Shalom Eritrean Pentecostal Church Oslo

Who are we?

We are a Christian Bible believing church affiliated with Filadelfia Church of Oslo due to the denomination we belong. We are Charismatic Pentecostals in which we are growing fast. We are under the umbrella of Filadelfia Oslo having our own administration and finance.

Aim -Our main aim is, by spreading the Gospel, to reach our people (Eritrean) who are currently residing in Norway. We try to make good citizens of their nation and the nation they are living by teaching them the word of God. We focus mainly on our people but we are not restricted to that.

What we believe -1.      The Scriptures: We believe in the divine plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, meaning the old and the New Testament, inerrant revealing the will of God concerning us in all things. Necessary to our salvation. (Lu. 24:44-47; Jn. 10:35; 2 Tim 3:15-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21) 2.      The Trinity: -We believe only God exists eternally, infinitely and sovereignty.  He exists as three persons: God the father, the Son and The Holy Spirit – One Holy God in three persons (Gen. 1:1; Mat. 28:19-20; 2Cor. 13:14)  

3.      God The Father: We believe that God the Father, the First Person of the triune Godhead orders and disposes all things according to his own purpose and grace.  He is the creator of all things.  As the only absolute and omnipotent ruler in the universe, he is sovereign in creation, providence and redemption.  His fatherhood involves both his designation within the Trinity and his relationship with mankind.

4.    Jesus Christ: We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the triune Godhead, who became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived as sinless life on earth; died a substitutionary death for our sins; was resurrected bodily from the dead; ascended into heaven. Presently, he intercedes for us at the right hand of God and is coming again. (Jn. 1:1-18; Acts 2:22-36; Phl. 2:5-11; Heb. 1:1-5; 7:25-26).

5.    The Holy Spirit: We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the triune Godhead.  He is ever present to convince the world of sin, to impart new life to the believer, to sanctify and empower the Christian for life and service, and unify and mobilize the body of Christ.  (Jn. 7:39; 14:15-18; 26; 16; 7-15; Rom. 8:1-22; Gal. 3:14-21; 1Jn. 3:24)

6.   Man: We believe that man was created in the image of God with the ability and will to choose between right and wrong; alienated from God.  Thus, he stands totally in need of God’s redemption.  (Gen. 1:26; 3:3: 11; Jn. 3:14-17; Rom. 1:19-21, 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9)

7.     Salvation: We believe that Salvation is the work of God’s free grace received as a gift through repentance and commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord, and faith in His death on the cross. (Lu. 3:1-14, 13:1-5; Acts 4:12; Jn. 1:2, 3:16; Rom. 10:9-10; 2 Cor. 7:8-14)

8.    The Church: We believe that the Church is composed of all people who through salvation have been in living union with Jesus Christ.  Individuals in this universal body are responsible for participating in the local churches through which they grow spiritually, receive guidance and participate in a worldwide witnessing.  (Acts 1:8; Rom. 13:8-10; 1Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:11-16; Heb. 1024-25)

9.    Life after Death: We believe in life hereafter.  The bodies both the just and the unjust will be raised to life will appear before God for judgment. We believe that glorious and everlasting life awaits the redeemed, and that the impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell. (Jn. 5:28-29; Rom. 2:1-16; Rev. 20:15, 21:18.

10.  Satan: We believe that Satan is a fallen creature who actively opposes God and His people until his final doom. (Ma. 13:24-30, 36-39; Lu.10: 18/Rom. 16:20; Rev. 20:2, 10)

Goal

Because we are living in Norway we will do our best to integrate in to the Norwegian society. One of the main reasons to be under the umbrella of Filadelfia is due to that. Our children attend the Norwegian Sunday school parallel to our meeting. We are planning to have a meeting at least 5 to 6 times a year to have a meeting with our Norwegian brothers. In 2005, our prayer meeting which we have them on Tuesdays, will be with our Norwegian brothers at least once in a month.

Administration

Shalom Eritrean Pentecostal Church in Oslo has its own administrative organ in which we call it collective leadership and has a forstander/pastor and a committee called elders. These works hand in hand as leading organ and are chosen democratically in member’s meeting. Member’s meeting will be the highest organ.  Here we choose also other leaders for church’s different activities who have leading capacities. All major decisions taken by the leading organ, as a rule, will be presented to members on member’s meeting.        

Economy -Shalom Eritrean Pentecostal Church in Oslo as an independent organization has its own system of income. As bible teaches us every member is encouraged to give a tithe (one tenth of its income) every month. Besides that on our every Sunday meeting we collect money making the bible as our principle. We do not have any form of “MEMBERSHIP FEE” or something like that. The members have responsibility how the money is going to be utilized.

Social activity -Currently we are discussing with the leadership of Filadelfia Church about a project called “Stepping Stone”. The aim of the project is to find a place to have non-spiritual meeting where we can gather  Eritrean asylum seekers who live around Oslo teach them computer, basic Norwegian language, help them to write work application, getting some important society and government information, and trying to translate their academicals documents. The projects proposal is accepted positively by the leadership and it is on a progressive process