About GraceBuilt

GraceBuilt Church was founded in 2005 by Pastor Josh Akin, and is dedicated to helping all of Central Virginia Learn and Love Jesus. We focus our ministries on teaching the simple and transforming truth of scripture; passage by passage, book by book. Our church stands on the premise that only Grace – not guilt, human strategies, or programs– can build the believer into the fullness of joy and service to God.

Our Church Affiliation

Pastor Josh is affiliated with the Calvary Chapel Association, a brotherhood of like-minded pastors dedicated to teaching the scriptures, evangelism, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. (Here is a link to the Philosophy of Ministry for GraceBuilt Church and Calvary Chapel as a whole.)

GraceBuilt Church enjoys attending regional Calvary Chapel conferences, retreats, Bible colleges and missions opportunities, but the best benefit of being a part of Calvary Chapel is the gatherings of like-minded believers who pray for and help one another, lifting each other up through the accountability of the Word of God.

What We Believe

At GraceBuilt Church we are Christians. That simply means we follow Jesus and His Word, the Bible. We’re not a denomination. We have nothing against denominations, but we associate with all those who love Jesus and hold to the essentials of Biblical faith:

  • The Bible is the Word of God. Period.
  • No one created God. God created everything.
  • God is a Trinity. There is one God who consists of three distinct persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. No one can fully understand that, but it’s what the Bible says.
  • Like it or not, everyone is a sinner. We inherited sin from the first people, Adam and Eve, who rebelled against God. The result of sin is death and eternal separation from God (that is, Hell).
  • There’s a solution for sin! Jesus, the Son of God, stepped out of eternity; was born of the virgin Mary; and lived the perfect, sinless life that we could not. He died on the cross to suffer the punishment for sin in our place. He was buried and then rose from the dead. If we believe in who Jesus is and what He has done, all our sins are forgiven and we are promised the presence of God through the Holy Spirit who lives in every believer, and an eternity with God in Heaven.
  • Love is why Jesus died for us. Our highest desire is to enjoy His love and help everyone else enjoy His love with us.

Since we serve in an un-churched, and at-risk community, we are faced with people needing guidance on pressing social issues. Rather than give advice or counseling we simply help our community apply the Bible to the challenges they face.

Doctrinal Statement

We believe that there is one living and true GOD, eternally existing in three persons:  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that this triune God created all, upholds all, and governs all things.

(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:8 and 48:16; Matthew 28:19-20; John 10:30; Hebrews1:3)

We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God,  fully inspired without error and the infallible rule of faith and practice. The Word of God is the foundation upon which this church operates and is the basis for which this church is governed. We believe that the Word of God supersedes any earthly law that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures. We believe that the King James Version of the Bible is an accurate translation from the original ancient text. It is from this translation that we establish our doctrine and Statement of Faith.

(Isaiah 28:13; Nehemiah 8:8; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:3- 4 and 1:21)

We believe in the person of God the Father, an infinite, eternal, personal Spirit,  perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love; that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He saves from sin and death all those who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

(Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalms 90:2; Psalms 102:27; John 3:16 and 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17; Titus 1:3)

We believe in the person of Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings, his substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people and personal, visible return to earth.

(Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:23; Mark 16:19; Luke 1:34-35; John 1:1-2, 8:58 and 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8; 1 John 1:2; Revelation 1:8)

We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, Who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ.

(Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 3:18; John 16:8-11; Romans 8:26 and 15:13,16; Hebrews 9:14)

We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide.

(John 6:13, 14:16-17 and 16:8-11; Romans 8:26)

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all Biblical gifts of the Spirit.

(1 Corinthians 14)

We believe that all people are sinners by nature and, therefore, are under condemnation; that God saves and regenerates based upon faith by the Holy Spirit those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

(Acts 8:15-17; Ephesians 2:1-3 and 8-9; Romans 3:23 and 5:8; Titus 3:5)

We believe in the universal church, the living spiritual body, of which Christ is the head and all who are born again are a part of the Body of Christ.

(1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:15-16)

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted two ordinances for the church: (a) full immersion water baptism of believers, and (b) the Lord's Supper.

(Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

We also believe that the Lord Jesus Christ validated the ordinance of marriage.

(Matthew 19:4-5 and John 2:1-11)

We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ which is His personal, visible return to earth and the establishment of His millennial kingdom, in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous and endless Separation of the wicked.

(Matthew 16:27; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:11-15)

We believe in a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that all those who place their faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord, while those who reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will spend eternity separated from the Lord.

(Psalm 9:17; Matthew 5:3, 5:22, 18:9 and 25:31-34; Mark 9:42-49; Luke 12:5; John 3:18; Hebrews 12:23; 1 Peter 1:4; Revelation 14:10-11 and 20:11-15)

We believe in the creation and God as the Creator. We believe that God created man and that He created them male and female. As such He created them different so as to complement and complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason homosexuality, and all other “sexual preferences” or “orientations” are unnatural, sinful, and unacceptable to God. Accordingly, this ministry will not perform any marriage ceremonies between two individuals of the same sex. It will not condone or recognize such same-sex marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships even if the state passes laws that provide for recognition of such unions. We believe that marriage is exclusively the legal union of one genetic male and one genetic female sanctioned by the state and evidenced by a marriage ceremony. We also believe that legitimate biblical sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Hence, sexual activities such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, pre-marital sex, incest, polygamy, homosexuality, transgenderism, bisexuality, pedophilia and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Further, lascivious behavior, the creation, viewing and/or distribution of pornography and efforts to alter one’s physical gender are incompatible with a true biblical witness.

(Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 5:11, 6:9-11, 6:18-20, 7:1-3; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-7; 1 Timothy 1:9-11)