House Of Blessing Bilingual Church
Vision of HOB
House of Blessing Bilingual Church is called to be a bridge that brings together both local and foreign people into a united body in Christ that desires to know and love God, encourage one another, be discipled, participate and be trained in ministry, and reach out through evangelism and mercy ministries to those in need in Taichung, Taiwan, and the whole world.
PLUGGING IN
WITH GOD
WITH OTHERS
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HOB Church is committed to helping people first plug in with God through personal belief, worship, and prayer. That personal relationship with God then leads to plugging in with others through authentic relationships in a body of diverse people united in Christ and fellowship.
GROWING UP
RIGHT BELIEFS
RIGHT ACTION
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HOB Church is committed to the discipleship of our members with the goal of maturity in Christ. This takes place through Christian relationships, Biblical teaching, small groups, Bible studies, and mentoring.
REACHING OUT
TAICHUNG
TAIWAN
WORLD
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HOB Church is committed to reaching out to our community, nation, and the world with the proclaimed Gospel of Jesus Christ and through practical helps of mercy. Evangelism, helping those in our community with practical needs, and global missions are the natural fruit of our plugging in and growing up.
HOB Core Values
Multicultural Bridge
Our vision is to be a multicultural bridge, so we attempt to offer ministry and services toward that end. All of our worship services seek to create an environment that honors and welcomes linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity. This can be accomplished through services that are bilingual as well as monolingual. We recognize that some ministry is better suited to one language only, such as in-depth Bible studies and counseling.
Group Leadership
We believe that the Bible establishes a model of group leadership, where key decisions are handled by a team made up of mature church members. This not only allows for a variety of gifts and perspectives, but also keeps the church from being dominated by any one person.
Group Participation
The church seeks to allow and facilitate participation by church members and not just a select few hired people. This promotes inclusion, service, and ownership. By opening opportunities to be a part of the service and ministry, we provide a training ground for both children and adults to be equipped for ministry.
Family Focus
The ministry of our church is done with families in mind. Our goal is to continue to develop our Sunday School, youth ministry, and training for healthy marriages and godly parenting.
Discipleship
Our goal and desire is to see all our believers grow into maturity in Christ. To that end, we offer weekly small groups and Bible studies where we address key aspects of Christianity as well as provide mentoring and growth opportunities.
Fellowship
We value fellowship, and even set aside the last Sunday worship service of each month in order to have a meal together. Time is set aside for people to get to know each other and encourage one another.
Informal Style
We choose to use a more informal style which is in contrast to traditional church settings. Though we may use traditional worship practices, we are aware that new believers and visitors may not be familiar with Christian symbolism or rituals.
Evangelism and Missions
We fully support and highlight the missions efforts of our church members, as well as initiate and carry out church-sponsored and church-led missions. Through finances, prayer, and ministry, we continue the work of evangelism and mercy ministries both inside and outside of Taiwan.
HOB
Foundational
Beliefs
GOD
We believe in one true, holy God, eternally existing in three equal persons that we call the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the beginning, God demonstrated His power, wisdom, and goodness by creating the world and everything in it. Through His divine power and providence, God continues to sustain His creation, operating within history to fulfill His redemptive purposes.
Genesis 1:1,26,27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 40:21-22; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:1
JESUS CHRIST
We believe in Jesus Christ, who became human without ceasing to be eternal God. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, and His death in place of our own which pays the penalty for our sins. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His return to the Father, his advocacy as our Priest, and His personal return in power and glory. We believe that He is the only way of salvation and reconciliation to God.
Matthew 1:22,23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 2:25; 14:6,8-12; Hebrews 4:14,15; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Romans 1:3,4; Acts 1:9-11; I Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:11-13
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity, co-equal with God the Father and Jesus the Son. Being sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit applies Christ’ saving work by enlightening the minds of sinners to their need to be saved. Upon salvation, He dwells in each believer and seals them for redemption, becoming their source of comfort, conviction, direction, and gifting for building up the church. The Holy Spirit guides believers in understanding and applying the Bible.
II Corinthians 3:1; John 14:15-17,25-26; 16:7-15; Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; 12:7,11; Ephesians 1:13;5:18; Galatians 5:25
HUMANITY
We believe that people are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. People were the climax and focus of God’s creation and were created to live in an eternal loving relationship with God and others. Although humanity has tremendous potential for good, they are marred by rebellion and disobedience toward God called sin. Sin separates people from God, and so we believe that all people need reconciliation to God. Once reconciled, God’s people then become His vessel for loving deeds and sharing the Gospel.
Genesis 1:27;Psalm 8:3-6;Isaiah 53:6;Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1,2;Ephesians 2:10;Titus 2:14;Matt. 28:18-20
THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible is God’s primary self-revelation to all humanity and contains all things necessary to know for salvation and Christian life. Scripture speaks with the authority of God while simultaneously reflecting the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of the human authors God inspired. We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness, and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and as the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
II Timothy 1:13;3:16;II Peter 1:20,21;Psalm 12:6;119:105,160; Proverbs 30:5
SALVATION
We believe that salvation is the gift of grace from God to humanity and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Humanity can never make up for sin by self- improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of atonement and forgiveness can people be saved from sin’s penalty.
Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9; John 1:12; 14:6; Titus 3:4-7; Galatians 2:15-21; Romans 5:1,6
ETERNITY AND CHRIST RETURN
We believe that humanity was created to exist forever. Each person will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or in union with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is hell. To be eternally in union with Him is heaven and eternal life. We believe the Kingdom of God was initiated in Jesus’ first coming and will be completed in his second coming. We live in the in-between time, an age of tension, where we can experience the power of the kingdom of God while longing and waiting for its fullness upon Christ return.
John 3:16; 5:21-29; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15; 1 John 5:11-12; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
BAPTISM
We believe that water baptism is a worship practice that symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as it pertains to the spiritual transformation and salvation of a person who has come to believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Baptism does not save a person, but is a symbolic representation of the spiritual reality and transformation in Christ. While baptism is not required for salvation, it is a biblical command and demonstrates a desire to live as a new creation and to be in obedience to Christ.
Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:11-15; Acts 2:37-41; Ephesians 2:8-9; Matthew 28:19-20
THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe that the Lord’s Supper, or communion, is a worship practice given to all believers by Jesus Christ to remember and symbolizes His sacrifice for believers and the new covenant. The elements of bread and juice are symbols of Christ’ broken body and shed blood. The Lord’s Supper is not a means of salvation. Rather, it is a testament of a believer’s faith in the atoning work of the cross.
Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19,20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
MARRIAGE AND GENDER
We believe that the Bible teaches that God established marriage in the beginning as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman; that He has reserved sexual intimacy as an expression of love and commitment between married couples; and that any intimate expression of sexuality outside of Biblical marriage is sin. The Bible also affirms that God created specific genders, male and female, as a beautiful expression of His image, and therefore each gender has its own valuable but different God-given attributes.
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25; Matthew 19:1-12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-11; 11:11-12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
