Great Faith Christian Center International (GFCCI)
Join Us in Prayer and Worship
Helping People Strengthen Their Faith in Christ
Great Faith Christian Center International (GFCCI) in Alexandria, Virginia has created activities and programs geared toward guiding people in their journey of discovering and loving God. Continue reading to learn more about our ministry.
New Members Orientation
Our Heroic New Members Team helps our new members develop a closer relationship with God. We reach out to and assist them in connecting with other Christians. In doing so, we help them grow in their faith. We will challenge that growth as they continue to discover their ministry and honor God.
People 12 years and older are qualified to complete our orientation classes, which will be conducted in five 1-hour sessions. The subjects discussed in these classes can be found in Your New Life in Him: A Guide for New Church Members.
Baptism
We hold baptisms quarterly following our Sunday Worship Service.
Graduation and Receipt of the Right Hand of Fellowship
After the completion of the orientation classes, the new members are eligible to receive the Right Hand of Fellowship.
Lessons Include
Lesson 1
The Triune God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a Divine Person.
Lesson 2
All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God and are in need of salvation.
Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men.
Prayer.
It is the will of God that every believer be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Healing is provided in the redemptive work of Christ and is available to every believer.
The Old and New Testaments are God’s divinely inspired words.
Lesson 3
The Church consists of all those who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
There shall be a bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust.
The personal, visible, imminent return of Jesus Christ. Baptisms.
Lesson 4
The observance of the Lord’s Supper.
Faith: How we get it, what it is, how we use it.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit: What they are and how they are used in the Church.
Gifts of Christ to the Church.
Lesson 5
Tithing and Stewardship.
Quick Reference Teachings
Salvation
God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. We should not live our lives wondering and worrying each day whether or not we are really saved. The Bible makes the plan of salvation very clear. The bible says, Believe in Jesus Christ” (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). So the question is, Have you repented? Do you believe that Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins and rose again from the dead (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)? Do you trust Him alone for salvation? Assurance means freedom from doubt. By taking God’s Word to heart, you can have no doubt about the reality of your eternal salvation. So if you answered yes to those questions above, read below for the next step you must take.
Prayer of Salvation
At this point you will solidify the salvation process by leading the person in a prayer of repentance (to repent means to changes one’s mind and to turn away from sin, 180 degrees) and salvation by having them raise their hands as an act of submission to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9). Do you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Then pray this prayer and you shall be born again. Lord, I admit that I am a sinner. I repent right now of all my sins. Lord, Jesus, you are the Christ. The Son of the living God you died for all my sins. And I believe with all my heart that you died on the cross for all my sins and that you rose again. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life; I give it to you. From this day forward, help me to live every day for you and in a way that pleases you. Now come into my heart Lord Jesus, I receive you know. I make you the Lord of Life. I believe with all my heart that I am now saved and born again. Now, help me to live for you the rest of this life. Now thank you, heavenly Father, for giving me the Son, I am saved now in Jesus name, Amen. That’s it, you are now born again and are now in the family of God!
Receiving the Holy Spirit
The apostle Paul taught that we receive the Holy Spirit the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Romans 8:9 tells us that if a person does not possess the Holy Spirit, he or she does not belong to Christ: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.”
What Is Baptism
Water baptism symbolizes the believer’s total trust and total reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as a commitment to live obediently in Him. Water Baptism expresses unity with all the saints (Ephesians 2:19), with every person in every nation on earth who is a member of the Body of Christ. However, let’s make this perfectly clear, Water baptism is not what saves us. Instead, we are saved by grace through faith, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8–9). We are baptized because our Lord commanded has commanded us to by stating in His word: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Water baptism is for believers. Before we are baptized, we must come to believe that we are sinners in need of salvation (Romans 3:23). We must also believe that Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, that He was buried, and that He was resurrected to assure our place in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). When we turn to Jesus, asking Him to forgive our sins and be our Lord and Savior, we are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our eternal salvation is guaranteed, and we begin to die to ourselves and live for Christ (1 Peter 1:3–5). At that time we are scripturally ready to be baptized. Christians should be baptized out of obedience to and love for our Lord Jesus (John 14:15). Water baptism by immersion is the biblical method of water baptism because of its figurative representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the empowering for service that takes place in the life of the Christian. Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is a gift given freely from God to His born-again children. God gave this gift on the day of Pentecost. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the empowering for service that takes place in the life of the Christian. Traditionally it follows repentance, saving faith, and baptism (Hebrews 6:1-2). The only qualification to receiving this gift is that you must be saved and born again. Acts 2:38 says, Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
You must also understand that it’s scriptural that to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit, it is through the laying on of hands. Acts 8:14:17 says, “Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.”
When we give ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. The Holy Spirit places us into Jesus. In turn, Jesus immerses us in the power of the Holy Spirit, and from the experience comes the ability to reproduce the works of Jesus, including miracles and healings (John 14:12-16, Acts 1:5, 8).
Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus said, “John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5). He also said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: And you shall be witnesses to me” (Acts 1:8). GFCC believes in speaking in tongues. The bibles says we speak in tongues; we pray the perfect prayer unto God. This gift gives also gives us power, and we all need God’s power. Speaking in tongues can benefit a person. Paul states: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself (1 Corinthians 14:4). Speaking in tongues can help you express what is in your spirit and which you cannot express with words. This experience is available to every born-again Christian. Now there is also the gift of tongues. That teaching will be taught in the new member’s orientation.
How to Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
To receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, all you have to do is ask your heavenly Father for it. God wants every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues.
Ask God right now. Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit just as you received Jesus—by faith, by believing God’s Word. You are His child and He is your Father. God is poised and ready to baptize you in His Holy Spirit when you ask Him.
Simply Repeat This Prayer Out Loud
Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus, and I desire to be baptized with Your Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Your Word says that I can have it, and I believe what You have said. I receive this gift by faith in Jesus’ Name. I thank You Father that I am baptized with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues! That’s it! You have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit!
Now it’s very possible you felt nothing. In some cases, no new language comes out initially. But your receiving the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with feelings or what appens on the outside. God’s Word said that if you ask, you will receive. That means by faith you have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Practice speaking in other tongues. It doesn’t matter if you start with one syllable words or how silly you think you sound. Just keep praying and God will strengthen you in your heavenly prayer language. There are many people who receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and do not pray in tongues right away. Don’t be discouraged, it will come. Just don’t give up!