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Who We Are
We love God and love people
Westlake Church exists to follow Jesus and demonstrate God’s love in every part of our lives. According to Jesus, loving God is linked with loving our neighbors well. We believe the Gospel of Jesus is the epitome of God’s love for humanity, and we desire to see everyone in our community experience his love.
When asked, “Which is the greatest commandment?”, Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-40).
The Gospel transforms us
We are not perfect people; we are transformed people. The Gospel changes us. By the grace of God, we are transformed asGod continues to shape us into the image of Jesus. We welcome everyone because we believe everyone needs God’s grace and transformation.
“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view…If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ…” (2 Corinthians 5:16-18).
We seek unity
As people devoted to the way of Jesus, we seek to be unified. We are honest about our weaknesses and support one another in our struggles as we pursue Jesus. We respect the dignity of all persons, and we embrace everyone who desires to follow Jesus and obey the Gospel. Jesus prayed that his followers may be united as one people under his leadership:
Jesus said, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you…..so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:20-23).
Key Beliefs
At Westlake Church, unity does not mean uniformity. Here, you will find people from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, convictions, and preferences. Below you will find key beliefs that influence our theology and inform our ministry philosophy.
The Bible
The Bible is the authentic, infallible revelation of God disclosed to human authors by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing that should be added to it or removed from it. The message of the Bible is eternal and timeless and provides God’s love and truth. The entire counsel of the Bible is useful for training, teaching, encouraging, and correcting.
(Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
God
There is one God who exists eternally as the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are three equally divine persons. God is the beginning and end of all things. God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the Author of all life.
(Genesis 1; John 1:1; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15-20)
The Gospel
The Gospel is the good news that every person can receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life in heaven, and be restored to God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace that cannot be earned or maintained by good works. Every person has sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standard, and God the Father sent his Son, Jesus, who lived a perfect life and willingly laid down his life as a sacrifice for sin. His historical death on the cross was the supernatural work that paid the penalty for all sin, and his divine, historical resurrection secures salvation for everyone who believes in Him and repents from sin.
Everyone who believes the Gospel receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, who enables personal holiness and empowerment for divine mission in the world. The moment people put faith and trust in Jesus they receive the gift of eternal life. Believers should also follow Christ’s example of baptism as a public declaration of their belief in the Gospel.
(John 3:15-17; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:1-5; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Ephesians 2:8-9)
Humanity
Humanity was created by God to glorify and represent Him on earth. All persons are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and possess equal value and dignity regardless of race, ethnicity, age, or gender. All human beings are born into a fallen, broken world with a personal sinful nature, and sin separates each person from a holy relationship with God. The result of sin is physical, spiritual, and eternal death, but the hope for humanity’s restoration is found only in the person and saving work of Jesus Christ.
In the beginning, God created human beings male and female, and he continues to create life at the moment of conception, and he forms human beings male or female in the womb. God provided the covenant of marriage as a spiritual and physical union between one man and one woman, and sex is an exclusive gift from God reserved for that union. While we do not endorse lifestyle choices that vary from God’s design, we welcome all to come and experience the love and grace of God, because it is foundational to our mission to love God and to love people.
We regonize and affirm that God has called and equipped both men and women to serve in all levels of leadership in His church.
(Genesis 1:27; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 7:2, Hebrews 13:4)
Our Tribe
Westlake Church is aligned with the Church of God (Anderson, IN). To learn more about our tribe, visit www.jesusisthesubject.org