Surrender & Trust

Jesus said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.” 

Matthew 16:24, The Message

If we are truly seeking to follow Jesus, we must surrender ownership of the direction of our life and take on the priorities and values that Jesus demonstrated in His lifetime as declared in the Bible. We need to walk each step in faith that what is written is true for us in our lives even though we cannot see Jesus visibly to confirm it.

Faith in Jesus

At Ridge Point Community Church, we believe that every person was designed to have an intimate relationship with God but are unable to achieve the holiness required to have it. That’s why God sent Jesus. His life and teachings provide an example of how we are to live, and when we place our faith in Him, his death and resurrection provide the spiritual empowerment to follow His example.

Placing your faith in Jesus is more than just a cognitive decision; it is a heart and will decision. In prayer, each person needs to acknowledge that:

1) They cannot earn a relationship with a Holy God by their own efforts.

2) Jesus’ sacrifice is the only acceptable one in God’s eyes.

3) They want Jesus to be the captain of their lives.

4) They want His Holy Spirit to live in them and guide them.

Public Declaration of Faith in Jesus

Ridge Point Community Church celebrates three symbols or public acts as the “external sign of an internal commitment." We embrace believer baptism, first communion and profession of faith. In the Book of Acts, people who put their faith in Jesus Christ followed up that internal eternal change by publicly expressing their faith as a declaration of the inner change they had experienced. 

Neither baptism, first communion, nor profession is a requirement for salvation but rather an act of obedience and declaration of life-change. In the early church, as today, this act encouraged the faith community because it publicly displayed God’s activity in the lives of people and it also solidified the believer’s commitment by making it a public declaration.

Communion

Communion is one of the spiritual activities that Jesus participated in while He was on earth, and He instructed believers through the ages to continue celebrating it. The celebration of communion is an act of recognition of Christ’s life, death, burial and resurrection When believers celebrate communion together, they are revisiting their original faith experience and once again worshiping God for taking them from spiritual death to life. 

Participating Membership 

Participating members are people who have agreed to pursue the mission God has give us as a faith community here at Ridge Point: To be used by God to intentionally bring lost people to full life in Jesus Christ.

Becoming a participating member is about partnering with the people following Jesus Christ at Ridge Point to bring change to this community, to your neighborhood and to the world. It means engaging in the process of thinking, loving and serving like Jesus - living as a church in a way that points others to Him.

Giving

The Bible teaches on two main types of giving: Tithes and Offerings. A tithe simply means a tenth. The Bible teaches us that God is the provider of all that we have. We must not perceive that we generate our wealth strictly through our own power independent from God. We are to bring to Him the first tenth of all we earn to humbly acknowledge God’s provision for us. God promises to bless us if we are faithful with our tithes. This is so important to God that He encourages us to test Him to know for sure.

The other type of giving is offerings. Offerings are gifts over and above the tithe. God does not need our money, either tithes or offerings. He is interested in our heart, attitude and faith. Believers experience a connection to God when they choose to give generously from their own heart in the same manner that Jesus gave selflessly.