ABOUT

The current church building was built in 1890 to replace the original Gold-rush era building, which was destroyed by fire. The pews, altar, and upper windows are from the original building. But the church is more than a building. For more than 150 years Knights Ferry Community Church has stayed true to the principles of God's Word.

Our Purpose in gathering and binding together is:

to honor and glorify God through worship,
to build and equip Christ’s body in Knights Ferry and to spread the gospel throughout our community and the world.

Pastor Henry Raven was called to our church family in June 2017. Pastor Raven has served as the pastor of Sierra Foothills Community Church for fourteen years, where he will continue to serve until a new pastor is transitioned into that role. Pastor Henry was reared in the South, but moved to Fresno to live with an aunt while he attended Fresno City College. He is the fourth of seven brothers and the first in his family to attend college. He previously served in the United States Army, trained as a truck mechanic and worked in the trucking industry, and served in ministry with the Salvation Army. He attended Pacific Rim Theological College and is ordained through the Free Methodist Church. Henry is well known in the community and serves as a chaplain for both the Stanislaus County Sheriffs Office and the Oakdale Police Department. He teaches Principles and Values classes several nights a week; he leads a Bible Study for the male general population inmates at the county jail; and holds a service at Juvenile Hall. Additionally he serves on the ethics board at Oak Valley Hospital, as chaplain for several local groups including the Rotarians, Oakdale Academy, and Oakdale Memorial Chapel. He also serves as chair for Open Door Alternative (for at-risk youth).

Henry and Jean have married for 48 years. They have six children and eight grandchildren. Jean has always been a working mother; her previous jobs include Service Clerk at the IRS in Fresno, Secretary at Diamond Meat Company in Selma, CA, and Superior Court clerk in Fresno, and the Salvation Army. She currently works with Oakdale-Riverbank Memorial Chapel.

The Bible is the basis of our Christian faith.

The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.

We believe that through faith in Him we have salvation.

We worship the true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It is our privilege to seek the Lord God in prayer.

We gather weekly to praise the Lord & study God’s Word.

We celebrate Communion the third Sunday of the month.

You are welcome to come here every Sunday to worship.

We ask you to invite others to come with you to worship.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe and accept the following statement to be necessary for the fellowship and practice of the membership of this church body:

1. THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE

We believe the Holy Scriptures are the complete written Word of God, consisting of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments; that they are the inspired and infallible living Word of God and therein is found to be the only reliable guide for Christian faith and practice.

(Psalm 19:7, 119:89, Isaiah 40:8, Luke 24:44-45, John 1:1-3, 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Hebrews 1:1-2, Revelation 22:18-19)

2. THE TRIUNITY OF GOD

We believe there to be only one, true, living and eternal God who is all knowing, all powerful and ever present. He manifests Himself in three distinct and separate persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each is worthy of glory and honor and is to be worshiped as God.

(Genesis 1:1, 26, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 10:10-12, Matthew 3:16-17, 16:16, 28:19, John 1:1-3, 14:16-17, 26, 16:13-15, Acts 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6, Ephesians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Timothy 2:5, Titus 2:13)

3. THE CREATION AND FALL OF MAN

We believe man was created in the image of God, sinless, in fellowship with Him having a free will to make moral choices. Man, through Adam, fell into sin by personal choice to disobey God, breaking fellowship with Him, bringing physical death and spiritual death (separation from God) for the whole human race. Therefore, all of mankind is sinful by nature, guilty before God and in need of forgiveness through Christ the Son, being unable to save themselves.

(Genesis 1:27, 2:7, 15-25, 3:1-19, Matthew 19:13-15, Romans 3:10-18, 23, 5:12, 18:21, Ephesians 2:1-3)

4. THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Fully God and fully man, He was tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. He was crucified on a cross as the atoning sacrifice for all sin, resurrected from the dead and seen by many. He ascended to heaven to prepare a place for us and is coming back again to earth to gather up God’s children.

(Matthew 1:23, John 1:1, 14, 29, 3:16-17, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 12-19, Hebrews 4:14-16, 1 John 2:1-2)

5. MAN’S SALVATION: GOD’S GRACE

We believe man’s salvation from the judgment and power of sin comes by way of God’s grace through Christ Jesus the Son. Christ came to redeem man from sin and to reconcile him to God the Father. Through the shedding of His blood, He provided the one sufficient sacrifice for all sin and established God’s New Covenant with mankind. Not by works or our own goodness, but rather, we are saved through faith, believing in Christ by the grace of God. Those who repent of their sin and trust in Christ as savior and Lord receive forgiveness and become a new creation in Christ. We have the assurance of our salvation through the Word of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit within us.

(2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 1:8-10, 5:11-13)

6. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

We believe the Church is the one body and bride of Christ, the fellowship of all believers under the authority of Christ. Its members have been called together by the Holy Spirit and united in love, professing one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. The local church is an association of believers, coming together in fellowship to worship, preach and teach the Word, nurture and serve each other as witnesses to the glory of God. Each member, according to his gifts, participates and shares in all the blessings it possesses. Every believer has the responsibility to be a witness to the person and work of Jesus Christ here and abroad, offering prayer and petition on behalf of others, sharing the grace of God and the call for all men to be reconciled to God.

(Matthew 11:5, 16:18, 18:15-35, 28:19-20, John 13:1-17, Acts 1:8, 2:41-43, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, 12:13, 14:12, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:4-12, Colossians 1:18, 1Thessalonians 5:11,14, 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14, 15)

7. ORDINANCE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

We honor the Lord’s command to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin through God’s grace. Baptism symbolizes death to sin and resurrection to the new life in Christ and the commitment to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:2-6, Colossians 2:12-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Titus 3:5,

1 Peter 3:21)

8. THE ORDINANCE OF COMMUNION

We believe the body of Christ should observe communion together as instituted by Christ. The elements, the bread and the cup, symbolize Christ’s broken body and shed blood. They are taken in remembrance of His suffering and death on the cross for our salvation and reconciliation to God. The Lord’s Supper expresses the fellowship and unity of the body of believers with Christ.

(Matthew 16:24, 26:26-30, Luke 22:14, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 11:23-32, 14:26)

9. THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF CHRIST

We believe God who acts in history will fulfill His ultimate purpose for all of mankind. At death the righteous enter a state of rest in the presence of God, in fellowship with Christ. The unrighteous suffer the torment of separation from God while awaiting formal judgment. When Christ returns, the dead in Christ will be resurrected with a new body and living believers will be taken up with Christ, to be with Him forever. Christ will judge all men. The righteous will inherit the Kingdom of God and the unrighteous shall suffer the anguish of an eternal separation from God and the eternal punishment of hell. In the end, death will be destroyed, Anti-Christ will be defeated and Satan will be cast in to the lake of fire. Christ will create a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness reigns and God shall be all in all. This is the blessed hope of the Church.

(Isaiah 2:4. 61:1-11, Matthew 25:13, 31-46, Mark 9:43-48, Luke 16:22-23, John 5:25-29, Acts 1:11, 1 Corinthians 15:21-58, Philippians 1:21-24, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Titus 2:11-14, 2 Peter 3:3-13, Revelation 20:11-15)

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13). He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon! Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)