About Us

At Arise Family Fellowship, we are a gathering of Christ followers who are committed to serving God and building His Kingdom. We are passionate about knowing God more through His Word, worshipping God in community, and sharing the hope and light of Jesus with the hurting.

We believe that our purpose is summed up in the phrase: Love God, Love People, Make Disciples. God has called us as individuals to this purpose and the Church is God’s vehicle to help His people to accomplish these three things. At Arise, we are purposeful in how we seek to accomplish God’s work together; we are constantly striving to “Fix our eyes on Jesus” and as we do, we choose to involve ourselves in things that glorify Him. We have a variety of missions, ministry, fellowship and worship opportunities to bring people to new life and maturity in Christ.

We believe that at Arise you will find new friends and a welcoming atmosphere as well as Redeeming, Building and Equipping opportunities for all ages and life stages. Come join with us in the pursuit of Jesus Christ and a life that glorifies God.

OUR FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS

We of Sandy Baptist Church are convinced of and are deeply committed to the following basic biblical truths:

1. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired Word of God, are inerrant in the original writings, and are the only standard and authority for our belief and behavior. (Psalm 19:7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

2. There is but one living and true God, existing eternally in three distinct persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19)

a. God the Father as the Eternal Creator orders and directs everything according to His own purpose and pleasure. He is graciously involved with mankind. He hears and answers prayer, and He has designed and established the means of redemption. (John 5:19-24, 16:23-27; Ephesians 1:3-14)

b. God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the eternal Son of God and the virgin-born Son of Man. As true God and true man, His death is the permanent sacrifice and payment for our sins. He was raised bodily and ascended into Heaven. He presently intercedes for us as our High Priest and Advocate until His personal return to this earth to establish His kingdom. (Matthew 1: 18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 12:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Hebrews 7:23-28)

c. God the Holy Spirit has been active in creation, in the inspiration and writing of the Old and New Testaments, in Jesus’ earthly ministry, and in the work of salvation. Presently, He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He gives new life to those who place faith in Christ’s atoning death and resurrection. He is the spiritual life of the believer, causing him to know the indwelling of the risen Christ. He is the author, source, and direction of power for the life-long process of spiritual growth. (Genesis 1:2, John 16:4-15; 1 Corinthians 12:3,4,17; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

3. Satan is a personal being and the author of sin. He provoked the fall of man and seeks constantly to counterfeit the works and truth of God. As the archenemy of God, he is destined to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. (Ezekiel 28;14-15; Matthew 4:1-11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:10, 20:10)

4. Man was created directly in the image of God to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him and to fulfill God’s purpose on earth. All men are sinners, by nature and practice, and are spiritually dead – separated from God forever, apart from salvation through Christ. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7, 3:1-24; Romans 1:18-32, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 6:23)

5. Jesus Christ died for our sins as the only qualified sacrificial substitute. His death and resurrection paid mankind’s penalty of spiritual death, making possible man’s forgiveness. All who believe solely in Christ for salvation are born again by the Holy Spirit and are made spiritually alive. Those saved in Christ are the children of God eternally. They are empowered by the Holy Spirit to practice righteous living. And they can again enjoy an intimate relationship with God through Christ. (John 1:12, 3:16, 14:6, 5:24; Romans 8:11; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:4-10; 1 John 1:1-10, 5:11-13)

6. True believers in Jesus Christ belong to the universal Body of Christ, His church, and are directed by God’s word to be baptized in water (immersion is our position) as a public profession of salvation and to become an active participant in a visible local church community. Believers are to fellowship regularly around the Lord’s Table (Communion) as instructed in the Word. The local church corporately, and its individual members, are responsible to Christ as the Head. It may engage in associations for common ends, which do not exercise authority over the local assembly. (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34, 12-14; 2 Corinthians 8:1-19; Ephesians 5:23; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Peter 2:4,5,9,10)

7. Every human being will experience bodily resurrection.

a. Every believer in Jesus Christ at death passes immediately and consciously into Christ’s presence there to await the body’s resurrection and reuniting with the soul at Christ’s coming to rapture the church and will, with all believers of all ages, remain forever with the Lord in this glorified state. Every believer, furthermore, will also appear before Christ to give an accounting and receive rewards. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10-12)

b. Every unbeliever will remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment at the Great White Throne, when the soul, reunited with the resurrected body, will be cast into the Lake of Fire to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Luke 16:19-26)

8. At Christ’s second coming to earth, our Lord will return in visible form and in glory to this world, accompanied by all His saints, to subdue all His enemies and to set up His kingdom and to reign on the earth with His saints. (Isaiah 35:4-10; Daniel 7:26-27; Revelation 19:11-20:6).