Core Beliefs
The following are the core beliefs of Lily of the Valley Church based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.
God
We believe in only one God who is manifested to us as Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus Christ is God and in creation manifest as the Father, in redemption manifest as the Son, and now in the present church age he manifests to us as the Holy Ghost.
Baptism
We believe that baptism is important as a sign of our repentance and salvation. While baptism does not save us, if we have truly repented and place our faith in Jesus then we MUST and we WILL get baptized in obedience to Jesus command to be baptized. No where in the bible do we find the concept or practice of an unbaptized Christian. What we find instead is that the apostles baptized people immediately once they believed the gospel. Therefore, if you truly repented and believe in Jesus by faith then you will show your faith by your works of baptism and living a life of obedience to Jesus.
We also practice and believe that baptism must be administered by immersion and not sprinkling. Baptism is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Clearly, Jesus neither anyone else has ever been buried by sprinkling a little dirt on the corpse. Consequently, when we are baptized according to the scriptures we are buried with Jesus in baptism (Rom 6:3-4).
We also believe that baptism must be done in the name of Jesus Christ as was practiced by the apostles. We are fully aware Jesus commanded his apostles to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Mt 28:19. However, the very first baptism they performed on the day of Pentecost when the church started was in the name of Jesus Christ. When Peter preached and the people asked what they should do Peter replied "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) . We also see many other instances where the apostles baptized people in the name of Jesus. Read Acts 8:16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5. It is interesting and noteworthy that we do not have not even one instance or example in the bible where any of the apostles every baptized anyone using the formula Father, Son and Holy Ghost! We believe the simple explanation is they understood that the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is Jesus! The bible declares in Jesus dwells the fullness of the God bodily (Col 2:9).
We recognized some do not agree with our belief of baptism in Jesus name only. In fact many churches baptize in Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We do not condemn those who do not baptize in Jesus name. We are open to a discussion about the matter . Our position is not to go around condemning others but rather to shed light on the scriptures and lead others to the truth of God's word as we see it. We seek to obey the bible as we understand it and follow the examples of the apostles hence the reason we are an apostolic church.
We also practice and believe that baptism must be administered by immersion and not sprinkling. Baptism is a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Clearly, Jesus neither anyone else has ever been buried by sprinkling a little dirt on the corpse. Consequently, when we are baptized according to the scriptures we are buried with Jesus in baptism (Rom 6:3-4).
We also believe that baptism must be done in the name of Jesus Christ as was practiced by the apostles. We are fully aware Jesus commanded his apostles to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Mt 28:19. However, the very first baptism they performed on the day of Pentecost when the church started was in the name of Jesus Christ. When Peter preached and the people asked what they should do Peter replied "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) . We also see many other instances where the apostles baptized people in the name of Jesus. Read Acts 8:16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5. It is interesting and noteworthy that we do not have not even one instance or example in the bible where any of the apostles every baptized anyone using the formula Father, Son and Holy Ghost! We believe the simple explanation is they understood that the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is Jesus! The bible declares in Jesus dwells the fullness of the God bodily (Col 2:9).
We recognized some do not agree with our belief of baptism in Jesus name only. In fact many churches baptize in Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We do not condemn those who do not baptize in Jesus name. We are open to a discussion about the matter . Our position is not to go around condemning others but rather to shed light on the scriptures and lead others to the truth of God's word as we see it. We seek to obey the bible as we understand it and follow the examples of the apostles hence the reason we are an apostolic church.
Holy Ghost
We believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit whose presence enables believers to live by faith and grow in spiritual maturity. We believe when we are born again it is the Holy Ghost which comes in to our hearts and makes us new creatures. One cannot be a christian unless you have the Holy Ghost dwelling in you. The bible declares that if we do not have the Spirit of Christ which is the Holy Ghost, then we do NOT belong to Christ. "But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) Romans 8:9 (NLT).
The King James Version says if we do not have the Spirit the we are "None of His" which simply means we do not belong to Christ. Now if you do not belong to Christ the only other master you belong to is the Devil!
We believe there is a difference between "Having the Spirit" and being Filled with the Spirit." Having the Spirit refers to being born of the Spirit. When a person genuinely repents of their sins, and place their faith in Jesus for salvation the Spirit of God enters them and gives them a new nature. The bible calls this process regeneration. This is what Jesus meant when he said to Nicodemus you must be Born Again and that except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5-6). So to be a christian one needs to be born of the Spirit which means the Spirit comes to dwell in us making us new creatures in Christ.
However, once a person is born again or have the Holy Spirit, they also need to be FILLED with the Spirit. We believe the Filling of the Holy Spirit is a different experience from being born of the Spirit. For example, one can have water in a cup but the cup may not be filled with water. We believe to be Filled with the Spirit is an experience that usually expressed itself in speaking in tongues meaning speaking another language you did not learn. We find several examples in the bible that show that when people were filled with the Holy Ghost they usually speak in tongues as an evidence of being filled with the Spirit. See Acts 2:4, Acts 10:46, Acts 19:6).
Finally, we believe that one can have the Holy Ghost without speaking in tongues. However, we also believe that one cannot be Filled with the Holy Ghost without some kind of evidence such as Speaking in Tongues. Once again the Filling of the Holy Ghost is when the Holy Ghost empowers us to do something supernatural that we could not do of ourselves. The most common evidence of the supernatural power of the filling of the Holy Ghost recorded in scriptures is the initial evidence of Speaking in Tongues. This experience is different from receiving or Having or being Born of the Spirit which does not require any evidence of speaking in tongues.
The King James Version says if we do not have the Spirit the we are "None of His" which simply means we do not belong to Christ. Now if you do not belong to Christ the only other master you belong to is the Devil!
We believe there is a difference between "Having the Spirit" and being Filled with the Spirit." Having the Spirit refers to being born of the Spirit. When a person genuinely repents of their sins, and place their faith in Jesus for salvation the Spirit of God enters them and gives them a new nature. The bible calls this process regeneration. This is what Jesus meant when he said to Nicodemus you must be Born Again and that except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5-6). So to be a christian one needs to be born of the Spirit which means the Spirit comes to dwell in us making us new creatures in Christ.
However, once a person is born again or have the Holy Spirit, they also need to be FILLED with the Spirit. We believe the Filling of the Holy Spirit is a different experience from being born of the Spirit. For example, one can have water in a cup but the cup may not be filled with water. We believe to be Filled with the Spirit is an experience that usually expressed itself in speaking in tongues meaning speaking another language you did not learn. We find several examples in the bible that show that when people were filled with the Holy Ghost they usually speak in tongues as an evidence of being filled with the Spirit. See Acts 2:4, Acts 10:46, Acts 19:6).
Finally, we believe that one can have the Holy Ghost without speaking in tongues. However, we also believe that one cannot be Filled with the Holy Ghost without some kind of evidence such as Speaking in Tongues. Once again the Filling of the Holy Ghost is when the Holy Ghost empowers us to do something supernatural that we could not do of ourselves. The most common evidence of the supernatural power of the filling of the Holy Ghost recorded in scriptures is the initial evidence of Speaking in Tongues. This experience is different from receiving or Having or being Born of the Spirit which does not require any evidence of speaking in tongues.
The Gifts of the Holy Ghost and Supernatual
We believe that God is still present in his Church by the Holy Ghost. We further believe that the gifts of the Holy Ghost such as gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophesying, interpretation of tongues are still operating today. We believe the Holy Ghost still give these gifts to his people. We understand the bible teaches all who are saved have been given at least one spiritual gift to be used to edify the church and be of service to others.
Salvation
We believe that human beings are sinful, guilty, and lost without Christ and that salvation from the consequences of sin comes only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross where he bore our sins and died on our behalf.
We believe that sinners are made right before God only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that being a good person, doing good works such as giving to charity, being kind, not cursing, being honest, going to church, paying tithes etc cannot save us or make us right with God. The bible declares we are not saved by doing good works or being good, but rather by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. The bible teaches we were all born in sin and our righteousness at best is compared to dirty rags. We must reject our good works and accept the righteous of Jesus Christ. When we acknowledge our sins we must repent of our sinful ways and turn to Jesus, confess with our mouth that Jesus is God, our Lord and Savior, ask his forgiveness and place our trust in him and he alone to save us.
We believe that sinners are made right before God only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that being a good person, doing good works such as giving to charity, being kind, not cursing, being honest, going to church, paying tithes etc cannot save us or make us right with God. The bible declares we are not saved by doing good works or being good, but rather by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. The bible teaches we were all born in sin and our righteousness at best is compared to dirty rags. We must reject our good works and accept the righteous of Jesus Christ. When we acknowledge our sins we must repent of our sinful ways and turn to Jesus, confess with our mouth that Jesus is God, our Lord and Savior, ask his forgiveness and place our trust in him and he alone to save us.
The Church
The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ressurection and Judgement
We believe in the bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead for both salvation and final judgment.