Here’s What We Hold Dear…

  • Our 'benchmark for belief' is the Apostles' Creed, one of the earliest statements of Christian faith, which states:

    I believe in God, the Father almighty,
 creator of heaven and earth.

    I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
 who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
 and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
 was crucified, died, and was buried;
 he descended to hell.
 The third day he rose again from the dead.
 He ascended to heaven
 and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
 From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

    I believe in the Holy Spirit,
 the holy Christian church,
 the communion of saints,
 the forgiveness of sins,
 the resurrection of the body,
 and the life everlasting. Amen.

    If you'd like to know a little more about us in this area, here's what we believe about some of the important areas of faith:

  • We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator of all things, is sovereign over all, and is solely worthy of humanity's worship.

  • We believe Jesus Christ is God's Son, and is Lord over the world and the church. We believe Jesus is both fully God and fully human. We believe in His virgin birth; in His sinless life; that His death alone brings the forgiveness of our sins; in His bodily resurrection; in His return to the right hand of the Father in heaven; and in His personal future return to this earth in power and glory.

  • We believe humanity, individually and collectively, is God's most precious creation. Our purpose for existence is to be in a perpetual relationship with God characterized by love, and to fulfill His intended purposes for our lives. Humans separate themselves from God with the choice to rebel, or sin, against His purpose and will for their lives.

  • We believe the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, for us, is the only avenue for repairing humanity's broken relationship with God. Christ’s sacrifice is the only thing that gives salvation and eternal life to anyone willing to accept it. We are cleansed from sin by turning away from our disobedience and trusting in Christ's free gift of salvation.

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit comes to live in each believer when he or she is saved by Christ, and is the fulfillment of God's promise to be with believers always. We believe that it is only the power of the Holy Spirit that can give a Christian the ability to live a holy life.

  • IThe church includes all believers and is manifested most visibly in local congregations. The church is the presence of the living Christ in the world, led, empowered and gifted by the Holy Spirit to continue His mission - restoring humanity's broken relationship with God the Father by pointing to the saving work of Jesus Christ.

  • We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, the one to everlasting life and the other to eternal separation from God.

  • We believe God's intended purpose is for humanity to live in relationship with Him into eternity. Sin fractured the path to this purpose. The work of Christ restores the hope and promise of our eternal relationship with God. Christ will one day return to fulfill that hope and promise.

  • We believe the Bible is inspired by God and is the only written authority left by God for humanity. It is the perfect standard for all human conduct and behavior. The essentials necessary for our salvation and the basics of how to conduct our lives are clearly revealed in the scriptures.

  • Communion is a practice that goes back to the ministry of Jesus with His disciples. He instituted this ceremony as a tangible reminder of His sacrifice for our sins. He said “Do this in remembrance of me.” When believers eat the bread, we are reminded that his death for our sins was real in time and history. When we drink the cup, we are reminded that his sacrifice has the spiritual result of forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

    FCCC has “open communion.” That means we don’t restrict participation based on any sort of church membership or denominational affiliation. Anyone who wants to remember what Jesus has done for us is welcome to participate.

  • Baptism is an immersion in or sprinkling with water, and is a practice that we use to publicly identify ourselves as Christians. Baptism began with the first Christians, who used it to symbolically represent ‘dying with Christ,’ and being resurrected to a new life - being ‘born a second time’ in a spiritual sense. Various Christian traditions practice baptism by completely submerging a candidate in water (called immersion), pouring water over the head, or sprinkling water on the candidate. FCCC recognizes all these forms of baptism as valid.

  • What’s “Interdenominational”?

    A ‘denomination’ is a group of believers that, in addition to the primary beliefs about Christ, will have certain points of emphasis associated with their practice of following Jesus. They may have to do with beliefs about baptism, church government, devotional practices - it could be anything. We believe there’s nothing wrong with these opinions as long as they are rooted in scripture, but they should not be points of division among believers. It’s what you do with Jesus that counts! So we choose to recognize and respect the value of these beliefs in a person’s spiritual journey, yet affirm they are secondary to the ultimate truth about Jesus. That’s why we are an ‘interdenominational church.’

    Believing that a church should have connections and fellowship with the wider community of churches
FCCC aligns with Mission Northwest. This relationship supports our mission to serve Jesus here in western Montana and the world.