If there is a defining characteristic for the Sheboygan Evangelical Free Church, it is a fierce commitment to the Bible as the written Word of God, revealing Himself and His will, to guide us in every aspect of our daily lives.  Therefore…

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 Our Mission…

is to build a Biblical church that makes committed followers of Jesus Christ.

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With Scripture at the center of all we do, we have outlined five core values that guide and motivate us toward achieving this mission.

Our Values…

We value Biblical Literacy -- Today's trend is to skip learning the content of God's revelation to us in His Bible and instead to move directly to the application of the Bible to daily life.  In contrast to this western tendency, we value starting with a deep understanding of what God says to us in Scripture, and then working toward understanding how we apply what God says to the needs of daily living.  As a church, we offer many opportunities for practical "rubber meets the road" guidance for the application of Scripture to life issues such as personal finance, marriage, family, the marketplace, etc.  However, all of this is anchored on a weekly Sunday sermon that teaches directly from a passage of Scripture at a level deep enough to assure continued growth in one's understanding of Scripture.   We value the content, meaning, and application of Scripture.

We value Biblical Worship -- The Bible teaches us that the worship of God is the highest priority for believers.  The Bible goes on to describes two facets of worship.  One is the corporate expression of worship through the gathering of believers in a group setting.  At the Sheboygan Evangelical Free Church we do this through  our traditional, contemporary, and student worship services.  The other facet is the 24/7 aspect of worship.  Passages such as Romans 12:1-2 show us that all of the Christian life is worship.  We value serving, caring, encouraging, working hard, being sacrificial, loving one another, etc. as aspects of daily worship toward God, both inside the church and in the community.

We value Biblical Community --  We live in a world striving for balance in relational connections with one another.  One person longs for deeper connections while another longs for a little quiet time.  The Bible teaches us (this is only a partial list) to love one another, to speak Biblical truth to one another, to never get angry with one another, and to confront one another when we stray from God.  Some items on that list may seem contradictory.  It is essential to understand what God has revealed through His Bible as truth.  Only then can we see how these items work together in perfect harmony.  At the Evangelical Free Church, we value following Scripture as the basis for our human relationships.

We value Biblical Mission -- Biblical Worship and Biblical Community reflect who we are to be in Christ.  Biblical Mission is what we are to do in Christ. The mission of every follower of Jesus Christ is to make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20) as we are living in the world, as we invite people into the family of God through faith in Christ, and as we help believers grow in Christ.  The Sheboygan Evangelical Free Church has a long heritage of caring deeply for those in our county and beyond who do not yet have a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

We value Biblical Giving -- God tells us in His Bible that we are to give ourselves fully to His mission.  Although this includes money, it goes far beyond that.  We are to make Him the first priority in every aspect of our lives.  Our time, the abilities He creates in us, and the resources He gives us are all to be used for His purposes.  People who are new to our church often marvel at the level of commitment that is shown on the part of volunteers.  At first they see an active church with a very dedicated group of people.  However, as they come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and begin to grow in that relationship, they quickly realize that giving ourselves fully to Christ and to His work is what He made us for and what gives us the highest level of personal fulfillment and satisfaction.  We value giving our whole selves to God and to His mission.

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We list our mission and our values first because most people tend to look for them first.  Actually, there is another statement that is even more important to us than our mission statement and core values.  As we have stated several times, our defining characteristic is our commitment to God as He has revealed Himself in His Bible.  Our Statement of Faith (sometimes called a Doctrinal Statement) is a summary of the most important aspects of Biblical teaching.

All of our pastors are ordained in the Evangelical Free Church of America.  All hold at least a Master's Degree in an area of Christian Studies.  Perhaps most important for the person looking for a church home is that all our pastors are held accountable to the Evangelical Free Church of America Statement of Faith.

The Beliefs of the Evangelical Free Church of America are…

The Evangelical Free Church of America is an association of autonomous churches united around these theological convictions:

God

1. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

The Bible

2. We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition

3. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

Jesus Christ

4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus--Israel’s promised Messiah--was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Work of Christ

5. We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit

6. We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church

7. We believe that the true church is comprised of all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living

8. We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ’s Return

9. We believe in the personal, bodily and pre-millennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Response and Eternal Destiny

10. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

You can read more about the Evangelical Free Church of America here.