Welcome

• God: God exists as one essence in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He has existed in relationship with Himself for all eternity. Although each member of the Trinity serves different functions, they each possess equal power and authority.
• The Father: God is all powerful, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, trustworthy, and Holy. It is in Him that we live, move and exist. God is good. He is our Father. He is compassionate, loving, and faithful to His people; and always keeps His promises.
• The Son: Jesus Christ is fully God. He added humanity to His deity when He came to earth to fulfill His salvation plan. He is the only way for people to come into a right relationship with God. He lived a perfect life, so that He could become a substitutionary sacrifice for us- to uphold God’s justice and to satisfy His requirements of complete holiness. Jesus defeated death and the grave through His resurrection so that we can have eternal life.
• The Holy Spirit: The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit assures believers of their relationship with Christ. He connects us to the things of God, guides us into all truth and exalts Christ. He convicts people of their sin, God’s righteousness, and coming judgment. He comforts us, works in us to make us more like Christ and empowers us to represent God’s kingdom in this world.
• The Bible: The Bible is God’s Word for all people. Though it was written by human authors across centuries of time, it offers one continuous unfolding drama- redemption, has one central theme- Jesus, and presents one unified message- the gospel. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is relevant to our daily lives. It is accurate, true, and without error.
• Man: Man is made in the image of God and is the supreme object of His creation. Man was created to have fellowship with God- but became separated from God through sinful disobedience. As a result, man cannot attain a right relationship with God through his own effort. Every human is uniquely created, possesses dignity, and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
• Eternity: Man was created to exist forever. He will exist eternally separated from God because of sin or in union with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is Heaven. Heaven and Hell are places of eternal existence.
• Salvation: The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the only way of salvation through the forgiveness of sin. Salvation occurs when a person acknowledges their sinfulness and separation from God, desires to turn from the things in their life that do not please God and surrenders the ownership rights of their life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is a grace gift from God, and it cannot be earned or deserved through human effort.
• The Local Church: Everyone needs to be connected to God through Jesus and everyone needs to be connected to a family of faith. Elation Church is a local community of Christ followers unified through faith. We are committed to the teachings of Christ and obeying all His commands. Through love and unity, we seek to bring God’s good news of great joy to all people and to glorify Him through our worship and the way we live.

Rev, Dean Forrest

In October 1992 Dean left the “security” of his job to go “on the road” in evangelism. Over the next 20 years, he and his family ministered in over 800 churches across 32 states. In 1998 He founded an annual student ministry event called the Big God Conference. The conference ran for 21 years, ministered to over 30,000 students, and saw more than 3,000 come to faith in Christ. In 2002 he began working with rural churches across the southeast to produce areawide evangelistic events. During that 10-year season, he conducted 31 crusades and festivals where more than 4,000 people came to Christ. In 2012 Dean became the chaplain for Lakewood Campground Ministry where in 9 years 5,811 people received Jesus as their Savior and Lord. In 2021 he and his family followed the Lord’s leading to move to Four Corners, FL to start Elation Church.

Dean holds an AA degree from North Greenville University, a diploma in Biblical Studies from Liberty University, BA and MA degrees in Christian Apologetics and Theology from Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary, and is currently working on a PhD in Philosophy.