Statement
of Faith
We believe the Bible is the holy, infallible, inspired and authoritative Word of God.
(2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Psalm 12:6)
At the core, it all begins with knowing His Word and basing all we do from a solid understanding of the nonnegotiables as revealed in Scripture.
1. God
We believe there is one living God. This one God eternally exists in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons are equal in divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.
(Gen 1:1,26; Deut. 6:4; John 1:1,3; Matt. 28:19; 1Cor. 8:6; Rev. 22:13; 2 Cor. 13:14)
A. God the Father
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
(Luke 10:21,22; Matt. 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Romans 1:7; I Timothy 1:1,2; 2:5,6; I Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6)
B. Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. We believe in His virginal birth, in His sinless life, and in His voluntary and vicarious death on the cross to atone for the sin of man. We believe in His burial, His bodily resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of the Father as our mediator and advocate. We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only grounds for justification before a holy God. Salvation is available to all, who repent of sin and, by faith, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Luke 1:34-35; Phil. 2:6-8; John 1:14; Heb. 4:15; John 10:18; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Acts 1:9; Acts 5:31; 1 Timothy 2:5; Rom. 5:18-19; 1 Peter 3:18; Eph. 1:7; Eph. 2:8-9)
C. Holy Spirit
We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of sin, regenerates and converts sinners, and baptizes them into the church, which is the body of Christ. We believe that He indwells, guides, instructs and empowers the believer for godly living and service, and that He seals and keeps him until the Lord comes. We believe that He bestows spiritual gifts upon each one. We believe that the believer has received one or more spiritual gifts so that he might exercise them for the strengthening and outreach of the body of Christ. The practice of any gift in any gathered body shall be in keeping with the Scripture.
(John 14:16-17, Ephesians 4:30, 1 Corinthians 12:7)
2. The Word of God
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
(2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 12:6; Mark 13:31; John 8:31,32; Acts 20:32)
3. Man
We believe that man was created by God in His own image; that he sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God; that as a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice and
therefore under condemnation. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures, delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life.
(Genesis 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Eccl. 2:11; John 3:14; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26; Romans 9:22; II Thessalonians 1:9; Rev. 19:3,20; 20:10;14,15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; I John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; II Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:16.)
4. Human Destiny
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal joy of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked.We believe Christ’s commission to His Church is to proclaim the Gospel to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
(Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; I Thessalonians 4:15; II Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; I Corinthians 4:5; I Corinthians 15; II Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6,11-15)
5. The Church
All who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are united with Him as member of His body, the one true church. Scripture commands believers to gather for worship, prayer, fellowship, and the teaching of the Word; to observe Baptism and Communion as established by Jesus Christ; to offer service to the body through development and use of talents, gifts, and outreach to the world. The local expression of the church is wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command. Cared for and led by Elders and leaders, church members are to work together in love and unity for the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.
(Eph. 2:19-22; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:19-21; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:23-25)
6. Our Command and Commission
We believe that Jesus Christ has commanded us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, our minds and our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. As a means of fulfilling this command, he has commissioned His church to go into the entire world and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching those who believe to obey all that Christ commanded.
(Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 28:16-20)
7. Marriage, Gender and Sexuality
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person biologically as man or woman. Each of these two distinct, complementary genders reflect the image and nature of God. Psychological and/or sociological rejection of, or physical altering of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
(Gen. 1:26-27)
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Gen. 2:18-25; 1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual behavior, transgender behavior, bestiality and incest) is sinful and offensive to God.
Matt. 15:18-20; 1 Cor. 6:9-10
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Acts 3:19-21; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 6:9-11
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture.
Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31
8. The Sanctity of Life
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
Psalm 139