WHAT WE BELIEVE
At Thirst we believe that everyone craves a better life for themselves. People have a deep desire for authentic connections with other people, to experience deeper meaning in their lives, and to live for something that is bigger than themselves. We believe all these cravings can be found not in a philosophy or principle, but in the person of Jesus Christ.
We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. We believe the Bible to be the only authoritative Word for our rule of faith and practice.
(1Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17)
We believe that there is one God, who reveals Himself in His creation, and in His Word. This revealed God is eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; Ephesians 4:4-6; Romans 1:20)
We believe that Jesus was God in the flesh. We believe in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood on the cross, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His second advent whereby He will restore mankind and this world to its original order. (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1-4 and 1:29; Acts 1:11 and 2:22-24; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4;2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-4 and 4:15)
We believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, especially to those who believe in Him. We believe that all people need a savior. We believe that when you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you will be spending eternity with God. We believe that people are saved by grace through faith, not by works. We believe that those who do not choose this will be eternally separated from God. (Luke 24:46-47; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Ephesians 1:7 and 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Timothy 4:10; Ephesians 2:8-9)
We believe that whoever believes in Jesus Christ receives the Holy Spirit. This indwelling Holy Spirit empowers us to live out our faith in Christ and to be ministers to those around us. We believe that the evidence for having the indwelling Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. (John 3:5-8; Acts 1:8 and 4:31; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:6-10)
We believe in the resurrection of those who know Christ. This resurrection is when they receive their spiritual body, just like the one Christ had after His resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Revelation 20:11-15)
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and that all true believers are members of His body, the church. (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23)
We believe that all people everywhere need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that one of the primary ministries of the church is to come alongside those who do not know Christ as Savior in order to help facilitate a relationship with God through Him. We believe that God rescues us by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:9-15; 1 Peter 3:15;2 Peter 3:9)
We believe baptism is an outward expression of an inward decision to follow Jesus. It is not the road to salvation, but an opportunity to publicly declare you faith in Jesus. We do full immersion baptism. Because of this we do not baptize babies. Rather we practice baby dedication, which is an opportunity for parents to publicly declare their intent to raise their children to follow in Jesus’ steps. We offer Baptism and Baby Dedication on a regular basis at Thirst. (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:4)
We receive communion as a church body once a month. We do this in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice as he commanded us to do. We believe that the bread and the wine (or in our case juice) are a symbol of Jesus’ body and blood which he sacrificed for our salvation. Anyone who is a professed Christian may receive communion at Thirst. We do not serve wine to make communion accessible to all those who attend. (Matthew 26:26-28, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)