Berean Fundamental Church
Introduction
The Berean Fundamental Church was founded by Ivan Olsen in the 1930’s in North Plate, Nebraska. The Berean Fundamental church is a part of the Berean Fellowship Churches. There are many Berean churches around the world today. They are strict Bible adherents and are dedicated to planting churches, making disciples and reaching the lost of the world for Jesus Christ.
The Berean Fundamental Church has the vision to glorify Christ and establish churches worldwide. They are aggressively training believers in the likeness of Christ and hope to reach the lost with the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Berean Fundamental Church believes they exist to nurture fellowships of interdependent churches.
The Berean Fundamental Church preaches the message of Jesus Christ. They support Bible based ministries and missions, promote healthy relationships among Christians, and obey the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Their membership must have faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and an earnest desire to live a godly life. They are expected to grow in the Scripture, and be consistent in their behavior and faithfully attend church regularly. The members of the Berean Fundamental Church are expected to give all loyalty to their pastor and spiritual leaders, to pray for, love, and honor them. It is the responsibility of the members to keep all personal obligations, to live a peaceful life, respecting others Biblical beliefs, and to be faithful in their witness. Any member who does not hold to the doctrinal position or the policies of the Constitution of the Berean Fundamental Church must resign membership without causing any trouble. Any member who has not attended church for a period of six months, without a satisfactory reason will be removed from the membership. Membership may be terminated at the discretion of the official church board.
History
The Berean Fundamental Church began around 1932 with the meeting of Christians in North Platte, Nebraska. Hungry for a Bible based ministry, they called Dr. Ivan E. Olsen, a native of northern Michigan who had studied at Denver bible Institute. Dr. Olsen is recognized as the founder of the Berean Fellowship of Churches which later became the Berean Fundamental Church. Pastor Olson did Bible classes in the surrounding towns and many started their own churches. He believed it was his calling to start churches for God. There were sixteen Berean churches planted within one hundred and fifty mile radius of North Platte. These sixteen churches generated many others. The Fellowship of Churches was instituted in 1947.
Belief
The Berean Fundamental Church believes the Bible consists of both the Old and New Testament Scriptures. They believe the Scripture is divinely inspired, inerrant, and objectively true. They the Scriptures are the authoritative Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The Berean Fundamental Church believes the Bible should be interpreted literally, grammatically, historically and contextually.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes in only one God, the Creator, who is infinite, personal externally existing in three persons, revealed in Scripture as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes Jesus Christ is God the Son who has not beginning and nor ending. They believe Jesus Christ was conceived in the flesh by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is fully God and fully man. They believe Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and arose bodily on the third day. The Berean Fundamental Church believes Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father as our only mediator, high priest and advocate.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. They believe the Holy Spirit is a person and not a force. The Berean Fundamental Church believes the ministries of the Holy Spirit is convicting all people of sin, calling and regenerating, indwelling, and baptizing believers into the body of Christ. They believe the Holy Spirit sets the believers apart to a holy life and is responsible for teaching, keeping, empowering the believer every day. They believe the Holy Spirit distributes Spiritual gifts to each believer according to the Will of God. They do not believe the signs and gifts are not in the church today; they believe God still works in miraculous ways but His gifts and signs have served their purpose.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes humans are saved solely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. They believe salvation was purchased by the substitutionary death and shed blood of Jesus Christ for the sins of every person and is offered to everyone as a free gift. They believe that believers enter eternal glory and that unbelievers enter eternal torment upon their deaths.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes every believer has been sanctified and set apart with a perfect standing before God. They believe as the believer yields themselves to the Holy Spirit they experience spiritual growth in holiness.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Church is the body of Christ. They believe the members of the church are those who trusted in Jesus as their Savior. They believe that all believers are commanded to participate in the churches two ordinances; the believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes satan was created as an angelic being. They believe he became the author of sin and the adversary and accuser as well as being the great deceiver of the nations. They believe satan and his followers will finally be overcome by the Lord Jesus Christ and that they will suffer eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
The Berean Fundamental Church believes Jesus will rapture His church to deliver it from the judgments that God will pour upon the earth, on a day known only by God the Father. They believe that after the terrible period called the tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory to establish His Millennial Kingdom on the earth. They believe this will be followed by the final judgment of the wicked in the lake of fire and eternal bliss for the children of God in a new heaven and a new earth.
The Berean Fundamental church believes all members have the responsibility to examine themselves before God. If they fail to do so then it goes to the responsibility of the local church to examine the member. The disciplinary actions are for specific sins and not for a difference of opinion.
Pastors, elders, deacons, and deaconesses are expected to provide spiritual leadership to the church and perform all the duties that are involved with the position as written in 1 Timothy 3 (1 Timothy 3).
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Berean Fundamental Church:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2600,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006, January) “Berean Fundamental Church:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2600,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006) “Berean Fundamental Church:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2600, (accessed).
