STATEMENT OF FAITH

Section: Stewardship

STATEMENT OF FAITH
Section: Stewardship

A. Stewardship in the Church

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians are in the dispensation of grace so grace giving is the procedure in stewardship. Believers in the Church age are not obligated to keep the Mosaic 23% tithe or the pre-Mosaic practices of making a one-time donation of 10% from the spoils of war. However, believers are still mandated to give today, but are to be led by the Holy Spirit in the amount they give. There are no legalistic percentages that are mandated because the Holy Spirit directs the amount. Furthermore, the church is not the storehouse since it is not in Jerusalem, is not the Jewish temple, and the Mosaic Law has been rendered inoperative. Therefore, the Holy Spirit directs believers in the age of grace to where He sovereignly chooses to channel funds. This could be to the local church but could also include various other missions, ministries, and people. Believers are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, individually, proportionately, and liberally under the direction of the Holy Spirit for the advancement of the Gospel on earth.

B. Principles in Giving

There are five basic principles of biblical giving. First, giving is a measure of the believer’s love for God. If the believer is laying up treasures here on earth, then the believer’s heart will be on earthly things. But if the believer is laying up his treasures in Heaven, his heart will be on heavenly things. Secondly, giving is an expression of faith. Thirdly, the believer will never out-give God. Philippians 4:15-19 teaches that if the believer gives, God will supply his needs; the believer need not worry about his needs, as God will take care of these things. He should be more concerned about giving, because giving will result in God’s supplying the believer’s needs. Fourthly, giving should be done in secret. The fifth principle is that the believer should be willing to work in order to give more. One should give as one has purposed to give, according to one’s ability. A similar point is made in Acts 11:29. One should give according to his ability and according to his own free will or as he has purposed. The believer should not do it out of a sense of necessity.

C. Gentile Indebtedness to Jewish Believers

Furthermore, according to the apostle Paul, Gentile believers are required to support Jewish believers (Romans 15:25-27) since Gentiles have become partakers of Jewish spiritual blessings. According to Paul, the Gentile believers have become indebted to the Jews, especially Jewish believers. The way of fulfilling or paying off their indebtedness is by sharing their material things with Jewish believers. As Gentiles have become partakers in their spiritual things, they are now to fulfill their indebtedness by giving in a material way to Jewish believers.

 

Matthew 6:1-4, 19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21, 42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 15:25-27; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; I Peter 1:18-19.

What are we doing?

  • Love the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  • Love People of all Nations.
  • Share Jesus the Messiah.
  • Make Disciples of all Nations.

What are our values?

  • A maturing relationship with the Messiah.
  • Biblical authority as God’s perfect standard for life and faith.
  • Biblical hospitality to all people to know the Love of the Messiah.
  • Ministry excellence since we serve the Messiah.
  • Ministry integrity since we are accountable to the Messiah.

What makes us successful in the eyes of the Lord?

We worship the LORD.

  • Love the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
  • We read and study the Scriptures.
  • We pray.
  • We obey.

Love People of all Nations

  • Our family relationships are growing.
  • Our church family relationships are growing.
  • I’m involved in a Bible Study.
  • I give care to the believers at church.
  • I serve at church.

Share Jesus the Messiah

  • We are prepared to share the Gospel to the Jew first and the Gentile.
  • We are proactively developing relationships with lost people.
  • We engage in witnessing opportunities with lost people.
  • We are supporting missionaries who are taking the Gospel to the nations.

Make Disciples of all Nations.

  • We are personally accountable to other believers.
  • We are involved in equipping other believers.
  • We are multiplying disciples.
  • We are using our spiritual gifts to edify one another.

How are we doing it?

  • We worship, serve and connect weekly.
  • We reach and equip regularly.

Where is the Lord taking us?

We believe God is calling us to be a light in the darkness to a lost and ever-darkening world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ (the Good News about the Person and work of the Messiah) provided the way for sinners to move from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light. Once we receive this truth by faith personally, we’re compelled to share the effects of this spiritual change with others and to grow in our relationship with the Messiah.

To learn more about the beliefs and doctrines of RHC, please view our Statement of Faith. For more information or to connect with RHC, we encourage you to Contact Us.

ROCK HARBOR CHURCH

We're On a Mission

Rock Harbor Church is a community of believers devoted to God’s Word. Founded upon an unwavering commitment to “anchor ourselves to the rock of Christ,” we teach the entire Bible verse by verse from Genesis to Revelation, and seek to apply its truth to our daily lives in order to go deeper in our walk with the Lord. We are a growing body of believers committed to reaching our culture with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Bible is God’s Holy Word, and that it contains God’s perfect plan to redeem humanity from sin, through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

We defend God’s absolute truth in a relativistic culture. We desire to ground our understanding of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective. We protect our people by warning of the growing apostasy inside and outside of Christendom. We value the Biblical family unit which was created by God to be the bedrock of a society. Therefore, our desire is to preserve our marriages and seek to protect and prepare our children to encounter a culture that is hostile to a biblical view of the family. We support the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, and the Lord’s plan for them.

We believe that Rock Harbor Church just didn’t happen, but that the LORD planted us in this area of Bakersfield for a specific reason. Our mission is simple and it guides everything we do: Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, Make Disciples. This mission is uniquely different compared to what the world offers to people. Our church offers what people need instead of what they think they want.
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