CFBC is a Bible Church with a vision to reach Greater Los Angeles with the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus—the King. Outlined below are our core values that shape the identity of our church. These values are not all unique to our church, but they uniquely describe us. They are the fundamental biblical principles that govern what ministries we do, why we do them, and how we do them. So as you read, imagine a church where...
I. At CFBC the Bible is the Authority
We believe that the Bible is the very Word of God and as such is the sufficient and supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice. We furthermore believe that every Christian must be grounded in a biblical worldview. In other words, Christians must intentionally submit their thoughts, convictions, beliefs, behavior, and values to the objective teaching of Scripture. Hence, we identify ourselves as a Bible Church.
II. At CFBC God is Supreme
We believe that God has real Personhood—divine and infinite, but nevertheless Personhood. Biblically, this means that God thinks, wills, feels, and has intentionality and that because Jesus has revealed Him, God can be known. Therefore, it is our supreme calling to know Him intimately, to delight in pleasing Him and to find
our satisfaction from giving ourselves fully to His purposes. We believe that this is only achieved when God’s revelation of Himself—His Word—is central in the life of the Christian and governs the ministry of the church.
III. At CFBC the Church is a Spiritual Family
We believe that the church is a covenant community of believers (and not a building).
I. We believe that God has adopted us from our various cultural, generational, and ethnic earthly families into His heavenly family as sons and daughters, making us brothers and sisters in the Lord. As the children of God, we need each other and are blessed with the privilege of sharing sacrificial love with one another.
II. We also believe that the Holy Spirit has united us together as a spiritual body, and has gifted each one of us to serve other believers of CFBC. He has done so in order that we all grow in Christ-likeness to display the glory and character of God to the on-looking world.
III. We furthermore believe that we gather together as the living temple of God and as such, we are a kingdom of priests, each blessed to glorify God through Christ-exalting worship.
IV. At CFBC We Believe a Christian is a Radical New Creation in Christ
We believe that a Christian is someone:
I. who by God's grace has been spiritually awakened from the dead through repentance from sin and faith in Jesus
II. who by Christ’s power has been freed from slavery to sin to a pursuit of holy living
III. who has entered into a radically new relationship with God that is governed by God’s love and grace
IV. whose life is being progressively transformed by the Holy Spirit in such a way that every aspect of his or her life is being brought under the absolute authority of Jesus Christ as Lord.
V. who being so loved by God, longs for the pleasure that comes from knowing Him and the satisfaction that comes from serving Him. The hallmark of all genuine believers is a heart of joyful worship.
V. At CFBC Leaders are Men Called and Equipped to Serve
We affirm that God has made both man and woman in His image according to His likeness. Therefore there is an inherent equality and dignity that they both share. We also affirm that God made men and women to be different. Those differences according to God’s will are manifested in God-glorifying distinct roles for men and women in both the home and in the church. God calls wives to reveal His glory through their willing, humble submission to their husbands just as Christ submitted in everything to the Father. God calls husbands to reveal his glory through their personal, sacrificial love of their wives, just as Christ loved the church and died for it. And God calls qualified male leaders of the church, elders, to be shepherd-like servant-leaders over the church.
VI. At CFBC our Mission is to Make Disciples (Matt 28:18-20; Col 1:28-29)
God has a purpose for the church, and in His Word, He has revealed it as our mission. It defines the church’s relationship to the world, and it is found not in one verse of the Bible, but in many (e.g., Matt 5:13-14; 28:16-20; Mk 13:10; Lk 24:44-49; John 17:18; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 26:16-18; 2 Cor 5:20; Phil 1:27; Col 1:28-29). This purpose of the church emanates from the very heart of God. He loves sinners. He loves them so much that He sacrificed His own Son to save them, sent His Holy Spirit to change them, and entrusted His Word to the church so that we might proclaim Him. The mission of the church is this: the church must (1) reach those who are being saved by proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and (2) do all that it can to ensure that those who turn from sin to trusting in Jesus are effectively growing towards His-likeness.
CFBC is committed to creating a church-culture where everyone embraces this mission and becomes a disciple making disciples (DMDs)—where people, not programs, are served; where babes in Christ are nurtured through discipleship to become Christ-like in character and Word-centered in their ministries. We believe that if we can achieve this, then we’ll bear more fruit, and God will be glorified. We, therefore, believe that Jesus has commissioned each member of CFBC as His ambassador so that collectively we can reach Greater Los Angeles and the world with the gospel.
VII. At CFBC, Prayer is Our Declaration of Complete Dependence upon God
At CFBC we strive to take to heart our Lord’s admonition that apart from Him we can do nothing. We, therefore, openly acknowledge our dependence upon Him by praying, individually and corporately, in Bible studies and planning meetings, in small group gatherings and in our corporate worship. At CFBC we believe that
I. God’s strength is manifested through our weakness when we pray.
II. Without Him we can do nothing, but with Him we can do all that He has called us to do.
III. Through Him, we can and will fulfill our mission to be a church of maturing disciples who are making disciples by being a praying church.