Our Beliefs

Coulee Rock Church was started solely to bring glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. Our mission is to WIN people to Christ, BUILD up the believer, and SEND the good news to new people in new places. We don’t just rely on tradition or religion for direction, guidance, and truth, but on God’s Word the Bible.

Mission — Core Values — Statement of Faith

Mission

Coulee Rock Community Church exists solely to bring honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ in the Coulee Region. Our mission is threefold: 1) To WIN people to Jesus Christ; 2) To BUILD them up in the faith; and 3) to SEND them to establish churches in other parts of Wisconsin and ultimately in other parts of the United States and the world.

WIN

The gospel message of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins will be proclaimed by the church. The church will share the gospel individually through relationships and changed lives, and corporately through our services and popular media.

The church is also commissioned to reach out to meet the needs and heal the hurts of our community. We will demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ by action in ministering to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our neighbors.

BUILD

We were created to enjoy a personal relationship with the living God. An outflow of that relationship is expressed by prayer and worship. As a church, we will provide a regular opportunity to sing, pray and worship. Our music team has a vital part in leading God’s people to enjoy and praise him.

We were also created to enjoy life and people. Jesus came to give us an abundant life. We will help each person live a life of joy and encouragement. We share our lives and spend time together having fun with God’s people.

God’s eternal Word was given to direct, train, instruct and perform its work in all of us. Coulee Rock will communicate the truths of God to feed His people and equip them to live godly lives.

Coulee Rock is a church where individual needs are met through the body’s love and care. One member’s abundance, skills and gifts are God’s provision for other members’ needs.

SEND

The church will also be a training center to raise up leadership within the church for future guidance and growth.

Core Values

What is a core value? Core values are those characteristics of the church that make us distinctive from other Christian churches. These differences do not infer that we are better, but only that we have different methods and practices. We share a core of beliefs on all major doctrines with most evangelical Christian churches (see Statement of Faith). Where we differ is in the outworking of our worship, structure and methods.

The Great Commission

At Coulee Rock we believe that the primary purpose of the church is to preach the gospel, baptize, teach and make disciples. Our work is winning people to Christ and then building them up in the faith.

Small Groups

Small meetings are of primary importance in the church. Small groups provide the nurturing environment for fellowship, caring, discussion, prayer and leadership development. We do not maintain a heavy schedule of church-wide meetings during the week so that people are free to meet in small groups.

Character Development

We stress that each individual grow to their full maturity in Christ and develop strong personal character. Maturity in the Christian life equals obedience rather than knowledge. Christ’s followers must practice the truths in God’s word and not just accumulate Bible knowledge.

Strong Families

We realize the absolute importance of strong families. Children are seen as a gift from the Lord and not a hindrance to our lives. Healthy marital relationships are stressed and parents are trained and helped to know how to keep their children under control. The home is the primary training ground for leadership in the church.

Local Leadership

At Coulee Rock, church leadership and pastoral care is raised up from within the church. We do not go outside the congregation to hire pastors. Apprenticeship type of “on the job” training over many years of time is used to develop future church leaders. Leadership is demonstrated by faithfulness, service, commitment, depth of character and guidance given in the family and in the home.

Financial Faithfulness

The faithful use of money is absolutely essential in the life of the believer. Financial faithfulness includes budgeting, giving and saving. Members are taught to manage the resources that God has graciously entrusted to us. We believe and teach that the tithe (10% of our income) is the minimum that God desires from each believer. Yet while teaching this standard, we do not use pressure tactics or “arm twisting” techniques to manipulate people to give.

Church-wide Ministry

The church is organized and functions based on the spiritual gifts and talents of its members. Each member’s contribution of time and talent is vital to the outworking of the ministry of the church. The church’s paid staff and recognized leaders are hired to train and enable the members of the church to carry out the ministry. They are not just professionals who do the work, but equip the members to do the work.

Statement of Faith

The Bible

The sole basis of our belief is the Bible, composed of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament. We believe that Scripture in its entirety originated with God, and that was given through chosen men. Thus, Scripture simultaneously speaks with the authority of God and reflects the backgrounds, styles and vocabularies of the human authors. We hold that Scriptures are infallible and inerrant in the original manuscripts. They are the unique, full and final authority on all matters of faith and practice, and there are no other writings similarly inspired by God.

God

We believe that there is one true, holy God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – each of Whom possesses equally all the attributes of deity and the characteristics of personality. In the beginning, God created out of nothing the world and all the things therein, thus manifesting the glory of His power, wisdom and goodness. By His sovereign power He continues to sustain His creation. By His providence, He is operating throughout history to fulfill His redemptive purposes.

Salvation

The central purpose of God’s revelation in Scripture is to call all people into fellowship with Himself. Originally created to have fellowship with God, man defied God, choosing to go his independent way, and was thus alienated from God, rendering him unable to please God. The fall took place at the beginning of human history, and all individuals since have suffered these consequences, and are thus in need of the saving grace of God. The salvation of mankind is totally a work of God’s free grace. It is not the result of human works or goodness. Salvation must be personally received by faith.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the eternal second Person of the Trinity who was united forever with a true human nature by a miraculous conception and virgin birth. He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father and voluntarily paid for the sins of all by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, where He, the only Mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own. He shall come again to earth, personally and visible, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.

The Holy Spirit

The essential accompaniment of a genuine saving relationship with Jesus Christ is a life of holiness and obedience, attained by believers as they submit to the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. He was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to apply to mankind the saving work of Christ. He enlightens the minds of sinners, awakens in them a recognition of their need of a Savior and regenerates them. At the point of salvation, He permanently indwells every believer to become the source of assurance, strength and wisdom, and uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the building up of the body. The Holy Spirit guides believers in understanding and applying the Scripture. His power and control are appropriated by faith, making it possible for the believer to lead a life of Christ-like character and to bear fruit to the glory of the Father.

Human Destiny

Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. For all mankind, there will be a resurrection of the body into the spiritual world, and a judgment that will determine the fate of each individual. Unbelievers will be separated from God into condemnation (hell). Believers will be received into eternal communion with God (heaven) and will be rewarded for works done in this life.

The Church

There is one true church universal, comprised of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Scripture commands believers to gather together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of baptism (by immersion) and communion, fellowship, service to the body through the development and use of talents and gifts, and outreach to the world.

Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is local expression of the church. Under the watch and care of elders and other supportive leadership, its members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the one ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.

Faith and Practice

Scripture is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. This church recognizes that it cannot bind the conscience of individual members in areas where Scripture is silent. Rather, each believer is to be led in those areas by the Lord, to whom he or she is ultimately responsible.

We believe the Statement of Faith to be an accurate summary of what Scripture teaches. All members shall refrain from advocating doctrines that are not included in the Statement of Faith in such a way as to cause dissension.