‘To God be the glory, great things He has done.’ Jesus is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end and the author and finisher of our faith and because of this we live to glorify Him!

Everything we are and do must be because of the commitment to His pre-eminence in our lives…

Because of God’s incredible love and plan for us- we purpose to live an obedient life full of joy and peace.

Our desire to be faithful to Christ is so often revealed by our willingness to walk through very difficult situations together.

This safe haven encourages us to grow together in community.

 

 

 

 

Preamble

This version of the Statement of Essential Truths represents the result of an extensive collaborative process to rephrase and refresh what is most essential to us. As before, we make no claim that this statement covers all biblical truth, nor that the human phraseology employed here is inspired. We recognize as we did at the outset of our movement that there is some diversity of theological thought among us, but we remain committed as a Pentecostal community to the historic creeds of the church, to evangelical convictions of faith, and to the Full Gospel that Christ is Saviour, Healer, Spirit-Baptizer, and Soon Coming King.

 

Triune God

There is one God, the creator, who exists eternally in unity as three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The triune God is loving, holy, infinite, just, and worthy of all worship. 

 

The Father accomplishes his plan of salvation through both redemption and judgment. All things will be subject to him, and his kingdom will have no end. 

 

The Father sent the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary when she was a virgin. Jesus became fully human while remaining fully God. Anointed by the Spirit, Jesus revealed the Father and the kingdom of God by his sinless life, teaching, and miracles. After he died for our sin, God raised him from the dead, and he is now at the right hand of the Father.

 

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son and gives life throughout creation. The Spirit draws people to repentance and new life in Jesus Christ. Through the Spirit’s indwelling, the Father and the Son are present to all believers, making them children of God. 

 

Bible

The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the written revelation of God’s character and saving purposes for humanity and for all creation. As God’s revelation, the entire Bible is true and trustworthy, and is the final and absolute authority for belief and conduct. The Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible enables its interpretation and application.

 

Creation

God created and sustains the heavens and the earth, which display God’s glory. Formed in the image of God, both male and female, humankind is entrusted with the care of God’s creation as faithful stewards. As a result of human rebellion, sin and death entered the world, distorting the image of God and all of God’s good creation.

 

Angels were created as supernatural beings to worship and serve God. Along with Satan, some angels chose to rebel and oppose the purposes of God. Christ gives believers victory over Satan and these demons.

 

Salvation

Salvation is available to all people by the loving, redemptive act of the triune God. Through obedience to the Father, Christ gave himself as a ransom. Christ, who had no sin, became sin for us offering himself and shedding his blood on the cross so that in him we might become right with God. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ provide the way of salvation for those who, by God’s grace, repent from their sin and confess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. 

 

Salvation means to receive the Spirit, to be forgiven, reconciled with God and others, born again, and liberated from sin and darkness, transferring the believer into God’s kingdom. Our experience of liberation includes healing —whether spiritual, physical, emotional, or mental — as a foretaste of our future, complete restoration. Those who remain in Christ and do not turn away are assured of salvation on judgment day by the indwelling Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

 

Spirit Baptism

On the Day of Pentecost, Jesus poured out the promised Holy Spirit on the church. As his return draws near, Jesus continues to baptize in the Holy Spirit those who are believers. This empowers them to continue his work of proclaiming with speech and action the good news of the arrival and coming of the kingdom of God. This experience is available for everyone, male and female, of every age, status, and ethnicity. 

 

The sign of speaking in tongues indicates that believers have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and signifies the nature of Spirit baptism as empowering our communication, to be his witnesses with speech and action as we continue to pray in the Spirit.

 

The Church

Jesus Christ is the head of the church. All who are united with Christ are joined by the Spirit to his body. Each local church is an expression of the universal church whose role is to participate in the mission of God to restore all things. 

 

Central to the church is the shared experience of the transforming presence of God. The church responds with worship, prayer, proclamation, discipleship, and fellowship,  including the practices of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism by immersion symbolizes the believer’s identification with Christ in his death and resurrection. The Lord’s Supper symbolizes Christ’s body and blood, and our communion as believers. Shared together, it proclaims his death in anticipation of his return.

 

The Spirit gives all gifts to the church to minister to others in love for the purpose of bearing witness to Christ and for the building up of the church. The Spirit also empowers leaders, both female and male, to equip the church to fulfill its mission and purposes.

 

Restoration

Our great hope is for the imminent return of Christ in the air to receive his own, both the living who will be transformed, and the dead in Christ who will be resurrected bodily. Christ will complete at his second coming the restoration begun when he initiated God’s kingdom at his first coming. Christ will liberate creation from the curse, fulfill God’s covenant to Israel, and defeat all powers that oppose God. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

 

Pastor Todd and Tammy Pratt served Emerge Church over the last ten years. They completed their ministry agreement on April 27, 2025. We are grateful for their time with us and pray God’s blessing on their next. An interim pastor will be appointed by our District in May. There will be a Townhall meeting with the congregation, the interim pastor, and District representatives on Tuesday May 20th at 7:00pm to talk about our process going forward.

 

 

 

 

Emerge Church has a longstanding heritage in Sylvan Lake. Starting out in a local cottage of a Missionary worker named Mrs. Wright in 1938, the church grew and began gathering in the W.I. Hall. In 1942, a building was purchased and moved from Lower Camp. In 1952, a Sunday School Hall was constructed to accommodate the growing families. The name was changed from Pentecostal Tabernacle to Gospel Chapel.

 

In the early 1980’s, four acres of land were donated to construct our current facility. Construction began in 1986 and the congregation moved into the new facility in 1989. In March 2005, the additions of Lighthouse Christian Academy and the new auditorium were dedicated.

 

In the fall of 2019, Gospel Chapel was rebranded as Emerge Church. The word Emerge means to come forward into something new. We are committed to continuing to build with God in Sylvan Lake and are excited to move forward into this new season!