What Makes Us Unique

When looking for a church it is very important to know what it is that makes that church tick. What makes this church different from any other church? What makes Mountainside SDA Church unique is its mission, values, vision, theology and history. They are what make us unique from other Evangelical and non-denominational churches. Another thing that makes Mountainside unique is its commitment to membership. Being a member signifies you are someone we can count on to advance God?s kingdom!

MISSION:

Mountainside SDA Church?s mission is to reach people with the gospel and help them become Christ-centered, cross-driven Christians.

VALUES:

We value

* Sound, biblical teaching
* Authentic, heart-felt worship
* Passionate prayer
* Loving community
* Intentional gospel witness
* Global missions
* Humility and holiness
* Service to God and others

VISION:

As a community of believers who are committed ?to reaching people with the Gospel and helping them become Christ-centered, Cross-focused? we are becoming people who?

* Worship God devotedly and entirely with awe, humility, and wonder
* Grow in wisdom through the careful study and mastery of Scripture.
* Live a life of personal holiness, rooted in faithful, fervent prayer and Christian self-denial.
* Build meaningful and loving relationships that extend beyond the walls of our church.
* Connect with others of different ages, races, social and economic positions.
* Serve God and others with our spiritual gifts in a place of ministry within the church.
* Share with every friend, loved one, and nation the hope found in Jesus Christ.

Although labels can be misunderstood, there are distinguishing characteristics of our church that provide a window into the truths that define us.

We are Prophetic. This means that we believe in and teach historic Prophetic theology. Some truths that make us unique include the belief that:

* God is a person, infinitely wise, just, good, true and powerful, the ultimate reality, who alone deserves complete devotion and obedience, and is the One who made the universe out of nothing.

* Man is made in the image of God, willfully disobeyed God?s command, and thereby became worthy of death. From that time on all human beings, except for Jesus Christ, became sinners and separated from a Holy God.

* Jesus Christ, eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, became a man, literally born of a virgin. He both worked miracles and fulfilled prophecy. He suffered, died to atone for sin, was buried, and resurrected bodily on the third day. He will come again physically to gather his people and judge the world.

* Salvation from sin comes to us not by our good works, but by receiving the free gift of God by faith. A faith given by the Holy Spirit that enables one to receive Christ?s sacrifice as ones personal sacrifice and only basis for fellowship with God. Genuine saving faith motivates one to obedience that leads to spiritual transformation.

* The Bible is the Word of God, inspired, infallible, and inerrant, making one wise unto salvation and godliness.

These statements are the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. They represent the true gospel given by Christ to His Church by the Apostles.

We are essentially Reformed. We believe and teach that God in His sovereignty is actively involved in bringing unregenerate people to saving faith in Christ through the regenerating of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Because of this we embrace what are often referred to as the "Doctrines of Grace." These doctrines are as follows:

TOTAL DEPRAVITY  As a result of Adam's sin, every person, except Christ, is born in a "depraved state." This means although people may do good things, such things are tainted by the sin that is part of man's unregenerate nature. Therefore no body apart from the "new birth" can truly submit to God's law or believe the gospel (Rom 3:11; John 6:44, 65).

UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION When God chooses a person for salvation, He does so not because of anything he or she did, or would do, but simply out of His totally unmerited favor; out of His divine grace and mercy (Acts 13:48; Eph. 2:8-10).

PARTICULAR REDEMPTION Since God sovereignly elects, Christ, therefore, died for the purpose of saving those God has chosen (John 10:11; 15:13, 26-27; 17:6-10; Acts 20:28).

IRRESISTIBLE GRACE God in the act of salvation imparts to the unregenerate person the faith to believe the gospel through the means of divine grace. Therefore, it is God who is the ultimate source and cause by which the elect believe the gospel and become regenerate, and not the unregenerate will of the individual (2 Pet 1:1; Rom. 9:16; John 6:37; 15:16).

We are Adventist. Mountainside SDA Church has historically been an Adventist church. It is out of that tradition and the Scriptures we believe the following truths:

BELIEVER BAPTISM The New Testament teaches that believers are to be baptized by immersion to obey Christ and to illustrate their participation in Christ?s death, burial, and resurrection on their behalf (Matt. 28:18; Rom 6:3-4).

THE LORD'S SUPPER Jesus ordained the Lord?s Supper to be taken regularly in remembrance of His death (1 Cor. 11:23-25).

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE While the church has a prophetic role in government, and the state may hold church members accountable to laws that do not inhibit God?s work, neither the church nor the state should seek to direct each other?s God-given function (Rom.13: 1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).