Iglesia La RocaCHURCH PLANTING
PARTNERSHIP PROSPECTUS
Give · Guatemala

IGLESIA LA ROCA / OUR CONVICTIONS

What we believe.
The church we hope to become.

A gospel-rooted church, formed by Scripture, sharing life, and sent to make disciples.

THE KIND OF CHURCH WE WANT TO BECOME

Our vision

To see a gospel-rooted church flourish in San Pedro La Laguna, where people know Christ deeply, belong to a healthy spiritual family, grow as disciples, and are equipped to make disciples of others.

We envision a church deeply grounded in Scripture, rooted in the community, and committed to living out the gospel in everyday life. We want to build relationships before programs, disciples before crowds, and local leaders before dependency.

Our hope reaches beyond one congregation: mature disciples, faithful local leaders, and healthy churches in other communities around Lake Atitlán and beyond.

WHAT WE DO AS A CHURCH

Our mission

We exist to glorify God by making and maturing disciples of Jesus in San Pedro La Laguna who belong to a healthy local church, love their neighbors, and make disciples of others.

The gospel is central. The Bible forms people. The church is a family where people are known, cared for, challenged, and loved.

Hospitality, discipleship, and the development of local leaders are part of that shared life. Children, young people, adults, and older believers all belong within the church’s life and mission.

Living the Gospel. Loving People. Flourishing Together.

God’s Word shapes
our life together.

UPWARD / WORSHIP

Word, prayer & the ordinances

We depend on the ordinary means of grace. Expository preaching lets the point of the biblical passage govern the sermon. Congregational singing, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper center our gathered life on Christ.

INWARD / COMMUNITY

A discipling church family

Scripture, prayer, meals, mutual care, and personal discipleship belong in ordinary life. Hospitality creates room for people to be known and to learn obedience to Christ together.

OUTWARD / MISSION

Evangelism & neighbor-love

We proclaim the gospel clearly and practice tangible mercy. We seek the good of our neighbors, encourage responsible stewardship, and invest in the multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches.

01

Build relationships

Enter people’s lives with presence, listening, hospitality, and service.

02

Grow relationships

Cultivate trust through time, consistency, meals, prayer, and shared life.

03

Disciple relationships

Point one another to Christ through Scripture, prayer, obedience, and accountability.

04

Multiply relationships

Equip those being discipled to help others follow Jesus in their own relationships.

Our hope is
in Christ alone.

This overview summarizes our statement of faith. Scripture is our supreme authority; the church’s historic creeds and Reformed confessions serve as subordinate standards.

These convictions guide our teaching, membership, governance, and ministry. We welcome questions from churches considering partnership.

Discuss our convictions
The triune God

There is one true and living God, eternal, of one essence, existing eternally in three coequal and coeternal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is Creator, Sustainer, and Lord of all. We neither confuse the persons nor divide the divine essence.

The Father is holy, just, merciful, and faithful, accomplishing his eternal purpose of redemption for his glory.

Deuteronomy 6:4 · Matthew 28:19 · 2 Corinthians 13:14 · Ephesians 1:3–6

Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived without sin, died as our substitute, rose bodily, and ascended. He will return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, glorifies Christ, convicts of sin, regenerates and indwells believers, gives gifts for the church’s edification, and empowers holiness and mission.

John 1:1–14; 14–16 · 1 Corinthians 15 · Romans 8 · Galatians 5:16–26

The authority and sufficiency of Scripture

The Bible’s 66 books are the inspired Word of God, infallible and inerrant in the original writings, sufficient and necessary for salvation and life, and the supreme authority for faith and practice.

Tradition, experience, human decrees, and private revelations do not possess authority equal to or above Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 · 2 Peter 1:20–21 · Psalm 19 · John 17:17

Creation, the fall, and providence

God created all things from nothing, by his Word and for his glory. He made humanity, male and female, in his image, with equal dignity and a calling to steward creation under his lordship.

Humanity’s fall brought sin, guilt, death, and corruption. We cannot save ourselves apart from grace. God continually sustains and governs all things through wise and holy providence; he is never the author or approver of sin. His sovereignty does not cancel human responsibility, prayer, or the use of ordinary means.

Genesis 1–3 · Romans 3:9–23; 5:12–19; 8:19–23 · Ephesians 1:11

Salvation by grace through faith

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. God applies redemption through election, effectual calling, regeneration, repentance and faith, justification, adoption, sanctification, and final preservation.

We affirm God’s sovereignty and the human responsibility to repent and believe. Our works do not contribute to the basis of justification; good works are the necessary fruit of living faith.

Ephesians 2:8–10 · Romans 8:28–30 · Acts 4:12 · James 2:14–26

The church, the kingdom, and mission

The church is God’s redeemed people, Christ’s body and bride, expressed in local congregations that gather for worship, the Word, the ordinances, prayer, fellowship, discipline, and mission. We affirm meaningful membership, a plurality of qualified elders, and the service of deacons.

God’s redemptive reign was inaugurated at Christ’s first coming and will be consummated at his return. The church bears witness through gospel proclamation, holiness, mercy, and neighbor-love. The kingdom is neither merely a political project nor a guarantee of material prosperity.

Acts 2:42–47 · Ephesians 2:19–22 · Titus 1:5 · Matthew 28:18–20 · Mark 1:15

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Baptism signifies union with Christ and visible entry into the community of faith. It is administered to believers as obedience, testimony, and joyful submission to Christ, ordinarily by immersion within the local church.

The Lord’s Supper commemorates Christ’s sacrifice, nourishes believers’ faith by the Spirit, and proclaims his death until he returns. We observe it with self-examination, repentance, and unity, under the elders’ oversight. The ordinances neither work automatically nor function as empty symbols.

Matthew 28:19 · Romans 6:3–5 · Acts 2:38–41 · 1 Corinthians 11:23–29

Human dignity, marriage, and life

God created humanity male and female in his image. Men and women have equal dignity before him. Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman, ordered toward mutual help, holy intimacy, the nurture of children, and the display of Christ’s love for his church.

Human life has inviolable worth from conception to natural death. We commend compassionate care for the vulnerable, chastity in singleness, fidelity in marriage, and pastoral gentleness joined to truth. We reject violence, coercion, exploitation, demeaning speech, and unjust discrimination.

Genesis 1:26–28; 2:18–25 · Matthew 19:4–6 · Ephesians 5:22–33 · Psalm 139:13–16

Christ’s return and our future hope

Jesus will return visibly and gloriously. We believe in the bodily resurrection, final judgment, eternal heaven and hell, and the consummation of the kingdom in the new heavens and new earth.

We pursue holiness, justice, mercy, truth, and our neighbors’ good as signs of the coming kingdom. Full and unbroken flourishing awaits Christ’s return. Our hope rests in him as we serve amid the suffering of this world.

Matthew 25 · 1 Corinthians 15 · 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 · Revelation 20–22

Elder-governed.
Deacon-served.
Members who belong.

Our intended polity is elder-governed. A plurality of qualified elders will jointly guard doctrine, shepherd the congregation, oversee membership, and exercise biblical discipline.

Deacons serve through mercy, stewardship, and practical care under the elders’ oversight. Members participate in worship, community, service, mission, and giving, receiving shepherding and offering mutual care.

Church discipline is patient and restorative, seeking repentance, protection, and a faithful witness to Christ. As a plant, we are developing toward this structure and the establishment of these offices.

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