OUR CHURCH
History
New Life Christian Fellowship, originally known as Bethel Temple Church
of the Full Gospel, was founded in May of 1916. It was founded as an
independent, Full Gospel church with a vision to reach lost souls, and to
see the supernatural works of Jesus Christ. The church has always
believed that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever"
(Hebrews 13:8). The church has been at four different locations.
The first three locations were in the city of Chicago.
The fourth and present location is at
6235 West North Avenue in
Oak Park, Illinois. It was in 1954 when the people of the church
purchased land at North Avenue and Harvey in Oak Park, and
built the present building.
Through the years, the church building and church congregation
has changed, but our goal and vision to reach people with the full
message of Christ has remained the same.
The People of our Church
The people at New Life are from all walks of life. Our congregation is made
up of people from different races, nationalities, ages, cultures, and church
backgrounds. We love people, and we believe the local church should
reflect the kingdom of God. A multi-cultural church is a testimony to the
community of the deep unity we can experience in Christ. Our unity centers
around the person of Christ.
Kind of Church
New Life Christian Fellowship is an evangelical, Bible-believing,
charismatic church. We consider ourselves evangelical because we
believe that everyone needs salvation, and this salvation can only be found
in Christ. Evangelicals also believe that salvation is received by grace
through faith in Christ, alone (Ephesians 2:8,9). We are Bible-believing,
which means that our teaching and preaching centers around the Bible,
which we believe is inspired and is our final authority in matters of belief
and practice. We consider ourselves charismatic or full gospel.
At New Life we believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even the nine
manifestations of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:7-11) are for the church age,
and should be operating in normal church life.
In our services we have demonstrative praise and worship, allowing the
Holy Spirit to operate within the New Testament guidelines. Our desire at
New Life is to experience
the manifest presence of God which
powerfully changes the lives of people.
Missionary Emphasis
World Missions is a priority and vision at New Life. We strongly believe in carrying out the Great Commission and supporting Missionaries and Ministries that are in various countries. We help to support over 20 different missionary families, and several homeland Ministries. It is the plan and purpose of God to evangelize every "people group" in the world before Christ returns, and we at New Life want to have an active part in World evangelization.
Church Government
At New Life, we have an overseeing council of elders and deacons. The Pastor and elders oversee all of the spiritual matters of the church. The Pastor, elders and deacons meet regularly to deal with the financial
and business matters of the church. Our elders and deacons are made up of men and women who have a deep love for the Lord and desire to serve Him. The leaders always strive to have unity in all matters of the church.
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