Children at Great Hearts Christos will be introduced to the unconditional love of Jesus and His work as their Savior.  It is our desire that we, along with the students we serve, will together grow in our faith, become strong in spirit and character, mature in our knowledge of Christ as our Lord and Savior, and live out our faith in our academic, personal, and everyday lives in ways that honor and please God.  Our goal is that the work of our staff and students is produced by faith, their labor prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:3).  Therefore, the following core beliefs are set forth as the basic guiding Christian principles of our program:

We believe all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17).

We believe that Scripture reveals that we are the children of God (1 John 3:1) because Jesus died on the cross for us (1 John 4:10). As Children of God we are created and redeemed to do good work (Eph 2:8-10) and are called to perform accordingly by loving God and loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

We believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Finally, we believe Scripture clearly communicates for us the following regarding the Triune God, the Word of God, and the People of God.

TRIUNE GOD

1.     We believe there is one living and true God, existing in three co-equal persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19, Luke  3:22).  God creates, upholds, and governs all.

2.     We believe in God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in the earth (Gen. 1:1); that He is passionate about His relationship with His people (Ex. 34:14); that He hears and always answers prayer; that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him in faith through Jesus, His Son.

3.     We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit.  We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings, His death on our behalf – which pays for our sins, His bodily resurrection (John 11:25) and ascension into heaven (Mark 16:19), and His visible return to earth on the final Day of Judgment (Matt. 25:31-32; I Cor. 15:20-25).

4.     We believe the Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts (Rom. 8:25) (1 Cor. 6:19) and produces in us the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

WORD OF GOD

5.     We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are God’s words, fully inspired, without mistake in the original manuscripts, and the inerrant rule of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:15-17).

PEOPLE OF GOD

6.     We believe all Christians are forgiven of their sins (Matthew 26:28; Mark 2:5) and considered to be holy by God (Romans 1:7).  These Christians form the universal Church, a living spiritual body, of which Christ is the head and all born again persons are members (1 Cor. 12:12-31).  The members of this body are called to serve God through serving others (John 13:1-17).  We believe that whoever wishes to become great among people should be a servant of people (Matt. 20:26) and that we should model our lives after the life of Christ, in that the Son of God did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. 20:28).

7.     We believe that all people are sinners and are under attack from Satan, the “world”, and even their own flesh (Rev. 12:17).  All humankind is deserving of condemnation, but by His mercy God calls, gathers and enlightens us. Therefore, the repentant are justified (made right with God) by faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and only by God’s grace and through faith alone are we saved (John 3:16-19; John 5:24; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 5:8-9; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10).  

8.     We believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting (John 3:16; 2:25: 5:11-13). We believe that those who have faith in Jesus Christ will rise with glorified bodies to everlasting life in heaven (Phil 3:2; 1 Cor 15:51,52) and those who do not have faith in Christ will rise to eternal death in hell (Jn 5:28-29; Mt 10:28; 25:46).

9.     We believe the maturing Christian daily reads, meditates, and reflects on God’s Word (Psalm 1:2; John 5:39; Acts 17:11; Romans 15:4), communicates with God in prayer (Matt. 6:6; James 5:16b), worships God regularly with other Christians (Luke 4:8; John 4:24; Romans 12:1), and shares the reason for his/her hope with others in love and respect (1 Peter 3:15).