How our faith is practiced in real life:
What we believe (doctrine) is most beautiful when it is actually lived out in our real lives each day. Here are some of the practical ways South Side desires to live out what we believe:
We believe we live in the presence of God all day long
We often pray, “God, please be with us” when God’s presence is always with us (he is “omnipresent” as we read in Psalm 139; Jeremiah 23:24; Genesis 28:15). What Jesus said regarding His presence was that we the assurance that “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Worshiping God and praying can happen all day long, not just when we are at a church meeting or with other Christians. This means that we can “practice His presence” throughout the day: as we drive, as we eat, as we talk to others, as we work, and as we play.
We believe that God’s Spirit makes life-change possible and we must be completely dependent on Him for this to occur
Human effort alone does not produce real life-change- it is the Spirit of God who convicts us, changes us, and ultimately empowers us to be transformed into followers of Jesus. Repentance (which means “to change one’s mind” or “to turn”) is part of change, because as we repent, we recognize where we have gone astray from God’s will. Out of understanding where we have strayed, we can then ask God for the strength to continue changing into the person He wants us to be (John 14:26; Acts 9:31; Romans 8:27;
2 Corinthians 3:5; 1 John 2:20, 27: Acts 1:8).
We believe in the “priesthood” of all believers
The concept of the “priesthood” of all believers comes out of the truth that because of Jesus, we no longer need a human mediator or “priest” to communicate with and experience God. In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), there were “priests” who would intercede on the behalf of the people. But because Jesus is our High Priest and mediator, we are now all priests in God’s kingdom (Hebrews 3:1, 4:14; 1 Peter 2:4, 9). The “priesthood” of all believers is the Scriptural teaching that every Christian is in full-time ministry, serving God in all they do. This means that vocations other than paid ministry are still ministry. What this means is that everyone from a Christian elementary school student, the stay-at-home mom or the electrician can be a holy servant of God, honoring Him in his or her respective vocations.
We believe the “Church” is comprised of Christ-following believers
The New Testament does not tell us that the followers of Jesus "went to church." What you do read is that the church (the people) assembled together. The church is the people, not a place or a meeting you attend. In our modern world, the "church" has become known as a place where people go, instead of a people on a mission for God. South Side Church will have weekly assemblies for the purpose of worship, and will have various other classes and meetings that happen at a "place"- but most of all, we will be defined and function as a community of “people” who are living as the church all week long (1 Corinthians 12).
We believe that healthy followers of Jesus are those who learn to “feed themselves” from the inspired Scriptures throughout the week
We long for a culture of people who strive to be “theologians” and learn to “feed themselves” from the Scriptures in order to mature and grow. This is a critical strategy for a church, because it means that we want to see people learning how to study the Scriptures outside of Sundays as part of the rhythm of their lives, not viewing the sermons on Sundays as the primary way they are being “fed” as a believer. The Bible, both Old and New Testaments are an absolutely critical aspect of growing and maturing as a follower of Jesus. Studying and knowing and living out the Scriptures must happen on a regular basis in the life of a believer (Hebrews 5:11-13, Acts 17:10-12).
We believe that our daily lives should be “outward” focused and not “inward” focused
This simply means our attention and energy is placed more on others than on ourselves, with the goal of expressing and sharing the love of Jesus. The church was not created for itself: it was created to worship God and to spread His love to others. We each were created for the purpose of carrying out “The Great Commission.” Jesus clearly told the church to "go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-20). For us today, this command is not exclusive to overseas missions alone (which we will support wholeheartedly since global missions is extremely important) but is foremost to be lived out in our own communities, families, and day to day lives. Our prayers should be focused on other people and part of our lives should be built around developing and keeping friendships with people outside of the church, as opposed to only befriending and hanging out with those who are already Christians. In keeping a “Great Commission” mindset for our lives, we will want to reflect Jesus all the more as we interact with people who don’t yet know Jesus. Every day becomes a mission adventure as we truly embrace what it means to be an “ambassador” for Jesus wherever we are (2 Corinthians 5:20; Colossians 4:5-6).
We believe the pastor or other leaders serve to lead, train, and equip the people of the church, as we all serve on the mission together
The church is comprised of people gifted by the Holy Spirit in many unique and beautiful ways to serve God, each other and the mission of Jesus. The majority of the church staff will focus their efforts on helping people identify their gifts and passions so that they can serve in the church body and in the world as God has designed them. (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12) We believe that we can see the Spirit of God changing us as we manifest love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives. Jesus most harshly criticized those who were the religious leaders of His day—these leaders knew doctrine and knew the Bible very well – but their hearts were hardened. As the Spirit of God transforms us, we believe that every person who has committed their life to Jesus should be showing the fruits of the Spirit more and more as they grow and mature. We strive to be a community of believers where the fruit of the Spirit is evident in our lives (Galatians 5: 22-23).
We believe we are to love our neighbors as ourselves and pray for our enemies
It seems so counter-intuitive to many of us, but Jesus called us to pray for our enemies. He also taught us that the second greatest command is to love our neighbor as ourselves. All through Scripture, we see that a follower of Jesus is described as someone who desires to express love to other people. We believe that Christianity is not a self-oriented faith, but one that is about other people (Matthew 22:39; Matthew 5:43-44).
We believe we are called to care about the oppressed, the poor and those experiencing injustice
Throughout the Bible, God’s heart for the needy, the oppressed and those whom experience injustice is extremely evident. We strive to be a community where this heart is evident in both belief and action (Psalm 140:12; Isaiah 58:66; Proverbs 29:7; Micah 6:8; Amos 5).
We believe each person has religious liberty
We believe that every human being has direct relations with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and State must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
We believe in church cooperation
We believe that the local church can best promote the cause of Jesus Christ by cooperating with one another in a denominational organization. Such an organization, whether a regional or district conference, exists and functions by the will of the churches.
We believe the covenant of marriage is a holy and sacred thing
We view marriage as God’s design of a sacred covenant (a supernatural bonding) between a man and woman (Genesis 2:23-24; Exodus 20:14; Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 19:1-12; Malachi 2:14-16). In a fallen and broken world, relationships are often fragile, yet we believe with the power and strength of God and the guidance of Scripture, there is hope for healthy marriages and healing from past relationships. As a church we will strive to support and encourage healthy marriages.