The Downtown Church

At The DTC, we believe our purpose is not only to reach out to non-Christians, but more primarily to provide a place of encouragement, refuge and refreshment to all Christians. We are members of the same body and need one another. We seek, therefore, to demonstrate God’s love in tangible ways: caring for those who have physical, financial, or emotional needs; loyally supporting and defending one another’s reputations; committing ourselves to one another’s spiritual growth; and developing close, edifying friendships. We desire greatly to be known as a church which demonstrates the love of God in very warm and practical ways (I John 4:7).

We desire to strike the balance of loving in such a way as to accept people where they are and yet strive in gentleness and humility to see each person change to become all that God would want them to be.

The DTC seeks to participate in expanding the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God grows in one significant way when God opens up the heart of someone who doesn’t believe in such a way that they believe. Another way that the Kingdom grows is when God speaks to someone who is a Christian yet is not functioning within a church. Once he or she begins to function, God is glorified. Our target therefore is the unchurched.

The DTC is a satellite congregation of Walnut Creek Community Church in Windsor Heights. While Walnut Creek is one church, we meet in multiple locations and multiple congregations.

Mission Statement

“A Church with a Commitment to the Great Commandment and to the Great Commission will bring God great glory”

The Great Commandment

Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)
37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
19”Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Statement of Faith

The Scripture
The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. It was uniquely, verbally, and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and was written without error in the original manuscripts. It is the supreme and final authority in faith and life in every age.

God
There is but one God, infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness and love, the Creator of the universe, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each of whom possesses all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.

Man
God created man in His own image, and man, as he was origin-ally created, was innocent before God. But man chose to sin by disobeying God, and therefore was alienated from his Creator and came under divine condemnation. Thus all human beings are born with a corrupted nature and without spiritual life, and are totally incapable of pleasing God in and of themselves.

Jesus Christ
God the Father, by His own choice and out of love for sinful men and women, sent Jesus Christ into the world to reconcile sinners to Himself. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He was God in the flesh, both true God and true man.

Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and voluntarily suffered and died as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sins, thus satisfying God’s justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. He bodily ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, makes intercession for His own. He will return to earth personally, visibly and bodily to judge all men and establish His kingdom.

Salvation
Men and women are freed from the penalty for their sins not as a result, in whole or in part of their own works, goodness or religious ceremony, but by the undeserved favor of God alone. God declares righteous all who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation.

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ, to convict men and women of their sins, and to impart new life to all who place their faith in Christ. He indwells believers from the moment of spiritual birth, seals them until the day of redemption, allots spiritual gifts to them for ministry, and empowers them to live a life pleasing to God.

Assurance
All who are born again of the Spirit can, through the sure promises of God, be fully assured of eternal life from the very moment they put their faith in Christ. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but upon the finished work of Christ, who completely paid for their sins and upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing their inheritance.

The Resurrection of the Dead
At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his or her body to everlasting glory and blessing. At physical death, the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his or her body to everlasting suffering, judgment and condemnation.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Jesus Christ has instructed those who believe in Him to be baptized in water as a symbol of their new birth in Christ. Baptism is only for those who have personally believed in Christ. Our practice is to baptize by immersion. The Lord also instituted the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of His suffering, death and resurrection. Neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper have any merit in helping a person obtain eternal life.

The Church
All true believers make up the church worldwide and should assemble together in local churches for worship, prayer, fellowship and teaching to become conformed to the image of Christ and to become equipped to carry out the “Great Commission” that Christ gave His followers in Matthew 28:19-20.