WHAT WE BELIEVE

THE BIBLE

We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God, without error in their original writings, and are our sole authority in all matters of faith and life. (Matthew 5:17-18, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 2:20-21) We believe the central message of the Bible is the Gospel: the story of God’s gracious work to redeem sinners which culminates in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Titus 3:4-7) The Old Testament promises and foreshadows Christ’s coming. (Genesis 12:1-3, Isaiah 53:4-6) The Gospels describe Jesus’ work and the New Testament letters build upon this foundation while also calling us to joyfully worship God with our lives. (Romans 12:1-2)

ABOUT GOD

We believe there is one living and true God, who is one in essence, with one indivisible will, while eternally existing as three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though each person of the Trinity possesses the same nature, each functions differently but harmoniously in respect to God’s dealings with man. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Psalm 139:1-24, Matthew 28:19, Mark 12:29, John 10:30, Acts 5:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Hebrews 1:1-3)

THE FATHER

We believe the first person of the Trinity orders and directs all things according to His own purpose, pleasure and grace. He has decreed all things that come to pass for His own glory. He graciously involves Himself in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and saves from sin and death all who come to him through Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:9, John 5:19-24, Ephesians 1:3-6)

THE SON

We believe Jesus is God’s only son, born of a virgin, and is fully God and fully man. Having led a sinless life, he satisfied by His death the Father’s justice concerning sin. We believe in his bodily resurrection, his physical ascension, and his visible return to this earth to establish his earthly kingdom. We believe that he is now in heaven at the right hand of God, where he personally advocates and intercedes on behalf of all who have put their faith in him. (John 1:14-18, Romans 3:24-26, 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 2:6-8, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3, 2:17-18, 4:15, 1 John 2:1-2, Revelation 20:11-15)

THE SPIRIT

We believe the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father to bring glory to the Son and convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells permanently and seals every believer in Christ. He is an abiding helper, teacher, comforter and guide, empowering each believer with selected spiritual gifts. (John 14:26, 16:7-11, 13, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:4-11, Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30)

ABOUT PEOPLE

We believe that all people, male and female, are created in the image of God to enjoy His fellowship and to fulfill God’s will on earth as his representatives. The fall of humanity was a once-for-all historical event, and since then, all humans are by nature and choice sinners. All are spiritually dead and subject to the certainty of both physical and spiritual death apart from Jesus Christ. In a fallen world, humans struggle against the sinful influences of the world, the flesh and the devil. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7, 3:3-4, Psalm 51:5, Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-23, 5:12, Ephesians 2:1-3, Titus 1:15)

SALVATION IN JESUS

We believe that salvation can only be obtained through God’s grace, not by our own good works. Only by repenting and personally receiving, through faith, the substitutional act of Jesus Christ dying for our sins can we obtain justification before God. All who receive Christ are forever secure in their salvation, it cannot be taken away. (John 1:12, 10:28, Acts 4:12, Romans 3:21-22, 6:23, 8:38, 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 7:25)

THE CHURCH

We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated believers are members. We also believe in the local church, consisting of a body of believers in Jesus Christ who worship together, pray together, study Scripture together, build one another up in Christ in love, and meet one another’s needs. The church’s twofold responsibility is the task of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world and maturing them in Christ. (Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:41-47, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11-16, Colossians 1:27-28, Hebrews 10:25)

ORDINANCES

We believe that our Lord Jesus committed two ordinances to those who believe in him: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that baptism is by immersion, thus serving not only as a public declaration of our faith in Christ, but a symbol of Christ’s (and by picture, our own) death and resurrection to new life. We believe that the Lord’s Supper commemorates our Savior’s death, and is open to all self-examined believers in Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:15-17, 28:19-20, Acts 2:41, Romans 6:1-4, 1 Corinthians 11:17-32, Colossians 2:12)

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT AND THE GREAT COMMISSION

We believe that our purpose and mission in life as individual Christians and as a church are summed up in the Great Commandment and Great Commission which are spelled out in Scripture: Great Commandment – Our purpose as the church is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul and mind and to love others as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40) Great Commission – Likewise, our mission is to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all Christ has commanded. (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts. 1:8)

THE RETURN OF JESUS

We believe in the imminent physical return of Jesus Christ to gather his church to himself. We believe he will judge both the living and the dead. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessings of the saved in Heaven and the everlasting punishment of the lost in Hell. (Matthew 25:41-46, Mark 13:34-37, John 14:1-3, Acts 1:10-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10, Revelation 19:11-20:15)