What We Believe
God
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that this triune God created all, upholds all, and governs all things (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:8, 48:16; Matthew 28:19-20; John 10:30; Hebrews 1:3).
Father
We believe in the person of God the Father, an infinite, eternal, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love; that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He saves from sin and death all those who come to Him through Jesus Christ (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2, 102:27; John 3:16, 4:24; I Timothy 1:17; Titus 1:3).
Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, continually makes intercession for His Church and will return to earth again in a personal and visible way (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:23; Mark 16:19; Luke 1:34-35; John 1:1-2, 8:58,11:25; I Corinthians 15:3-4; I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8; I John 1:2; Revelation 1:8).
Holy Spirit
We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, Who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ (John 16:8-11; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:26, 15:13,16; II Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 9:14). We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher and Guide (John 6:13, 14:16-17, 16:8-11; Romans 8:26). We believe in the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as a distinct and separate experience to that of regeneration, occurring either subsequent to or simultaneous with salvation, evidenced by a greater dynamic in the Christian’s life, enabling that person to be a bold and more effective witness. The supreme evidence of the Spirit-filled life is the fruit of the Spirit, love. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and without love all exercise of the spiritual gifts is compromised. We believe in the present day ministry of the Holy Spirit in regard to the exercise of all biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the instructions given to us. (John 14:26; 16:13; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20; I Corinthians 12-14).
The Bible
We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error and the infallible rule of faith and practice. The Word of God is the foundation upon which the church operates and is the basis for which the church is governed. We believe that the Word of God supersedes any earthly law that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures (Isaiah 28:13; Nehemiah 8:8; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:3-4, 21). We seek to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to an individual’s life, leading that person towards greater maturity in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).
Sin & Salvation
We believe that all people are by nature lost and separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person places his/her faith in Christ as his/her Savior, that person is immediately born again, sealed by the Holy Spirit, forgiven of all his/her sins, and becomes a child of God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord (John 3:16-19; 5:24;Romans 5:8-9; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:8-10; Titus 3:5).
The Church
We believe that church government should be simple rather than a complex bureaucracy. We depend on the Holy Spirit’s guidance in establishing leadership within the church in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Timothy 3:1-13 ; Titus 1:5-9).
We believe in the New Testament ordinances of Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These ordinances are observed in obedience to the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ as acts of love and devotion and are not necessary for one’s salvation (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25).
We reject: 1) The belief that true Christians can be demon possessed, 2) the “Positive Confession Movement” which teaches that God can be commanded to heal or work miracles according to man’s will, 3) the “Prosperity Movement” which teaches that it is God’s will for every believer to be financially wealthy, 4) human prophecy that supersedes Scripture, 5) the incorporation of humanistic and secular psychology and philosophy into biblical teaching, and 6) the overemphasis of spiritual gifts, experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of biblical teaching.
In our services we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. We teach both expositionally and topically. We do not allow speaking in tongues loudly during the services, nor prophecy while a Bible study is in progress because we do not believe that the Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself (Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 14:32).
Worship
We believe worship of God should be:
Spiritual – Therefore, we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
Instructional – Therefore, our services are designed with great emphasis upon teaching the Word of God that He might instruct us how He should be worshiped.
Inspirational – Therefore, we give a great place to music in our worship.
Fruitful – Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the ultimate manifestation that we have been truly worshiping Him.
The End Times
We believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ with His Church to rule on the earth during the Millennial Kingdom. We believe Christ’s rule will be visible and personal. We also believe in the resurrection of the saved and the unsaved; the saved unto eternal life and the unsaved unto eternal punishment (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-15).
The Telios Christian Fellowship is a Calvary Chapel church. Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational Christian church which began in 1965 in Costa Mesa, California. Calvary Chapel’s pastor, Chuck Smith was used by God in what has become known as the “Jesus Movement”.
We are not opposed to denominations as such, only their over-emphasis of the doctrinal differences that can lead to division in the Body of Christ. We believe that the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ’s agape love, which is greater than any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.