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Pastor David Tue, along with his wife Jackie, began The Ark as a church that would reach out to people who did not know who Jesus Christ was. For many years, the Tue's had felt the call to build a solid Christian church in Suffolk County. It took over a year and a lot of time and effort but in September, 2003, Pastor Dave led the first public service of The Ark Church in the Sheraton Hotel in Hauppauge, New York.
Prior to planting The Ark, David had been an elder at a Presbyterian Church, including a term as Clerk of Session, and a term on the Long Island Presbytery's Council on Missions, and Jackie served as a Deacon. Their hearts ached to reach out to those lost and hurting on Long Island. During a retreat at Sandy Cove, David and Jackie were praying and knew God was calling them to begin their ministry immediately. After several more prayer sessions, they were led to stop waiting for the perfect time (Today is the day!) and start doing what He had called them to do. Without further ado, David and Jackie started out by praying for leaders and a prayer team. When their prayers were answered within a few weeks, they knew God was working.
Today, they lead the church in worship, small group studies, a partnership to reach out to Native American Indians and evangelistic activities to build the church upon the Rock that is Jesus Christ.
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Non-Denominational
There's an interesting thing going on in the Christian community these days. It's not anything new, really. It's been like this for hundreds of years. The problem is that most of us realize that it exists, and yet, we continue to feed the fire.
I'm talking about denominations. Specifically, the wedge that exists among Christians due to denominational loyalties. I'm sure you all have seen it yourselves and can give some examples of what you have experienced. I know I've experienced it.
The church was built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, the son of The Living God. Unfortunately, there are too many church leaders and members who have forgotten that and have allowed the foundation of their church and their faith to be their denomination - its beliefs, its traditions, its leaders. Sadly, when it comes to choosing between their denomination and the foundation which is Jesus, too often the wrong choice is made.
It has gotten to the point that some denominations actually base salvation on whether one is part of their denomination or not. Did someone say, "The family of God?"
The point of all this is that denominations have become a barrier to building the Kingdom of God on this planet. I understand that we do not want to see a watering down of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the sake of fellowship and communion. However, it also appears to me that the great majority of denominational differences are typically secondary in importance, even when theological in basis. Towards that end, it should be more important to us as Christians that we understand what Paul is saying in Romans 14:13-23 - that we can agree to disagree on secondary issues without decreasing the importance of the primary issues - and it seems to me that most Christian denominations would agree upon those - just look at their creeds.
So, until denominations recognize that in their pursuit of winning their arguments over secondary issues, they have divided the family of God and their stubbornness to these issues are more detrimental than beneficial to the Kingdom of God, The Ark will be non-denominational, preaching Christ and him crucified.
Come into my life. Today, I make you the Lord of my life. Praise to you, Lord Jesus, and thank you for bringing me back to you.
Amen
If you have decided to accept Jesus as your Lord today, please email us, and we will pray for you as you begin your new life. And if you live in the area, please come and visit us at our worship service and let us know your experience so we can rejoice with you. God Bless!
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The Values of The Ark
The four values that The Ark holds as a church are being Christ-Centered, God-Loving, People-Loving and Bible-Based. Within these four values are the principles of which they are made up.
Christ-Centered:
Christ-led –We are nothing and all we have is nothing without Christ and we only find righteousness and life everlasting through Christ. (Phil 3:7-14). God has appointed Him leader over all we do and all we are. (Eph 1:22-23). Hence, apart from Him, we can do nothing and so we strive to do everything by and through Him (John 15:5).
Evangelism, reaching the lost and the seeker – Jesus demonstrated His desire to reach those who didn’t know Him with the first and last words He spoke to His disciples in the Book of Matthew. If it was that important to the Son of God, it is that important to us. (Matt 4:19, Matt 28:19)
God-Loving:
Prayer, especially corporate – The church is to be a house of prayer (Is 56:7). We should pray always (1 Thess 5:17). However, Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father”, implying His goal for us is to pray as one body (Matt 6:9). We are told that He is with us when two or more are gathered in His Name and that in this way are we more able to know His will. (Matt 18:19-20)
Spirit-filled worship – Worship times will be a time to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs and a time for giving thanks to the Lord (Eph 5:19-20) and where we will devote ourselves to teaching and to the fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42). In all this, we will devote ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to move us closer to Him.
Excellence – In everything we do, we will do it fully or not at all, depending on the Word and the Grace of God. After all, God gave us His best, His Son. We should strive to return to Him using the same standards (Col 3:23-24)
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People-Loving:
Diversity – We will be people of grace. We will not be a people of legalism (Gal 3:10-14). It is by grace alone we are saved (Eph 2:8). We let others be themselves, not comparing them to anyone else. God loves variety and He made us different for a reason (1 Cor 12:12-13). As Christians, we are all part of the same body of Christ.
Spiritual Growth through a Small Group – When people become part of The Ark, they become part of a small group that will allow them to pray and fellowship, be ministered to and minister to others while developing the gifts that have been given them by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:46-47)
Servant leadership – We must always strive to be servants of others, whether they are brothers and sisters in Christ or unbelievers. Never should we begin to believe that we do not owe everything we have and are to Christ and the posture of servanthood will help us remember this (Matt 19:30, Luke 22:25-27). In our servitude, let us edify each other and bring others to the Lord.
Lay ministry – We believe that we are all ministers of God and that as ministers, we are empowered with the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us to provide services to others to build His kingdom. (Acts 6:3-6, Eph 4:11-13)
Bible-Based:
The Bible as the one source of God’s truth – In all we do, the final truth will come from the Bible as the primary source of God’s Word to us. Whether we receive a word from any other place, it must be checked with scripture to ensure its truth (Acts 17:11, 2 Tim 3:16).
Bible based Teaching and Preaching – We preach God’s Word and the truth straight from the Bible to those who may not have been encouraged to read it for themselves (2 Tim 3:16). Paul, the great evangelist, brought thousands of people to Jesus with His preaching of the Word. Similarly, every word we preach should be based on the Word of God, pointing people to Jesus and showing them who He is and how He can help them wherever they are. (Book of Romans)
Vision Statement of the Ark
A vision statement allows us to see where we are going before we get there. It is not necessarily a statement of reality but of aspiration, desire – a statement of what God has placed on our hearts for where He promises us we will eventually be!
We envision The Ark to be a place where the Good News of Jesus Christ, Who he is and what he has done for us in His birth, death and resurrection, is taught and preached to thousands, even millions, including those who know Him but especially those who do not!
We envision the maturing of all our people into true disciples on fire for Jesus, becoming fully functioning followers of Christ through prayer, worship, study and fellowship. How glorious it will be the day we are all walking purposefully In His Steps!
We envision helping people to learn to discern their spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them and to give them opportunities to use these gifts in a way that allows them to be blessed and to be a blessing to those they are serving in the community while bringing them all into a closer relationship with God. We will create an army of servants for the Lord as we act out the Great Commandment!
We envision setting apart teams and small groups of leaders to continue to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ by sending them out to plant more churches and replicate the things that we have done properly. Hence, as we reach a maximum potential at The Ark, these new churches can continue to grow and reach more people for Jesus than we can alone!
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Belief Statement
Doctrinal Statement of The Ark
Following are our statements of belief regarding Christian Doctrine. This document pertains to theological beliefs that are critical and must be completely and totally agreed upon for membership into the church and especially for those who aspire to leadership responsibilities.
We believe in the authority of Scripture, that both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God. It is the ultimate source for knowledge of God and should be our reference point for daily guidance in all aspects of our lives.
We believe in the existence of one God in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This triune God, who existed before the universe, created the universe by speaking it into existence. He is self-existent, eternal, unchanging, omnipotent, omnipresent, righteous, loving but over all, He is holy.
We believe that man is both physical and spiritual, a being created in God's image. Because of our sin, we lost our fellowship with God. This sin has resulted in all of the pain and suffering that the world has known, including death, and continues to plague the world with suffering and malice.
Solely by God's grace, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, was sent to save us from our sin. We believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died for our sins and was physically raised from the dead. Jesus will one day return to judge the world and deliver His people. The only way that humanity can escape destructive judgment and everlasting damnation is though faith in Jesus as the Son.
We believe that Evil exists in the world, not attributable to God but against God’s desire. Due to His sovereign decision to allow man and angels to have intelligence and free will, both have a responsibility for the evil that exists in the world. Satan is an angel, the highest of all angels, who exists and freely decided to oppose God. He is a liar, a murderer, our accuser and our enemy. He works through the world to tempt us in our sinful flesh to work against the will of God.
We acknowledge the church as God's institution with Jesus as her Head. The church is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ, and exists for worship, for fellowship, for spiritual growth, and for evangelizing the world. It is through the Church that we are baptized and that we share in communion.
All these statements are derived from the Holy Bible.
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Supplemental Doctrinal Statement of The Ark
Supplemental Doctrinal Statement of The Ark
These are supplemental beliefs of The Ark. Being supplemental, these are not meant to be divisive among members or leaders of The Ark. However, it is part of the foundation of who we are and therefore important. It is expected that members, and especially leaders, hold to a major majority of these beliefs.
In those cases where there is disagreement in one or more of these beliefs, it is important that we read and understand Romans 14:13-23:
“Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
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Supplemental Doctrinal Statements:
We believe in the Creation of the universe as related in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. By that account, we find that the purpose of God’s creation of the universe was solely for His pleasure. The account of Adam and Eve is true, occurring exactly as detailed in the book of Genesis, as well as the accounts of the Flood, the Tower of Babel and the Patriarchs. It is in the account of creation that we see that God created the universe out of nothing by speaking it into existence and as the Creator of the universe, He has the Lordship over it and all that is within it, including man and angels. Since He is outside the creation, he is separate from it and thus He is Holy.
We believe in the Providence and Sovereignty of God, meaning we believe that God is in control of all that has happened and all that is happening and all that is going to happen and nothing happens that God does not allow to happen. In the end, all things will work out to the conclusion that He has determined and has set in motion since the creation.
We believe that miracles can and do occur within and outside of the natural and scientific universe. God performs miracles even today. However, these miracles are always in accordance with His Providence and point to the end of times and His glory at that time.
We believe that there are promises of God to Israel in the Old Testament that are still to be fulfilled and that there are some promises that have been fulfilled through the Church. We believe in a literal interpretation of Eschatological passages (bible verses regarding the end of the history of the world / “End Times”) and hence in the rapture of the believers (taking up of True Christians into heaven) prior to the Tribulation period, a return of Jesus to rule for a thousand years (the Millennial rule), the casting of Satan into the burning lake (Hell) and the creation of a new Heaven and Earth where we will be with God forever.
We believe that Baptism is the rite of initiation of an individual into the community of faith. Just as with its Jewish predecessor, it must be voluntary and it must be witnessed. It may be administered only after a confession of faith and instruction and an internal repentance of sin is expected for baptism to be meaningful. In and of itself, it is unnecessary for salvation.
We believe in the existence of Angels as spiritual beings created by God to serve Him. There are two types of Angels: the good angels, are obedient to God and follow His commands; the fallen angels, disobeyed God and now follow Satan, working in opposition to the will of God.
Bottom line: Why are we here (existence) and what does God want from us?
To love Him – which means we need to know Him and come into a real and strong relationship with Him. To do this we must first and foremost pray always. Then we must know His Word. Finally we must do work for Him and His kingdom by helping others come into that same relationship as we have.
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