What we Believe
Our Mission at Heartland
Come to Jesus! We believe Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind. God sent him to show us how to live a life full of meaning and purpose. Then he died on a cross to pay the price for our sins, in order that we can live an abundant life now and an eternal life in the age to come. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.
Follow Him with Joy! We believe that following Jesus is the most fulfilling life a person can live. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23. We learn to follow Jesus by reading his Word (the Bible), by praying, by worshiping, by encouraging and cheering on our fellow believers, and by sharing our faith with others.
Serve Him with Passion! We believe a meaningful life is all about loving God and loving people. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…and your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:30-31. No one is beyond God’s grace. Our heart’s desire as a church family is to love as Jesus loved, to serve as Jesus served, and to see lives transformed by his grace and truth.
The gospel is the foundation and motivation for all we do at Heartland. Watch below as our pastors answer the questions, "What is the Gospel" and "How can Jesus change our life?"
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." - A.W. Tozer
Heartland Evangelical Free Church is associated with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), a denomination of about 1500 churches with 300,000 attendance nationwide. Evangelical refers to our commitment to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the authority of the Scriptures as being without error in the original writings and the only safe and sufficient guide to faith and practice. Free refers to our form of church government which assures that our local churches are free from a central controlling body. Free Churches depend upon the active participation of pastors and lay people in the decisions and direction of the local church. Church refers to all people who have placed their hope and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. The church is a people, not a place.
The doctrinal statement of the EFCA
God
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
The Human Condition
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus, Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
The Church
We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
Christian Living
We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
Christ’s Return
We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
Response and Eternal Destiny
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.