What We Believe

Deer Creek Church is a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

At Deer Creek, we seek to be:

• Biblical — We believe that God has revealed Himself in the Scriptures, which are without error and are completely trustworthy. Therefore, the Bible is our ultimate authority. It contains everything we need to know God and faithfully follow Jesus.
• Historic — We are committed to the timeless message of the Bible, which was taught by the early church, and emphasized in the Protestant Reformation. The PCA is a confessional denomination. This means that we have a written confession of faith which we believe to be a good and accurate summary of the Bible’s teaching. Our confession consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
• Relevant — We believe that God’s unchanging message is relevant and life-changing; it is satisfying and fulfilling; and it is living and active. That means that the historic message must be communicated to each generation in contemporary language, forms, and styles that they understand.

Summary of Our Beliefs:

For a complete statement of our beliefs, read the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Here is a brief summary of our beliefs:

We believe that God has generally revealed his existence and power to humanity through creation. He has also revealed himself specially in the saving work of his Son, Jesus Christ and the inspired words of the Bible.

We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is authoritative in all matters of faith and practice, necessary to come to saving faith in Christ, sufficient to govern our lives, and clear in all that it intends to teach.

We believe there is one true God who is infinite, eternal, and unchanging in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one true God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in the image of God. As God’s image bearers, Adam and Eve were created very good, serving as God’s representatives on earth, and to live in relationship with him.

We believe that Adam and Eve, by their sin, distorted God’s image, forfeited their relationship with him, and now all of humanity is born in sin, subject to death, and under God’s wrath.

We believe that all humankind are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, except by his grace. Because of sin we are born spiritually dead, guilty, and enslaved to sin.

We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save. We believe his choice is based on His grace alone, not on any human individual merit or foreseen faith. Salvation is accomplished by Jesus Christ alone and is received by faith alone.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, who being born of the Virgin Mary became man. Through his perfect life and sacrificial death, he atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation. He is also the example of how humankind should live.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is truly God, the third person of the Trinity, who lives within God’s people, gives them spiritual life, assures them of eternal life, and changes them more into the likeness of Jesus.

We believe the Bible is one unified story structured by two covenant relationships: the covenant of works in Adam and the covenant of grace in Christ. The covenant of works was God’s arrangement with Adam and Eve before their fall into sin. The rest of the Bible is the unfolding story of God’s gracious covenant to redeem a people through faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all humankind and to receive His people to Himself. He will restore all of creation and finally defeat sin, Satan, and death forever.