What We Believe
We believe the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, to be the verbally inspired Word of God. Men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to record precisely the words that God intended. It is without error in the original writings. The Bible is God’s complete written revelation of Himself and His will for the salvation of mankind, and is the final authority for Christian faith and life (Psalm 19:7-9; Matthew 5:18; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
We believe in one living and true God, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three equal persons – God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are identical in essence while distinct in office and activity. God is a personal, spiritual, and intelligent Being, the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe (Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 5:7).
We believe God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to His purpose and grace. In His nature He is completely, holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, eternal, transcendent, immutable, self-sufficient, self0existent, wrathful, just gracious, good, merciful and loving. He is the sender of His only Son, Jesus Christ. As the Father of the elect, He is their provider, disciplinarian, and restorer (Psalm 139:1-18; Psalm 145:8-9; Isaiah 40:18-31; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 3:17; Matthew 6:30-32; John 3:16; Acts 17:29; Romans 1:18; Romans 3:26; Romans 11:33-36; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:3-6; Hebrews 12:5-13; 1 John 1:5).
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who became a man without ceasing to be God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross as a substitutionary atonement for our sins. Our salvation is guaranteed by His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead. He is now exalted in heaven at the right hand of God the Father, where He ministers as High Priest for His people. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission (Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-14; John 10:23; John 10:30; John 11:35; Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Colossians 2:9; Acts 9:1-11; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 4:14-15; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2).
We believe that the ministry of God the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts people of sin, and gives life to the spiritually dead, who received Jesus Christ as Savior, baptizing them at the moment of faith into the Church. He permanently indwells believers and bestows on them spiritual gifts. He leads, instructs, and empowers them for godly living and service. As they learn more about Him and His work through the Scriptures, pray , and yield to Him (allow Him to direct and control their thoughts, words, and actions), He beautifies their character with the fruit of the Spirit and transforms them into the image of Christ (John 3:8; John 7:37-39; John 14:12; John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 16:7-11; Romans 8:1-13; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12:4-13; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 5:18).
We believe that all things in heaven and on earth were created by God and exist by His power and for His glory. We believe that humankind was created innocent and in the image of God, but that they sinned, bringing both spiritual and physical death to themselves and their posterity. While still made in God’s image, humankind has inherited a sinful nature and is incapable of redeeming themselves. All human life is sacred, in that God created humankind in His own image, and therefore, every human being, born and unborn, young and old, possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 139:13-16; John 3; Romans 3:10-12; Romans 5:12-19).
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, and that these two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman, and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:24).
We believe that every person is lost in sin apart from Christ as in need of a Savior. Jesus Christ died as a full sufficient payment for sin, and His shed blood is the only provision by which an individual may be delivered from the wrath of God. We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is received by humankind only through faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that humankind is justified by grace through faith alone, apart from human merit or works. We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure in Christ forever (John 1:12; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:37; John 10:27-30; Acts 4:12; Acts 13:38-39; Romans 3:23-24; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:29-30; Romans 8:38-39; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 1:6; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 9:22; 1 John 5:13).
We believe that Christ instituted the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are to be observed by believers until He returns (Matthew 28:19-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Baptism: We believe that water baptism is the immersion of a believe in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience publicly announcing and symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus (Acts 8:36-38; Romans 6:3-5).
The Lord’s Supper: We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ’s death by which He established the New Covenant, the elements being symbols of His body and blood. Every believer has a right and an obligation to partake of the elements of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20-34; Matthew 26:26-29).
We believe that the true, universal church is made up of all who have saving faith in Jesus Christ. The believer is placed into the church by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit, and is thus a part of the Body of Christ of which Jesus is the Head. We believe that the church, as defined by the New Testament, is distinct from Israel (“God’s chosen people”, as defined in the Old and New Testaments). We believe that the true, universal church is comprised of local, visible assemblies of professing believers in Jesus Christ, who are voluntarily joined together in one place for the purposes of worship of God, prayer, the exposition of Scripture, the discipling and equipping of the saved, evangelism of the lost, fellowship, and the carrying out of that congregation’s ministries of such other purposes as are specified in the Scriptures for a New Testament church. We believe that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs (Acts 2:1-4; Acts 11:16-17; Romans 11; 1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:25-27; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5; Ephesians 4:11-16; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9).
We believe in the personal, physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. He will restore the created world by establishing the new heavens and new earth, where the glorious presence of God will ‘cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.’ He will consummate the kingdom of God once for all where perfect peace and justice will reign forever and ever (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:9; Matthew 24:4; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 19:11-22:5).
We believe that every person will be raised from the dead. Believers will receive a glorified resurrection body and will live with God in everlasting blessedness and joy. We believe that every unbeliever will be punished with everlasting, conscious torment away from the presence of the Lord. Believers will be raised to stand for evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ to determine rewards based on their faithfulness and obedience to God (Matthew 10:28; Matthew 13:48-50; Luke 16:29-26; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 4:14; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 1:23; Philippians 3:18-21; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Hebrews 9:27).
