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Who we are:
Our Continuing History- After nearly two years
of prayer around dining room tables, Mark and Sherri Proctor and Joe Don and
Jamie Long watched in awe as God began to assemble a team of gifted leaders and
visionaries to begin a new church on the western/northwestern edges of Lubbock.
The church world be the fulfillment of a dream that today’s church could
be a place of high-energy worship, transformational teaching, unprecedented giving,
and genuine outreach to others without compromising the truth-the gospel of Jesus
Christ; the Church could have a culture of excellence and continuous improvement
without sacrificing the genuine community that Christ intended when He founded
the church 2000 years ago; the church could be a place where the “good
news actually sounded like great news and the days and weeks of the attendee
were constantly affected by what was being taught. Church-the Church-using our
best effort and God’s energy; it could; rather, it should be motivational,
inspirational, and transformational. That was the dream of Fellowship Church
Lubbock!
Out of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit,
Fellowship Church Lubbock was founded in November 2002. God assembled the church
vision to bring the un-churched as well as the regular attendee into a deeper,
more meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. FCL is both a traditional church
using contemporary techniques and a contemporary church with a traditional message.
We believe that the Bible contains great news for the Christ-follower and our
mission is to teach it to the best of our abilities, using God’s power,
to transform lives (Colossians 1:28).
FCL first met in February of 2003 with 90 people in a vacant bank building
on west 50th street and in March of 2003 moved into our present facility.
In October 2006, God led us to call our second,
Brandon Gilbert, this led to a new beginning for Fellowship Church Lubbock and
the development of our 4 core values that identify our purpose and direction
as a body. Over the past year we have seen the Lord open our eyes to catch and
refresh our vision to pursue Him passionately and purposefully.
The staff and members of Fellowship Church Lubbock continue to support the
vision of the church as they faithfully add to our continuing history.
God says in Jeremiah 33:3; “Call to me and I will answer you and tell
you great and mighty things, which you do not now.” God has been extraordinarily
faithful to that promise over the years. Government and Management:
We believe that the New Testament is clear in it’s establishment of Biblically
qualified elders as the principal leadership of the local church. To that end,
the Lead Pastor does not operate as the CEO of the church but rather as an
Elder with “shared leadership” responsibilities of teaching and
preaching the Word.
Elder:
FCL is an elder led church. The Chairman leads the Elders, and the establishment
of the Elders is controlled by the By-laws of the church. The Elder’ primary
function is the spiritual protection, formation, and development of the church.
Elders are recruited and trained by the existing elders, with the advice and
input of the management team and congregation, by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The current board of elders consists of:
- Joe Don Long, Chairman
- Chris Spray
- Todd Pool
- Brandon Gilbert
FCL Management Team:
Deacons/Service Teams: The Elders may elect to
broaden the leadership structure at any time using Deacons (spiritually qualified
and ordained) and/or service teams.
Our Guiding Principles:
These are the principles that will guide us to
a deeper pursuit of Jesus Christ.
Seeking-We will invest time and effort in identifying and building relationships
with the lost people who have been purposefully placed into our live-to show
off Jesus is and His powerful love.
Studying-We will strive for the excellence in our
learning and teaching of the Great News-the man Jesus Christ-and the character
of God with a goal that He will reveal Himself to us deeper.
Surrendering-We will strive to give God our best
in true communion in our worship, our prayers, our praise, with coming to the
Lord’s Table, and with our stories of His presence in our lives.
Sharing-We will strive to genuinely overlap our
lives in true Christian fellowship, sharing together as one body the joys and
trials of everyday life.
Serving-We will strive to serve others in both our church and community using
the specific gifts God has bestowed on each one of us.
“ They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42 NASB
WHAT WE BELIEVE
About the Bible:
We believe the Bible is God’s written revelation
of Himself to mankind, written by human authors and reflecting their style and
their personalities but under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. While
the Holy Spirit uses the scripture in innumerable applications in the life of
the believer, we believe there is only one true interpretation of each verse
or passage. We will face no issue in our lifetimes that the Bible is not prepared
to address for it is one of God’s mediums to speak to us. Lastly, we believe
that the Bible is infallible in both faith and practice and totally without error
in the whole or in part.
Verse- 2 Timothy 3:16-17- All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every good work.
About God:
We believe there is only one true and living God—the
God that has revealed Himself to us through the Bible and creation. He is the
architect and creator of the universe and expressly interested in and involved
with its details, including those of my life. He exists in three distinct, infinite
personalities---God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy
Spirit. Each has their own unique role in the rule of this world and eternity;
each are co-equal and make up one God, and each are deserving of my worship.
Verse- 2 Corinthians 13:14- "The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be
with all of you."
About the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit possesses the same deity as God
and is equal with God. He lives in the world for the express purpose of making
us realize our need for Jesus Christ by convicting of sin, administering spiritual
gifts, making us more like Christ and instructing us as to the “mind of
Christ.” He is our helper, comfort, and supernatural agent in a super-complicated
world. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells and works in the believer from the
moment of salvation, not “coming and going” as a response to believers
misbehavior or sin. Our primary job as Christians is to seek to live under His
control.
Verses- 2 Corinthians 3:16-17-Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
John 16:7-9-But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away,
for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go away,
I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning
sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe
in Me.
John 16:13-But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into
all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears,
He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
About Jesus Christ:
We believe that two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ
was born of a virgin just as was promised in the Old Testament thousands of years
earlier. He is the Son of God and equal with God. For over thirty years, He walked
and talked among men and women living a sinless life. We believe that He literally
was killed on a cross as a punishment for my sins and that on the third day after
death He was physically raised from the dead to demonstrate God’s power
over death and sin. We believe that on that day we arose with Him as a mew creature,
finally able to achieve fellowship with God that previously my sin had made impossible
and that with that resurrection we have been freed from the punishment, the penalty,
and the power of sin. Jesus ascended from this earth to be with God once again
and as He left promised to return again soon to reign as King of Kings and Lord
of Lord.
Verses-Matthew 1:22-23-Now all this took place to fulfill what
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL
BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which
translated means “God with us.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-4-For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received, that Christ died for our sons according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according
to the Scriptures.
Romans 1:3-4-concerining His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according
to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection
from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Titus 2:13-14-looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem
us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own
possession, zealous for good deeds.
About men and women:
We believe that men and women were made by God
in the spiritual image of God and placed on this earth to fulfill God’s
purpose. Men and women were created for the sole purpose of bringing and giving
glory to God the Father. We were created free of sin with a rational intelligence.
In Adam’s disobedience, sin was introduced into the world and we lost our
innocence, incurring the penalty of spiritual and physical death and eternal
separation from God (because of God’s holiness, He is entirely intolerant
of sin). This sin nature has been passed to all men and women because all men
and women are of Adam and therefore hopelessly lost. We have no potential
for any good, and can never in our own strength overcome our separation from
God. My salvation, the, is totally a gift of God’s grace carried out
through
Jesus Christ.
Verses-Genesis 2:7-Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
being.
Romans 3:23-25-for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus.
1 John 1:8-10-If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and
the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
About Eternity:
We believe in the eternal, physical institutions of heaven and hell. All men
and women will live eternally, either separated from God because of unforgiven
sin or together with God because we’ve accepted His gift of salvation.
Verses-Romans 6:23-For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 20:15-And if anyone’s name was not found written in the
book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire,
About Salvation and the Security of the Believer:
We believe that salvation is a gift for which we
paid nothing, did nothing, and deserve nothing. And since we did nothing to get
it we can do nothing to lose it. The believer has Jesus Christ and His sacrifice
for the sins of man is secure eternally.
Verses-Ephesians 2:8-10-For by grace you have been saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, so that
no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
1 Peter 1:3-5-Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an
inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for
a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
About the End Times:
We believe that men and women were not designed
to physically live forever and therefore our creator must have a plan for death
just as He does for life. Death is the process that separates the soul from the
body and we believe that the soul of the believer passes immediately into the
presence of the Lord at physical death. The soul of the unbeliever passes into
punishment until that time which God issues the final judgment upon their sin-the
greatest of which was non-belief. Just as man was not designed to live forever,
nor was this world. We believe that the bible teaches clearly the imminent return
of Jesus Christ, in personal form. With believers, and the Holy Spirit, removed
from the earth, He will begin the process of pouring out His judgments on the
world. We believe that the scripture clearly teaches that even then He will receive
unto Himself that that believe and receive Christ for His purpose is always redemptive
and He is “not willing that any should perish.”
Verses-2 Corinthians 5:1-For we know hat if the earthly tent
which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Corinthians 5:8-we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be
absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the
dead in Christ will rise first.
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© RM