Welcome to Brighton Community Church! It is a pleasure to have you visiting us!

In Brighton, our mission is to build a community that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ through obedience to the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-38) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20a).

On this note, we purpose that every believer in Brighton develops in a wholesome manner in four key areas:

Wholeness in Character

As God’s creation, who we are is more important than what we do for Jesus Christ. He calls us into a lifelong process of becoming like Him, growing in the likeness of His image.

Wisdom for Living

As children of God, we want to grow in the wisdom and knowledge that comes from God, which enables us to excel in every area of life – personal life, family, vocation, interpersonal relations and stewardship of resources.

Worship in Community

As God’s people, we are called into the house of God, to become members of the body of Jesus Christ. We come together to love and serve one another, offering genuine and pleasing worship to God through our lifestyles and outward expression.

Witness in the World

As Christians, we want to be being disciple-making disciples who live out the Great Commission through lifestyle evangelism, community penetration and cross-cultural missions.

In Brighton Community Church, we believe in helping everyone who comes through our doors find the right community and spiritual family to settle down in.

For non-believers, we hope that through visiting with us you will gain a better understanding of the faith and experience the reality of the love of God, so that you will be able to make a personal decision in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and Lord.

For believers seeking a community and spiritual family to settle and grow in your walk with God, we hope that you will find us amiable through our interactions, and you will be able to identify with our vision and stay to partner us in Christian living.

1. We believe that the Bible, comprising the Old and New Testaments in their original languages, is the inspired revelation of the Almighty God for the salvation of mankind, and is the infallible, inerrant and authoritative guide to all matters of life, faith and practice.

2. We believe there is one and only one infinite, eternal and perfect Almighty God, the Creator of all things, and that he exists as three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

3. We believe that the Holy Spirit is God and He convicts, regenerates, indwells, seals, teaches, guides, comforts, unites, fills, gives spiritual gifts and empowers believers for godly living and effective witness in the world.

4. We believe that mankind, directly created by God in his image and likeness but alienated from God by sin, stands totally depraved, spiritually dead, eternally condemned and liable to everlasting punishment, unless justified by faith through Jesus Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

5. We believe that salvation, whereby a person is forgiven of his sins, declared righteous, given eternal life and assured of bodily resurrection from the dead to an everlasting state of glory and blessedness, is a free and gracious gift of Almighty God bestowed on those who personally repent of their sin, place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone, believing that He shed his blood and died vicariously in payment of their sins and receiving him as their Lord and Saviour.

6. We believe the local church is a visible community of regenerated believers without limitations as to race, nationality or socio-cultural backgrounds, whose head is Jesus Christ, whose Guide is the Holy Spirit, whose authority for doctrine and practice is the Bible and whose ultimate corporate mission is to glorify God through worship and advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all the world.

7. We believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God who took human bodily form without losing his deity, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life while on earth, suffered, bled and died as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, resurrected bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, who shall one day return in power and glory to establish his permanent reign.

1. We affirm that all human life is sacred and life begins at the moment of conception when a human egg is fertilised. Consequently, any intentional human action which prevents an embryo from developing to delivery is considered a termination of human life in violation of Scripture. Thus we take a firm stand against all forms of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, as well as assisted reproductive methods which directly or indirectly involve the destruction of human embryos.

2. We are of the view that Scripture does not prohibit the intentional prevention of pregnancy in sexual relations between husband and wife.

3. We classify fertility control methods into 5 categories:

• a. Natural
• b. Barrier
• c. Preventing ovulation or fertilization from occurring by hormones or intrauterine devices
• d. Preventing implantation of embryo in the uterine lining by hormones or intrauterine devices
• e. Destruction of implanted embryo or foetus by hormonal or other means.

4. We affirm as scriptural all fertility control methods which are based on (a), (b) and (c) above.

5. We reject all fertility control methods that work by destroying an already implanted embryo (e) or a foetus by any means. This would include the use of RU-486 (mifepristone).

6. We reject any fertility control method which would have the effect of preventing an embryo from being implanted in the uterus lining (d), as this would lead to the inevitable death of the embryo. We acknowledge, however, that with intrauterine devices and most forms of hormonal contraception, the current state of medical knowledge does not allow us to draw firm conclusions on whether they work by preventing the implantation of the embryo in the uterus lining, or by other means. In this regard, we note that even among pro-life members of the scientific and medical community, there is a diversity of views on this issue*.

7. Accordingly, our position is that all married couples and those planning to get married should be informed about this possibility, and they should prayerfully make their own judgments on the use of such forms of contraception. We also affirm that should scientific advances provide evidence that any form of fertility control is likely to prevent implantation of the embryo, we will revise our position and consider all such of forms of fertility control as violating the sanctity of human life.

COUNCIL
BRIGHTON COMMUNITY CHURCH
Sep 2009