Valley Bible Church is an evangelical, non-denominational, Bible-believing church located in Veradale, WA. It is led by a team of elders who oversee the teaching, decision-making, and overall direction of the church.
MISSION STATEMENT
As we proclaim biblical truth, we cultivate relationships that are:
Intimate with Christ
We are a church that wants to develop a growing relationship with Jesus Christ in everything we do. The gospel of Jesus is at the heart of our ministry. We strive to bring people to Christ and then bring them to maturity.
Active in the Church
Whether it's through Life Groups during the week, worship on Sunday morning, or ministry service in various capacities, we strive to be involved and dedicated to church life. There are all sorts of ways to get involved and take your next step in ministry!
Loving the Community
We aren't just focused on the people within our walls; we are engaging the people in our community too! Life Groups have built-in service projects in which groups find ways to serve throughout Spokane. We also strive to create a culture of evangelism - to share our faith with those around us. We want to seek and serve like Jesus by sharing and living out the implications of the gospel.
Doctrinal Statement
THE BIBLE
...is the inspired, inerrant Word of God and is the supreme and final authority for Christian faith and daily living.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
...is the third person of the Trinity. He convicts mankind of sin, righteousness and judgment. He is the agent of salvation, regenerating and baptizing believers into the body of Christ. The Spirit takes up residence in each believer, guaranteeing salvation, distributing spiritual gifts, sanctifying, teaching and guiding, to the ultimate end of glorifying Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 12:11-14; John 16:7-13; I Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 8:9; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 1:13-14
THE CHURCH
...consists of all those who have placed their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Church is neither building nor denomination, but a body of individuals who are the bride of Christ. Members are to use their spiritual gifts to contribute to the growth and maturity of the entire body of believers as they represent Christ to the world.
I Corinthians 12:1-27; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:18; Matthew 28:18-20
BAPTISM AND COMMUNION
...are the two ordinances commanded by Christ to be observed by every believer. Baptism (Matt 28:18-20) pictures our identification with the body of Christ. Communion (Matt 26:26-29; 1 Cor 11:23-26) represents our participation in the sacrificial body and blood of Christ.
GOD
...exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; three distinct Persons who are one in essential nature and will, perfect in love, righteous in every aspect, and Creator of all things. God is absolutely sovereign and alone is worthy of worship and obedience.
Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 40:28; Deuteronomy 6:4; Hebrews 1:1-3; I Peter 1:1-3
MAN
...was created by God in His image, male and female, but as a result of Adam’s disobedience to God, man became separated from God and incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death. Each of us has continued in Adam’s rebellion and stands condemned before a righteous God. Apart from God’s gracious intervention, man is incapable of being restored to a right relationship with Him, and of living a life that glorifies Christ.
CHRIST WILL RETURN
...to this earth physically and personally to reign over His kingdom, raise and judge the dead, and establish a new heaven and a new earth. The redeemed will dwell with God forever, but judgment and eternal separation from God await all who die outside of redemption through Jesus Christ.
JESUS CHRIST
...is the eternal Son of God; fully divine and fully human. In accordance with the Scriptures, He became a man through the virgin birth, lived a sinless life and paid the penalty for man’s sins by dying on the cross. He was raised bodily from the dead as the living Savior and Lord of all who place their faith in Him. We look forward to His imminent return.
Matthew 1:20-23; I Corinthians 15:3-4; I Peter 2:22-25; John 1:1,14; Isaiah 7:14; Romans 5:1; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; Colossians 1:13-20
SALVATION
...is a gift, sovereignly given by God to all who acknowledge their sin and trust in the person of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary payment for their sins. No work or merit can ever earn this gift from God. Those who come to Christ are justified by faith alone. At the time of salvation God imparts a new nature which makes possible righteous living. Because of the complete and sufficient work of Jesus Christ, the believer is eternally secure and assured of everlasting life in His presence.
Ephesians 2:8-9; Ephesians 1:3-6; Titus 3:5; Romans 8:38-39; I Peter 1:3-5; Romans 3:21-26
MARRIAGE
...by God’s design is the life-long union of one man and one woman. We believe God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a husband and wife within the sacred union of marriage.
Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19:3-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; I Corinthians 7:2;
What We Teach
The following paragraphs state the convictions and distinctives of the teaching ministry of Valley Bible Church. Valley Bible Church happily fellowships with all who can affirm our doctrinal statement, but the teaching ministries of VBC will adhere to the particulars of this document as an expression of the unified position of the elders of VBC. Unlike our doctrinal statement, which expresses issues of first importance that do not change, this document may be updated from time to time as new issues arise that merit response or as doctrinal convictions develop in accordance with further biblical study.
MAN AND SIN
We teach that God created Adam and Eve, the first human beings, in his own image, equal before God as persons and distinct as male and female. As such, all human beings bear the image of God without distinction of ethnicity, sex, or social status. The creation of man in God’s image set him apart from all other creatures as God gave him dominion over every living thing on the earth. Man succumbed to temptation in the garden by the serpent and chose to disobey the commands of God, and thus sin entered the world, resulting in all creation being under the curse of sin. Sin and the curse of the fall marred the image of God but did not destroy it in humans. Apart from Christ, all stand condemned by sin and are incapable of responding to God in good works or faith. God’s image and His original plan for creation can only be fully restored by the righteous work of Jesus Christ, who fulfilled the law, died, and rose again to fulfill the righteousness of man lost at the fall. This only occurs in the individual by God through regeneration and justification by means of His grace through faith.
Genesis 1:26-28; 3:1-24; Romans 3:10-20; 23-24; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:4-7
THE FUTURE
We teach that Christ will imminently come in the clouds to resurrect the saints and rapture the Church to be with Him in heaven. This event will precipitate a period of judgment known as the Tribulation. For seven years the nations of the earth will fall into ruin under the wicked reign of the Antichrist and the outpouring of the wrath of God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to go forth under the leadership of a repentant Israel. At the end of seven years, Christ will come to earth, destroy His enemies, restrain Satan, and reign over the earth from Jerusalem for 1,000 years, a reign known as the Millennial Kingdom. This will be followed by a last unsuccessful Satanic rebellion and the final judgment at the Great White Throne of all who have not placed their faith in Christ. These will be sent into everlasting torment in the Lake of Fire together with Satan and his fallen angels. A new Heavens and Earth will be created in which the people of God will dwell forever with Him in their glorified resurrection bodies. This eschatological point of view is often referred to as a pre-millennial, pre-tribulational view of the rapture, a literal perspective of the millennial kingdom, and an affirmation of the main tenets of progressive dispensationalism.
Positions on Special Issues
The following reflects VBC’s position on contemporary issues according to our understanding of the biblical principles involved.
ABORTION/
SANCTITY OF LIFE
We teach that human life bears the image of God. As such, human life is sacred from the moment of conception until natural death. God has established the exact number of days allotted to each human being, and it is absolutely forbidden to willfully kill or artificially hasten* the end of human life except in those limited instances of self-defense and governmental action that are explicitly defined in Scripture. In accordance with Scripture, and in unity with the historical teaching of the church, we condemn murder, intentional abortion**, euthanasia, eugenics, and suicide*** as sinful practices.
*Artificially extending life when natural death is imminent is not biblically required.
**In a small number of tragic situations, medical intervention necessary to save the life of a mother may threaten or end the life of an unborn child. This is not to be understood as an abortion, but as an attempt to preserve the human life which can be saved.
***Suicide, like all sins, is not greater than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
COMPLEMENTARIANISM
We teach that God, according to His divine will and for His glory, created both men and women in His image, equal in dignity and worth, equal in access to God by grace through faith as fellow heirs of the grace of life, yet with distinct and complementary roles within His created order and, particularly, within the spheres of the family and the church. Since these roles each demonstrate different expressions of God’s image in humanity, they ought to be valued, celebrated, and pursued with joy and in faith. Men and women alike are called to be actively involved in making disciples and using their spiritual gifts to edify the church. However, we teach that in the church the office of elder/pastor/overseer and the role of teaching and exercising authority over men are reserved for men. As the redeemed community of God, the church has a unique opportunity and responsibility to celebrate this complementarity, contend for it against cultural hostility, and protect it from sinful distortions that would diminish God’s good design for either men or women.
Genesis 1:26-28; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 3:1-7; 1 Peter 3:1-7
Additional Resource: The Danvers Statement
SEXUALITY
We teach that human sexuality is a good gift from God and that it is governed by God. God created two biological sexes, male and female, assigning to each person a specific sexual identity and corresponding gender expression. Each person must accept his or her given biological sex. It also celebrates one’s given gender and gender expression. All human sexual intimacy is reserved for the sexual relationship between husband and wife in the life-long covenant of marriage for the expression of the blessing of intimacy and for procreation to raise godly children. Since the fall, the beautiful gift of sexual intimacy has been perverted in many forms. Any rejection of one’s given biological sex or gender identity is sinful. All attempts to satisfy sexual desire outside of the marriage covenant, including lust and same-sex sexual activity, are sinful. (Gen. 1:28, 2:18-25; Matt. 5:28; 19:4-6; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:10; Jude 7). Additional Resource: The Nashville Statement.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We teach that God, in Christ, has given a supernatural spiritual gift, or gifts, to every Christian by the Holy Spirit. These gifts are to be used for the building up of the body of Christ into the fullness of Christ-like maturity. In God’s wisdom, He has distributed a variety of gifts including teaching, exhortation, mercy, administration, and evangelism. While many spiritual gifts are still given and used today, we teach that a subset of spiritual gifts were for the purpose of establishing the church during the New Testament period of revelation. Having accomplished their purpose, they are no longer for today. Such gifts would include healing, tongues, effecting miracles, prophetic foretelling, and the gift and office of Apostle. In teaching the biblical and historical evidence for the cessation of these gifts as normative for the church today, we in no way limit the power and prerogative of God. He can and does work miraculously according to His good pleasure in every generation of the church. Christians are commanded to employ their gifts contentedly for the glory of God and the good of the church and not to covet gifts they have not been given.
Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-13; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 1 Peter 4:10-11
SOCIAL JUSTICE
We teach that God commands man to do justly. In the social sphere, this means to operate towards others according to the righteous standard of God revealed in Scripture. In so doing, oppression will be opposed and the needs of the poor, widows, and orphans will be addressed as a moral obligation. Biblical justice, however, does not require that resources or outcomes be equal in a society, nor does it imply the erasure of hierarchies of power. It is a moral principle, not a measure of socio-economic outcomes or social achievement. Biblical justice cannot be achieved by addressing material problems without acknowledging sin, or by addressing institutions and structures without addressing spiritual realities.
(Micah 6:8; Psalm 99:4; Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14; Colossians 4:1; James 1:27)