What We Believe

Connected Marriage is a Christian ministry dedicated to equipping the church to move effectively help couples to have a fantastic marriage relationship.

The Bible

We believe that the Holy Bible is inspired by God and is without error in its original manuscripts. It speaks God’s Word to us as our final authority in matters of faith and life. The Bible is not just ancient literature, but rather a living book, which Christ opens to us.

God

We believe that there is one God eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human, who by His virgin birth; sinless life; miracles; death on the cross; and bodily resurrection is our Lord and has redeemed us. We believe in His ascension into heaven and His imminent return to earth in power and glory.

The substitutionary death of Jesus Christ gives us salvation. It is free and cannot be earned. We call this grace. Because of this grace, we teach that one can be certain of eternal life. We believe that we partake of this free gift of grace by faith alone. We call this “justification.” It happens once and for all as the believer receives Christ into his or her heart and is reborn/regenerated by water and the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, true God, makes faith possible and dwells in each believer. He makes the presence of Jesus Christ real in believers. He comforts, guides, convicts and enables believers to live in ways that honor Christ.

Human Nature

We teach that human nature contains selfishness, lack of faith, and sin, which are not removable by human means. The consequence of this fact is eternal death.

Changed Life

We believe that becoming a Christian leads to a changed life. We call this change “sanctification,” which is a life-long process of growth in selfless love, humbleness, service, stewardship, and holiness under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Change and growth are not optional for those saved by grace. Because a good tree bears good fruit, people justified by grace through faith act on that faith and will change and grow in Christ.

Counseling

Ministry to persons acknowledges the complexity of humans as physical, social, psychological, and spiritual beings. The ultimate goal of Christian counseling is to help others move to personal wholeness, interpersonal competence, mental stability, and spiritual maturity.

We believe that lay counselors can be highly effective inside of the local church. We also believe in formally trained Christian mental health professionals. When people are hurting, it isn’t a question of “either-or”, but “both-and”.

We support the Code of Ethics from the American Association of Christian Counselors.