Our Purpose

The purpose of Living Hope Community Church is to glorify God by seeing our lives as a ministry and every relationship as a ministry opportunity.

 Our leadership team recognizes the authority of God, and realizes that we are shepherds who serve under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We desire to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Our passion and goal is to equip the believers for the work of the ministry until we all attain maturity in the fullness of Christ.

 

Greg Scarato, Senior Pastor

As the primary teaching pastor, Pastor Greg has a passion for carefully unpacking the truths of Scripture. He has served at Living Hope Community Church since its was founded . He and his wife Stephanie have two children, Vinny and Savannah.


What we believe:

The human phraseology employed in this statement is not inspired nor contended for, but the truth set forth is held to be essential to our ministry. No claim is made that it contains all the truth in the Bible; only that it covers orthodox fundamental matters.

  1. We believe the Bible is God’s Word and is both infallible and inerrant in the original manuscripts. It is the final authority for what we believe and how we are to live.  (I Thess. 2:13; II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21)
  2. We believe Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son and was God in human flesh.  He lived a sinless life, He died on cross to pay for the sins of the whole world, and He rose from the grave in a glorified body.  We also believe that He will return to establish His Kingdom on the earth for 1000 years. (John 3:14-16; Matt. 1:18-25; II Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:7; John 11:25; Matt. 28:5-6; Acts 1:9; Heb.4:14-16; Rev. 19:11-16)
  3. We believe that the Holy Spirit convinces unbelievers that they are sinners before God, that they deserve eternal condemnation, and that Jesus’ death on the cross is their means of salvation.  For believers,
    we believe that the Holy Spirit regenerates, seals, teaches, guides, and makes them holy. (John 16:8-11; John 14:26; Eph. 1:13-14; Titus 3:5)
  4. We believe that there is only one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are equal in their deity, their glory, their essence, their attributes, and their perfection but they are subordinate in their function. The Son came to do the will of the Father (John 6:38); and the Spirit is sent by both the Father and the Son to reveal Jesus Christ.  (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-15; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 8:6; Gen. 1:1; and Isa. 45:21-22; Jn. 14:31; 15:26, 16:13-15)
  5. We believe that man was created in the image of God. However, as a result of the Fall, every person has inherited Adam’s sin, death, and condemnation.  Mankind is totally depraved in that there is no area of our lives where we don’t sin.  In other words, everyone sins in thought,
    word, and deed.  This is the condition we are born into.  We are by nature and by choice sinful, lost, and  objects of God’s wrath.  Mankind is therefore, subject to the power of the Devil. (Gen. 1:26; Gen. 3:1-24; Rom. 3:23; Rom. 5:8-19; Eph. 2:1-3).
  6. We believe that salvation is completely by God’s grace through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  We do not believe that we can contribute to our salvation through any acts of obedience.  We do not obey God so that we can merit our salvation.  We obey God out of our love for God because He first loved us and freely gave us eternal life. (Mt. 26:28; John 3:7-18; Rom. 5:6-9; Rom. 10:9-10; 2 Cor. 5:2; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; I Peter 1:18-19,23; John 1:7)
  7. We believe Satan is a fallen angel.  He is the originator of sin, and under the permission of God, he led our first parents into sin, thereby accomplishing their moral fall subjecting them and their posterity to his own power.  He is the enemy of God and opposes all that is godly.
    He is infinitely inferior to God. He is a rebel but is in no way to be considered the evil counterpart to God.  (Gen. 3:1-19; Job 1:6-7; Is.
    14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; Rom. 5:12-14; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Rev 20).
  8. We believe Hell is a place of eternal conscious punishment for all the unsaved.  (Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 20:15).
  9. We believe that once a person possesses saving faith, they can never lose their salvation.  Eternal security (once saved always saved) is entirely a work of God on behalf of the believer.  This doctrine must not be confused with the doctrine of the assurance of believers. The doctrine of eternal security is based on the work accomplished by
    God for His people.  (John 10:27-30; Rom 8:38-39: Eph. 1:13-14; Jude 24-25; II Timothy 1:12)
  10. We believe that the Church consists of all those who are united to Jesus Christ through faith in His death, burial, and resurrection. The Church, also referred to as the Bride of Christ, is distinct from the nation of Israel.  Members of the Church are determined, not by
    their denominational affiliations but rather, by being united to the risen
    Christ. We are a body of immersed believers led by the Elders of the church associated together for worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, service, prayer, and observance of the two ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. We are autonomous, and free from all ecclesiastical or political associations.  (Acts 2:41; Acts 15:13-17;
    Eph. 1:3-6; I Cor. 12:12-13; Matt. 28:19-20)
  11. We believe in the personal and pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead.  All those who have trusted in Jesus Christ will be raised to everlasting blessedness and joy in the presence of the Lord. The unbeliever will be raised bodily for judgment to everlasting conscious punishment. (Daniel 12:2-3; 1 Cor.
    15:50-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; Rev. 20)