DESPERATELY DEPENDENT COMMUNITY is composed of individuals who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and affirm the tenets of the Statement of Faith of DDCommunity Church which is fully mirrored here as the Statement of Faith for Desperately Dependent Community. Furthermore, these individuals shall offer evidence, by their confession and their conduct, that they are living in accord with their affirmations and these Bylaws and are actively pursuing and continuing in a vital fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Statement of Faith
We believe that reality is based on God’s absolute truth conveyed through God’s inspired, infallible Word, and we consider the Bible the absolute authority in all areas of life and living. The Bible reveals God as eternally self-existent, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present creator of all. God created the earth and humankind in six days and rested on the seventh day. “So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female” (Genesis 1:27 CSB). God educated Adam and Eve about their responsibilities and established the government where His word was law.
Satan devised a plan to subvert God’s design for humanity. Persuaded they were incomplete with God, Adam and Eve ate the fruit in disobedience and defiance of God’s order. Spiritual death resulted from the choices Adam and Eve made. Their sin broke humanity’s relationship with God. All aspects of our being are infected, not just affected, by sin. Satan became god of the world.
Still, God desires an intimate relationship with His creation. Because of the sin passed to us, we cannot be in a relationship with God because God can have no part in sin. Violating God’s law and usurping His authority requires the death penalty. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly became a virgin born, human baby to satisfy the righteous demands of God on our behalf. The sinless life of Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection from the dead, provide the opportunity for us to choose salvation that results in communion with God. Christ’s sacrifice does not automatically bring us into a relationship with God. The work of the cross enables us to inherit the riches of Christ if we accept His free gift. God calls His children and chooses all those who are willing to choose Him.
God holds us accountable for deviance from His divine standard. It is impossible to move from perversion to living in truth without brokenness that results from the trauma of truth. Brokenness is the willingness to give up our willfulness. As the Holy Spirit reveals God’s perspective to our deceived hearts, we face the tragic truth that we are sinful souls. We are alienated enemies of God with no hope. There are only two options—people will respond by receiving the truth or rejecting the truth. He offers merciful forgiveness to the repentant who choose to turn from their philosophy of self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness. Jesus favors a simple childlike trust when we enter into reliance upon Him, fostering a dependent connection with Him through truth.
Placing our faith in all Christ has revealed to us about Himself and confessing to Him all He has revealed to us about ourselves moves us to authentically encounter Him, to know Him, and to be known by Him. God is real, God is love, and God is sovereign; therefore, He is relevant, He is compassionate, and He is worthy of our trust. All who have given themselves to Him in brokenness, repentance, submission, and obedience benefit from His transforming power that conforms us to His image. Because we have been reconciled to God, through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, we may now die to self so that our ways become His ways.
Unfortunately, we must still contend with the nature of sin resident in our lives. But gratefully, we are blessed with a new set of options at the point of salvation. No longer are we bound by the power of sin in our lives. We may now choose from His abundant resources and allow His divine enablement to empower our lives personally. By acting on His promises, we have His resolution to all problems and deliverance from the sinful issues and social ills that plague us. As we work in unison with Christ, His Holy Spirit moves us to maturity, enabling us to embrace the divine character of God. Our motivation for living is to connect to God in a vibrant relationship where we study His Word, pray, and follow His design. The Scriptures teach that God is actively working to bring His children to completeness and fulfillment. God wants us to be complete in the person of Christ, the position of His child, and the possession of His righteousness.
Satan’s dominion extends only to the unredeemed aspect of this world, which at this point is everything except the church, those who have accepted the gracious gift of Christ. The church, though not of the world, is in the world and is, therefore, subject to harassment, hurt, and harm from the ungodly element. God allows people to be touched by evil because He is capable of redeeming them from it. As God’s dominion is expanded through evangelism and His interests are advanced by disciple-making, the more evil will be restrained and the innocent protected. Satan was defeated at the cross, but his final consequences have not yet taken effect. In time he will be removed.
God enables us to experience abundant life now and an eternal inheritance beyond comprehension through His great and precious promises. Our eternal life begins at the point of salvation in a continuous relationship with God. Jesus Christ ascended to heaven to prepare a place so the redeemed may live with Him forever. The church will be united with Christ as a bride and groom. Together the community of righteous believers will rule and reign with Him throughout eternity.
Based on our Statement of Faith, we also affirm these distinctions:
- We believe in the spiritual unity and equality of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- We believe that God has endowed all humans with the natural and inalienable right to believe, worship, and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, to pursue His truth, and live within ordered liberty such that no civil government may justly infringe upon it.
- We believe God endows all human life with inherent dignity and must be respected and protected from conception to natural death.
- We believe that “marriage” has only one meaning: marriage sanctioned by God, which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture.
- We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between one biological man and one biological woman who are married to each other. We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged outside marriage between a man and a woman.
- We believe that any form of sexual immorality, including but not limited to adultery, pornography, homosexuality, and any attempt to change one’s sex or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God.
- We believe God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
- We believe everyone must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture or the doctrines of the church.
- We believe that God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, calls all of us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him and that, in exchange, He promises us abundant life.
- We believe that to preserve the function and integrity of this organization and to provide a biblical role model to the community, all persons employed by Desperately Dependent Community in any capacity or who serve as volunteers must abide by and agree to these distinctions and conduct themselves accordingly.
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority (Colossians 2:6–10 NLT).
If you have questions about any of this, please feel free to