We are an international, non-denominational church family.
Our values
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We believe the Bible is the Word of God and is foundational to our lives and ministry. We will always be thirsty to learn more and submit our lives to the truth found in God’s Word. The Word of God has final power and authority to transform lives. Thus, Biblical teaching prioritises transformation over information. We believe the communication of God’s message must emphasise application.
Biblical references: Matthew 4:4, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
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“In the essential beliefs we have unity, in the non-essential we have diversity, in all things we show love.” In a home where people think and believe differently, respect is essential to maintain unity. We do not impose our personal views on others. God's grace should lead us to be humble, vulnerable, approachable, open and teachable. We want our relationships to be filled with God’s joy. Nothing is more fun than serving God with people you love. We will laugh hard, loud, and often.
Biblical references: John 13:35, Colossians 3:14, 1 Peter 3:8.
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Our commitment to people reflects Christ who came to seek and save the lost. As a church we want our eyes to look outwardly and our hearts to be attentive to the needs of others. We will listen to the cries of the hurting and be moved by compassion towards action. We will faithfully support the work of our non-profit, Lisbon Project, that cares for the most vulnerable: the stranger, the orphan and the widow.
Biblical references: Matthew 25:35, Isaiah 1:17, Luke 12:33-34.
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Serving with excellence means serving with adequate prayer, planning, preparation and practice. We will honor Christ and His church with integrity. We will evaluate all ministry efforts for effectiveness and appropriateness.
Biblical references: Mark 10:45, 1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:1.
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In God’s family, we are all equally called, gifted and commissioned to serve, male and female, regardless of age, skin colour, nationality, culture or sub-culture. Every Christian has a divine design, which is a unique mixing of Spirit imparted gifts, natural passions, temperaments and abilities. This gifting is to be discovered and used to the glory of God, for the building up of the church and the edification of believers. We all have different gifts; therefore, we are committed to a team approach to ministry.
Biblical references: Ephesians 5:21, Galatians 3:28, 1 Corinthians 11:11-12.
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We truly believe it is more blessed to give than to receive. We will give of our time, talents and treasures, because where we invest them indicates our priorities in this life.
Biblical references: 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; 1 Timothy 6:17-19.
Our mission
Lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
Our vision
A relevant, caring, Christ-centered community that significantly impacts the city of Lisbon and equips people to transform the world.
Meet the pastors.
Dhina Swaminathan
Pastor
Jodeé & Pedro Luz
Pastors
Gaby & Ruben Faria
Lead Pastors
Our relationships
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The Portuguese Evangelical Alliance brings together and represents to third parties Portuguese evangelicals, heirs of the Protestant Reformation who hold the Scriptures as the sole rule of faith.
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Pastors Eddie & Marta Fernandes founded Riverside International Church, in Cascais, Portugal, in 1998. From then, the Lord has grew this local church into a Federation of international, interdenominational churches, committed to the Great Commandment and the Great Comission.
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Riverside Lisbon was founded at the same time as the Lisbon Project, an NGO that builds a community that integrates and empowers migrants and refugees.
Doctrines of Faith.
We are committed to the doctrines which are commonly considered as the essentials of historic, Biblical orthodoxy. Such doctrines are found in the Apostles, Athanasius, and Nicene Creeds. Riverside International Church believes in the following statement of faith:
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God eternally exists in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-equal in power and glory. He has revealed himself to be perfect in love, holiness and righteousness. He created all, upholds all, and governs all.
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God has revealed Himself as a Father who is an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men; He hears and answers prayer; and He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and who is both true God and true man. He was born of a virgin; lived a sinless life; fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah; performed miracles as evidence of his Messiahship; died a substitutionary, atoning death for our sins; rose bodily from the dead; ascended into heaven; and offers continual intercession for His people.
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The Holy Spirit 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. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and is an abiding Helper, Teacher, Gift-giver, and Guide. The true believer receives the Holy Spirit and is baptised into the Body of Christ at conversion, but the Spirit's empowering for Godly living, ministry, and mission must be sought and activated by faith. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can experience repeated fillings and a progressive liberation from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the world.
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The Scripture of the Old and New Testaments are given by divine inspiration and are the written Word of God, the final authority for the lives of believers in every culture and age, and the infallible rule of faith and practice. They are to be interpreted according to their context and purpose in reverent obedience to the living Lord who speaks through them in power by his Holy Spirit. The primary purpose of Scripture is to lead to faith in Jesus.
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Humans were created in God's image, tempted by the devil and subsequently rebelled against God. Men and woman are fallen in nature and evidence this condition in sinful deeds. Thus, they are sinners under condemnation. God regenerates those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, declares them righteous, forgives them of their sins, adopts them as His children, baptises them with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their future resurrection inheritance with Christ, incorporates them into His body, and empowers them for His service.
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We obey Christ’s commandment to baptise every person who believes in Christ. Baptism doesn’t make you a believer — it shows that you already believe. It illustrates Christ’s burial and resurrection, and affirms our new life as Christians. At Riverside, baptism is guided by conscience and conviction, and this is why we will not practice infant baptism.
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We obey Christ’s commandment to proclaim His death and resurrection using the symbols of bread and wine. This simple memorial is an important meeting point in our community, and we invite everyone who believes in Jesus to examine themselves and participate. We have chosen to share the Lord’s Supper once a month in order to maintain the reverence and meaning of this sacred and moving ceremony.
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The believer possesses great authority through Christ over the powers of spiritual darkness led by Satan, the ruler of this world, we actively exercise this authority as we pray, walk by faith, exercise spiritual gifts, and progress towards spiritual maturity in Christ. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit brings a present though partial reality of the Kingdom of God on earth as he acts in and through our lives with sovereign, supernatural power.
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The Church is the living, spiritual Body of Christ of which Christ is the Head and all regenerated persons are members. The local church is the primary instrument of God for the extension of His Kingdom today. The Lord Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. We respect the variations of practices of these and affirm the unity of Christ's Body.
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Jesus Christ will return to the earth physically to raise the dead, judge the world, consummate His Glorious Kingdom, and bestow eternal blessing on the righteous. This is the hope of the Church.
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With regard to what is termed the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we hold to what is termed a "dynamist" position, which is able to affirm the Evangelical belief that Spirit baptism is concurrent with conversion, and the Pentecostal / Charismatic belief that there are significant, even supernatural encounters with the Spirit subsequent to conversion. Pentecostals will refer to the initial filling right after conversion as the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit”. We feel no need to dogmatise or absolutise what is fundamentally a personal experience, thereby imposing a theological rigidity upon a phenomenon that the Bible, particularly Acts, depicts as a fluid and dynamic divine-human encounter.
In brief, the foundation of our position is that the Spirit indwells the believer on the bases of faith in Christ (Gal. 3:25), which is concurrent with the new birth (John 3:5) and incorporation into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). Thus, the term "baptism in the Spirit" in the New Testament refers primarily to the initial reception of the Spirit, which culminates the conversion-initiation process. Furthermore, it is our conviction that the Spirit-baptism is grounded in the merits of Christ’s atonement (John 7:39) and intercession (John 14:16,17) and therefore all who believe in Christ have received the Spirit that He promised to send from the Father, and all true believers stand on equal footing before God. In terms of salvation, we believe that Christ alone is our salvation and there is no need of a second work of grace to be given to a believer subsequent to his/her receiving Christ.
We, however, enthusiastically affirm that believers do need subsequent fillings of the Spirit after conversion for godly living and empowerment for ministry. We believe these subsequent encounters with the Spirit will vary in their timing and manifestation according to how the Spirit deals with the individual believer. We affirm the sovereign freedom of the Spirit to deal with people as He wills, distributing gifts according to His good pleasure. Thus, we do not believe that there is any one compulsory initial evidence of Spirit baptism. Tongues may be an initial evidence of receiving the Spirit but is not the (one and only) such evidence. Many other manifestations may accompany either the initial reception or subsequent filling of the Spirit, such as prophecy (Acts 19:6), exalting God (Acts 10:46), healing (Acts 9:18, 19), boldness in witness (Acts 5:3), faith (Acts 6:5), miraculous signs (Acts 6:8), wisdom (Acts 5:3), encouragement (Acts 9:31), and joy (Acts 5:3). There is no gradation of these gifts and manifestations, and no particular gift is a sign of spiritual maturity. Ultimately the only unimpeachable evidence of a spirit-filled life is love (Galatians 5:22 ff.) and ever-increasing conformity to the image of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:17, 18).