About Us

The Agape Bible Fellowship Church is a local congregation of believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We have been planted in the south suburban community by the Lord to carry out His assigned work of going and making disciples. Our heart desires to share the love of God through Jesus Christ in the world. We are stewards of the local body of believers, independent of any denominational control. However, we understand that the Bible teaches that local churches are not independent entities but are a part of the universal Church of Jesus Christ. As such, we voluntarily fellowship with other doctrinally sound churches. The Agape Bible Fellowship Church has chosen to affiliate as a member of the Southern Baptist Convention through the Illinois Baptist State Association and the Chicagoland Baptist. Acts 15:2; 21:1-18; 3 John 10; Philippians 4:15, 18; 1 John 1:3; Ephesians 4:3-6

Our Mission

The Agape Bible Fellowship Church exists to bring glory to God by reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, equipping them to be growing disciples of Jesus Christ, and sending them to serve Him in the world. Matthew 28:18-20

What We Believe

God

God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and all that is in it. He has eternally existed as the Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are co-equal and yet exist as one God. Genesis 1:1, 26, 27; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2

God The Father

God the Father relates to all who believe in His Son Jesus Christ as Father. The Bible teaches that all are His creatures created in His image. This does not mean, however, that all people know the true and living God as Father and have a personal relationship with Him. Though God the Father cares for the needs of all people, this does not mean that He relates to everyone as Father. John 1:12-13; Acts 17:28-29; Matthew 5:45

Jesus Christ

Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on the cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and is coming again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to redeem His bride, the church. Matthew 1:22, 23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14, 15; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son. He is present in the world to make man aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with the power for living, enables understanding of Biblical truth, and guides them in righteous living. He provides every Christian with spiritual gifts for service at the moment of salvation. We seek to live under His control daily. 2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13; 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18

The Bible

The Bible is God’s only written, inspired, and authoritative word to mankind. The human authors were under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit to record the Word of God. It is the supreme and only source of God’s Word to mankind for truth and guidance for Christian beliefs and living. The 66 canonical books, as they were originally written, were inspired, literally “God-breathed,” and are without any mixture of error in their substance. 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:150, 160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5

Mankind

Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2:7, 21-23 inform us that man is a created being. Man’s existence on the earth is not the result of evolutionary processes, we are not here by accident, but because of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, choosing to create man. The text of Genesis 1:26-27 describes man as being both male and female, both being created in the image of God.

God created man for Himself, to live in obedience to Him, and to love Him with his whole self (Matthew 22:37; Colossians 1:16). Though God’s desire for man is for him to know Him and live eternally with Him, every person is born with a sinful nature, is separated from God because of this sin, consequently rebels against God, and therefore has the need, and privilege, of being brought back into an intimate relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-24).

We believe, according to the Bible, people are born either male or female as ordained by God, and therefore a person’s gender is God-ordained as either male or female. We believe a person’s gender identity is not a social construct but is a part of God’s created order at birth, which cannot be redefined or changed.

Salvation

Salvation refers to the deliverance of man out of a life of sin, condemnation, and separation from God, into a life of godly living, forgiveness, and total acceptance by God (Ephesians 2:4-6). Mankind needs to be saved from the penalty of sin because sin has separated him from God (Isaiah 59:2). Man is saved from sin because of what God has done for him, not because of anything that man might attempt to do to make himself right with God (Ephesians 2:8-9). People are saved by God from the penalty and power of sin through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior by means of His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. John 3:16-18; Romans 5:1, 6:23, 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9

Eternal Security

Because God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation for eternity. Once a person is saved by faith in Jesus Christ, he cannot lose salvation, for it is the gift of God through belief in Jesus. Salvation is sustained by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christian. John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25, 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5

Heaven and Hell

Heaven is a literal place where God will wipe away every tear and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. Those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior will live forever in God’s presence. We also believe in a literal hell, which is a place of unending torment away from the presence of God. Rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior is the reason people will be condemned to an eternity separated from God. John 3:16; John 14:7; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; Thessalonians 4:16-17

The Church

We believe that the true church is composed of all who have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. We also believe that those who have been placed in the body of Christ through belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior are to become members of a local assembly of believers. God’s purposes in the world are realized through the worship and work of local churches planted in communities by God. Christ is the head of the church, not any person, group, or religious organization. While recognizing the value of associating and cooperating with other groups of Christians, we believe that the local church should be independent, self-governing, and free from any denominational control. Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Hebrews 10:25; Colossians 1:18

The Christian Home

We believe that God has given parents the responsibility to raise their children in the loving nurture and discipline of the Lord. We believe that it is the parents’ responsibility to educate and disciple their children in the truth of God. We believe that the church serves to support, not supplant, the parents’ efforts to create a godly home in which their children can grow into the knowledge of the truth. Ephesians 6:4; Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Joshua 24:15

Marriage

We believe that marriage was created by God and is ordained by God to be the union of one man and one woman that represents the relationship between Christ and His bride – the Church. We believe, according to scripture, that God rejects the notion of any form of marriage except that which is between a biological man and a biological woman. Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:22-33

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Jesus instructed His disciples to remember His death and resurrection. He gave the Church two visible symbols (called “ordinances”) as reminders. These two ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. While we respect all acts of spiritual obedience, we believe the Bible teaches that Baptism is to be done by immersion, following salvation, as a one-time act of obedience and symbolic identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper is an ongoing commemoration of our Lord’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. These ordinances are not a means to salvation, but are symbolic of the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection on behalf of mankind. Matthew 28:18-20, 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Colossians 2:12

The Christian Life

We believe that God calls us, with a holy calling, to live in obedience to His word in a manner that is pleasing to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to live by the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit so that we will not fulfill the temptations of our heart, nor yield to the temptations of the devil. We believe that the fallen, Adamic, sinful nature of the flesh cannot be eradicated in this life. Therefore, keeping ourselves constantly in subjection to Christ, we must allow God’s Holy Spirit to live through us in a daily “walk” of faith. Otherwise, the flesh will demonstrate its sinful nature in our lives, to the Lord’s dishonor. Leviticus 26:30; Philippans 2:13; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 3:15; Galatians 5:16