The mission of Los Fresnos Church of Christ is to love God, to love others, and to magnify the name of Jesus Christ. The vision of our church is to shed our man-made shackles and be a people who are obvious examples that God’s love changes lives. Our desire is to be a place where Spirit-filled followers of Jesus come to enjoy fellowship and worship in services that are structured just enough not to be chaotic, and free enough to allow us to feel God move.

Our desire is to be a place where Spiritual gifts are identified, developed, and shared for God’s glory regardless of gender. We are a Christ centered haven for all, where style of worship is not what is important but allowing People to meet God in a way they are able.

We are a Bible based hub where those who are firmer in faith uphold, mentor, and encourage those who are weaker. A Place filled with people so full of God’s Spirit, Grace, and Love that it can’t help but overflow into the larger community in acts of service

WE BELIEVE:

The Holy Bible (1 Thes 2:13; 2 Tim 3:14-17; 2 Peter 2:2-4)

Is the ultimate authority in matters of faith, salvation and eternal destiny.

Is the infallible, authoritative, and inerrant word of God.

It reveals all things that are necessary to salvation, life and godliness.

It consists of the sixty-six books of Holy Scripture.

39 books often referred to as the Old Testament

27 books that make up the New Testament

We believe that some doctrines are nonnegotiable, some are optional. The gospel of Christ is nonnegotiable. The Apostle Paul stated 2 times, “As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9) Only in the Holy Bible is found the whole gospel which leads man to Christ.

Therefore we reject any other books or doctrines such as the apocrypha and the gnostic scriptures as being the inspired word of God.

God

We believe in one living and true God who is the creator of heaven and earth; who is eternal, almighty, unchangeable, infinitely powerful, wise, just and holy.

The one God eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience (Matthew 3:16, 17; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3, 4; II Corinthians 13:14).

Although the Bible does not use the word Trinity, we do believe the Bible teaches the nature of the Godhead to characterized by these three representations:

God the Father, Creator of the universe, known by various names in the Old Testament, such as Jehovah,

God the Father's role is to generate things. Things originate with him and flow from him. God the Father is equal with the Son and the Holy Spirit, but things start with him. The Father, because of his great love for us, sent both the Son (John 3:16-17) and Holy Spirit (John 14:26) into the world.

He was never called “Father” until Jesus Christ began His ministry on earth. This is relevant because Jesus the Messiah was indeed the Son of God, but also by His sacrifice on the cross, bore all the sins of mankind who would believe and call on his name, thus enabled humanity to be sons of God rather than having sin separate us from the Holy God who cannot look on sin (Eph.2:13).

Jesus Christ

We believe in both the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ, that He was truly God manifest in human flesh (John 1:1, 14; Phil 2:5-11; Col 2:8-10).

In His virgin birth (Matt 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38).

In His sinless life (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 John 3:5; 1 Pet 1:18-19).

In His vicarious and atoning death for the sins of all (1 Pet 3:18; 1 Cor 15:3; Rom 5:6-8; 2 Cor 5:14-15).

In His burial and bodily resurrection (Matt 20:17-19; Acts 3:15; 1 Cor 15:3-8).

In His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:9).

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is both a person and that He is fully God, being the third member of the blessed Trinity (Acts 5:1-4; Matt 28:19; John 14:15-21).

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every true believer. We believe that this indwelling at once unites us with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and results in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, as well as the experience of the new birth (Eph 1:12-14; 1 Cor 6:17, 12:13; Rom 6:4-5; 1 Peter 1:3).

We believe it is the operation of the Holy Spirit within believers that enables them to do the works of God, rather than by intellect or any form of man’s power outside of His Spirit.

His Works include:

Conviction of the sin of unbelief ( John 16:8-10 ).

The regeneration by the Holy Spirit ( Titus 3:5-6; ).

The Indwelling Holy Spirit, whereby the process of sanctification, increasing from glory to glory (Ezek 36:26-27; Jer 32:38-40; Titus 3:5; John 15:3, 17:17; Eph 5:18, 26; 1 Peter 2:2; Phil 2:12-13, Eph 5:16, Gal 5:16, Ro 8:13, Acts 1:8).

Intersession for the saved, as with “...groanings that cannot be uttered.” (Rom 8:26).

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28, Matthew 3:11, John 16:7, Acts 1:4-8, Acts 2:2-4, 38-39, Acts 10:44-47, Acts 8:15-19, Acts 9:6, 2 Corinthians 14:14).

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (“charismata”). We believe the Bible teaches that all born-again Christians are eligible by faith to receive gifts (charisma) of the Spirit, enabling them to better serve the Lord with direction and power. Jesus stated in John 14: 12-13 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Yet, above the value of Spiritual gifts, as great as they are, the expression of love is more pleasing to God. (I Cor. 13). The Holy Spirit who has been given to us pours out God’s love (different from man’s love) into our hearts (Romans 5:5).

Fruits of the Spirit: yielding to the Holy Spirit will yield fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Nature of Man

We believe that mankind is a triune being – body, spirit and psyche (soul). We are primarily an eternal spirit, housed in a temporal body that will decay. We believe that the creator God formed man from the dust of the earth (Gen 1:26-27) in the triune nature of the godhead, then “breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, and it became a living soul.

We believe that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God (Rom 3:23), the punishment for sin is death (Rom 6:23) and that we are incapable of saving ourselves from this fate because none of us are righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10-12).

The natural man is incapable of pleasing God and does not submit to God’s law nor can it do so (Rom 8:7-8).

Judgment

At an appointed time in the future, known only by God, the Lord Jesus will come like lighting, with a loud trumpet sound, calling up the justified to heaven and sending the un-justified to hell. In the resurrection of our souls we will be given a new, immortal and eternal body (1 Cor 15:42-58; 2 Thes 1:7-10).

We believe that people only have a given amount of years to live in fleshly form, but that our soul and spirit live eternally. The choices and faith we practice while in bodily form determines whether our souls are eternally damned to a literal hell or eternally blessed in the presence of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, His Angels and all the righteous.

Salvation

We believe that there is only one true gospel, or “good news,” that invites us to God and provides a way for eternal salvation. We believe this gospel is simple enough for anyone to understand and obey by faith. The obedience to the gospel refers not to keeping laws (like the Law of Moses) or any method that is dependent upon human effort to “earn” salvation.

We believe that God, who is rich in mercy, and because of his great love for us, makes us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions, and it is by grace we have been saved through faith, it is a gift of God so that no man may boast (Eph 2:1-10).

We believe that “For by one sacrifice he (Jesus) has made perfect forever (flawless and sinless in the eyes of God) those who are being made holy (through yielding to the Holy Spirit).” (Hebrews 10:14). We are being changed, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35-39).

The Kingdom of God:

We believe the Kingdom of God is the spiritual reality of all the government and power and purpose of Christ. The government of the kingdom rests only on His shoulders. The kingdom of God is infallible while the church is solely made up of fallible people who are regenerated by faith and in a process of being made holy, yet seen as perfect in the eyes of God because the blood of Jesus covers our sin.

We believe that within this kingdom we are to fight the good fight of faith, recognizing that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the Heavenly realm. We are more than spectators, we are conquerors through Christ (Eph 6:10-18; Romans 8:37).

Church

We believe that the church is the body of Christ and He is it’s only head. This applies to both the universal world-wide church who believe in Jesus, and to the local church assembly.

The church is not made up of brick and mortar but of the sanctified believers in Christ Jesus.

We believe in both corporate and individual worship.

The local church is crucial to the process of bringing people to Christ

The local church is an essential part of the growth and well-being of a believer’s life, through the church we:

Exercise our unique Spiritual gifts for the benefit of all (1 Cor 12).

Grow up together so that we may reach unity in the faith (Eph 4:13).

Spur one another on towards love and good works (Heb 10:24-25).

Eschatology (The End Times)

We believe in the real second coming of Christ, His personal, physical, and future return to earth, to rule in righteousness and to inaugurate the New Heavens and New Earth. Only the Father in Heaven knows the time and details of this event (Luke 1:26-38; Heb 7:26; Rom 3:25; Matt 28:5-7; Acts 1:9-11, Rev 19-22).

We believe that in Heaven there will be forever fellowship with the saints, the believers of all time who have overcome, with the angels, with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. There will be no evil, no tears, no sadness. Satan will have been cast forever into the burning lake of fire, never to molest us again (Revelations 21:4).