Jesus Christ is the church’s only foundation and His Gospel is the heart of our message. Southern Cross has no formal doctrinal statement. The following expresses our seven core values:
- The Bible: The Bible is our final authority. Our approach to life and ministry is guided by the counsel of the Old and New Testaments. [2 Timothy 3:16–17]
- Prayer: Seeking God, listening for His voice, and submitting to His guidance formed the very foundation of Jesus’ ministry on earth. [John 5:19]
- Unity:We are passionate about the fulfilment of Jesus’ prayer for the unity of His Body and we work for Christian unity wherever we are. [John 17:21]
- Equipping:Our mandate is that all Christians be equipped and released to do the work of ministry in accordance with their gifts. [Ephesians 4:11–13]
- Spiritual Parenting: We are raising up a generation of fathers and mothers to pass on the baton of spiritual inheritance to successive generations. [Malachi 4:5]
- Empowering Relationships: Empowering relationships should take precedence over programmes and busyness. Relationship is the basis of trust, and a major priority in God’s Kingdom. [Hebrews 10:24–25]
- Freedom in Christ: We respect God’s call on the life of every believer and are committed to Kingdom relationships that are safe, respectful, honest, and genuinely beneficial. [2 Corinthians 3:17]
Our Statement of Faith:
THE TRINITY
We believe that God eternally co-equally exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that these three are one God.
GOD’S CREATION
We believe that God through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit created and governs all that exists. He created man and woman in His own image and has commissioned them to exercise dominion over His creation.
AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
We believe the Bible, in its entirety as originally given, to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, without error and the infallible, authoritative Word of God.
SATAN AND THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that by willfully sinning against God, man fell into rebellion against God. Since the fall, all men are born in sin and therefore subject to God’s wrath and captive to Satan’s kingdom of darkness. Mankind’s only escape from this satanic bondage is to biblically repent of sins, appropriate the sacrificial blood of Jesus as the required ransom for their sins, and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus.
JESUS AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, who became the substitution and atoning sacrifice through His shed blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. We believe in His soon coming personal return in power and glory to receive His Church. Jesus came to earth to redeem that which was lost (Luke 19:10). We believe that all Christian activity should have a redemptive and transformational purpose.
SALVATION (NEW BIRTH)
Salvation (a born again conversion experience) is an awesome opportunity made available to all mankind. To take advantage of this opportunity, we believe in the necessity of biblical repentance, the personal appropriation of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. When this is sincerely done the sinner is pardoned and accepted as righteous in God’s sight. We deny that Christ can be received as your Savior without Him becoming Lord of your life. We believe that faith without accompanying spiritual or physical works is dead. We are called to a life of discipleship and holiness in joyful obedience to Jesus Christ.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. We believe that the Holy Spirit makes available everything believers need to live a godly life and accomplish everything He asks us to do.
THE GREAT COMMISSION
We believe that the Church is commissioned to preach the Gospel to the world and to disciple the nations. We believe in the practical application of the Christian faith in everyday life and the need to minister to people everywhere and in every area of their lives, which includes not only the spiritual, but also the social, commercial, political and physical.
GOVERNMENTS IN THE WORKPLACE
We believe that all authority and dominion flows from Jesus Christ who has delegated His authority to various governmental spheres among men, including self, family, church, corporate and civil. Each believer has been divinely assigned a sphere of influence that they must bring under the dominion of Christ.
BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW
We believe that no public official or corporate officer can function effectively without the knowledge of God’s will as revealed in His Word. His every purpose must be to establish or further the Kingdom of Jesus on earth.
FIVE-FOLD MINISTRY OFFICES, ELDERS AND DEACONS
We believe that Christ Himself has bestowed upon certain men and women of His choosing the spiritual gifting of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. These five offices constitute the eldership of the Church whose function is to cooperate in spiritually equipping and activating believers for effective service in every sphere of life, including the marketplace, political, education, media, arts, family and church. The work of the eldership is to establish spiritual unity and the priesthood of all believers in Christ. Their objective is to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
(Resource: James Boswell, Sr.)
SCAC believes and agrees with the historic creeds of the universal Church of Christ: Nicene and Apostles Creed and the Lausanne Covenant.
NICENE CREED:
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
APOSTLE’S CREED:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
