gender, should serve one another (Gal 5:13), honour and love one another (Rom 12:10), teach and admonish one another (Col 3:16), as well as lead and serve in varieties of ways (Rom 16:1-16). We also believe that only affirmed and qualified men should serve in the office of elder (1 Tim 3:1-7; Tit 1:5-9). Because of this conviction, those who preach the Scriptures when the church gathers weekly must meet the qualifications of an elder—even if they have not been affirmed as an elder. At Gospel City Church, all Christians should relate to each other as brothers and sisters adopted into Christ’s family (Eph 1:5; Gal 4:5). Through pursuing God’s design in the God-honouring ways in which God has made us, we believe men and women can flourish alongside each other as equally valuable and purposeful members in Christ’s kingdom.
From the earliest days, Christians have proclaimed maranatha, “Come Lord,” in hope of Jesus’s promised return (Mt 24:30-31; 1 Cor 16:22; 1 Ths 4:15-17; Jas 5:7; Rev 19:11-13; 22:20). All Christians believe that Jesus will return in the flesh (Lk 24:42; Jn 20:27; Acts 1:11). All Christians likewise believe that when Jesus returns, the dead will rise in the flesh (Jn 5:29; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor 15:13). Resurrection to an embodied life freed from sin and decay is the Christian hope. Having inaugurated the Kingdom of God in his first coming, Jesus will fully establish the Kingdom of God at his second coming (Rev 12:10; 22:5). At his return, Jesus will judge all people according to their works (Mt 12:36; 16:27; Rom 4:10-12; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Pet 4:5; Rev 20:12). Those who have been made righteous by Christ will enter into eternal life (Jn 3:26; Rom 6:23; Jd 21). Those who have not been made righteous will face eternal punishment and destruction (Mt 25:46; Gal 6:8; 2 Ths 1:9). These truths have been held by all Christians throughout the history of Jesus’s church.
From the earliest days, Christians have differed on specific interpretations of end time events. These differences include the timing of Jesus’s return, the length and nature of his initial reign, and the specific nature of human persons between bodily death and the resurrection. None of these interpretations are essential to the salvation of a believer, nor to the regular practice of the gathered church. As a result, Gospel City Church affirms that Covenant Partners may hold different interpretations in good faith. We would discourage Covenant Partners and other believers from creating division over these and similar disputed matters (Rom 14:1).
Christians have differed on the nature and extent of spiritual gifts throughout the history of the church. In recent years, titles and phrases such as charismatic, continuationist, cessationist, open but cautious and others have been used to describe positions or postures concerning spiritual gifts. Gospel City Church believes that one’s position and posture concerning spiritual gifts should not cause disunity among believers.
GCC holds a broadly continuationist position, believing that none of the Holy Spirit’s gifts have ceased, and are sovereignly distributed among believers (Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11, 12:28). However, any spiritual gift should be exercised in accordance with biblical intent – to exalt Jesus (1 Cor 12:3) and to encourage the church (1 Cor 14:3). Further, it is worth noting that Paul does not distinguish between ‘miraculous’ and ‘non–miraculous’ gifts; all gifts can only be exercised in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Rather, Paul exhorts believers earnestly to desire the ‘higher’ gifts (1 Cor 12:31), which benefit the wider church as opposed to the individual. Paul also encourages believers to reflect on their need for one another since God gives gifts to each individual uniquely (1 Cor 12:11-31).
Gospel City Church recognises that covenant partners may hold differing positions on the availability and applicability of spiritual gifts. But, we will all earnestly seek the Holy Spirit’s empowerment for all ministry and service and humbly acknowledge the variety of gifts in the church. We will partner with differently-gifted believers; commit to preserve unity between believers, not by avoiding discussions of spiritual gifts, but by having Bible-based and loving discussions that pursue edification rather than division.
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Gospel City Church – Partnership Covenant
Covenant Partnership – Testimony