What We Believe
We hold the Bible as the absolute authority and believe in one God revealed in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We celebrate the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, and the eternal security of believers. Additionally, we affirm the resurrection of Jesus and all humanity, the autonomy of the local church, baptism by immersion as symbolic, communion as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, and the future return of Jesus, final judgment, and eternal destinies.
For detailed doctrinal beliefs, please refer to the information provided below.
We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and that the Spirit of God moved men to write the very words of Scripture. Therefore, we believe the Bible in its original writings is infallible and without error. Scripture is the supreme and final authority of the Christian faith, doctrine, teaching, fellowship, and conduct.
(Acts 2:42; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
Holy Trinity: We believe in one God who exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19, John 14:10,13, 16-17: 2 Corinthians 13:14)
The Father
We believe God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, creatures, and human history according to the purpose of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. God is the father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in his attitudes towards humanity.
(Genesis 1:1, 2:7; Exodus 3:14, 6:2-3, 15:11, Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4, 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3-13, 64:8; Matthew 6:9, 7:11, 23:9, 28:19; Mark 1:9-11, John 5:26, 14:6-13, 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 11:6, 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17)
Son
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and became flesh, to reveal God to humanity and become the Savior of the lost world. Jesus is fully God and fully man, both the Son of God and God the Son. We believe in
Jesus’ sinless life, in His miracles, that he was crucified and died for all of humanity’s sin, and in His resurrection and ascension to heaven.
(Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18, 23; Mark 16:9; Luke 1:35, 24:1-48, 50-53; John 3:13, 6:2, 17:11, 21; Acts 1:9-11, 2:22; Romans 5:6-8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 21; Galatians 1:4, 3:13; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 2:22-24, 3:22)
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a fully divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the Evil One until God’s purpose is fulfilled. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.
(John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:19; John 3:5-6; Genesis 1:2; John 14:26)We believe that all people were created in the image of God to have fellowship with him but became alienated in that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, all people are born with a sinful nature and are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts.
(Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; Jerimiah 17:9; Psalm 100:3; Romans 3:23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:3)
We believe the Genesis account of creation is to be accepted literally, not allegorically nor figuratively; that man was created directly in God’s image and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution nor evolutionary change of species, nor development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly, and God’s established law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind”.
(Genesis 1:1, 11, 24, 26-27; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-3; John 1:1-3)
We believe that Satan, originally a great and good angel, rebelled against God, taking a multitude of angels with him. He was cast out of God’s presence and is at work with his demonic hosts to establish his counter-kingdom of darkness, evil, and unrest on earth. Satan was judged and defeated at the cross of Christ and will be cast forever into the lake of fire which has been prepared for him and his angels.
(Isa.14:10–17; Ezek. 28:11–19; Mt. 12:25–29; 25:41; Jn. 12:31; 16:11; Eph. 6:10–20; Col. 2:15; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 12:7–9; 20:10)We believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, God freely offers salvation to those who place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin.
(Isaiah 53:6; John 3:16; Romans 5:8-9,12; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 21; 1 Peter 2:24 )
We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives are born again of the Holy Spirit, and, thereby, become children of God.
(John 1:12-13; 3:3; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:1-3 )
We believe in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; Regeneration or the new birth is a miraculous work of grace where by believers become a new creature in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process. It’s a change of heart brought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and by faith in Jesus Christ.
(Ezekiel 11:19- 20; John 1:12, 3:1-8, 3:3, 16 ,16:8; Acts 2:38; Romans 2:15; 6;4-6, 10:9-10 2 Corinthians 5:17,7:9-10; Galatians 2:20, 6:15: Ephesians 4:22-24: Colossians 3:9-10; Titus 3:5)
We believe repentance is a genuine turning from sin towards God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment to Him as Lord and Savior and those who repent and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ is made a partaker of the Divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God.
(John 1:11- 13, 3:3-5; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 2:12-13 2 Peter 1:2-; I John 5:11-13)
We believe sanctification is the experience starting at regeneration, by which the believer is set apart for God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress towards moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Growth in grace should continue throughout the believer’s life.
(John 17:7; Romans 6:1-23; 6; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 1:6, 2:13; Hebrews 10:14, 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:13)
We believe justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Jesus Christ freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the Divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full atonement for humanity’s sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven at the right hand of God, interceding for us, and that He is in every way qualified to be the only suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.
(Ephesians 2:8; Romans 3:24; 8:34; John 3:16; Philippians 2:7; II Corinthians 5:21; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:1-3)
We believe that when Christians die, they pass immediately into the blessed presence of Christ, there to enjoy conscious fellowship with the Savior until the day of the resurrection and the glorious transformation of their bodies. The saved will receive eternal rewards and forever dwell in blissful fellowship with their great triune God. We also believe that when unbelievers die, they are consigned to Hell, there to await the Day of Judgment when they shall be punished in the lake of fire with eternal, conscious, and tormented separation from the presence of God
(Daniel. 12:2; Matthew 25:46; Luke. 16:19–31; John. 5:25–29; 1 Corinthians 15:35–58; 2 Corinthians 5:1–10; Philippians 1:19–26, 3:20–21; 2 Thessalonians 1:5–10; Revelation 20:11–15; 21:1–22:15)We believe all Christians should live for Christ and not for themselves. By obedience to the Word of God and daily yielding to the Spirit of God, every believer should mature and be conformed to the image of Christ.
(Romans 8:29; 12:2; 14:8; Galatians 1:10; 5:16-26; Ephesians 4:13-15; 2 Peter 3:18)
We believe Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It’s an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior. Baptism does not constitute in part or in whole salvation or redemption; instead, it’s a picture of the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in the new life in Christ Jesus.
(Acts 8:36-39, 16:30-33; Matthew 3:6, 13-17; Matthew 28:19; John 3:23 Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12 )
We believe the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer Jesus Christ and anticipate His second coming.
(Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-28 )
We believe followers of Christ have a responsibility to be good stewards. God is source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these are entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
(Genesis 1:28; Leviticus 27:30-32; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 23:23, 25:14-30; Luke 12:16-21, 16:1-13; Acts 20:35; 1 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Colossians 3:23;1 Peter 4:10 1 Timothy 5:8)We believe that the church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church are those who have, by faith, accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving him and by making him known to the lost world.
(Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12-31; Ephesians 1:20-23; 3:6, 10; Colossians 1:18; 3:16)
We believe that God has called the Church to work together in unity and honor in preaching the gospel to all nations, in making disciples according to the teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles, and in remembering the poor and ministering to their needs through sacrificial giving and practical service locally and abroad.
(Isa. 58:6–12; 61:1; Mt. 5:1–7:28; 28:18–20; Lk. 4:18; 21:1–4; Gal. 2:10; 1 Tim. 6:8 )
We believe there is no authority except that which God has established. Civil government exists to serve those governed, and is of Divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.
(Daniel 6:1-28; Matthew 20:25-28; Romans 13:1-2; I Peter 2:13, 14, 17; Philippians 2:10-1; Colossians 1:15-17 )We believe in the literal second coming of Christ at the end of this age, when He will return to earth personally and visibly to reign over the nations in His millennial kingdom. No one can know with certainty the timing of the Lord’s return. We also believe in and are praying for a great end-time harvest of souls and the emergence of a victorious Church that will experience unprecedented unity, purity, and power in the Holy Spirit.
(Psalms 2:7–9, 22:27–28; Matthew 24:36; John. 14:12; 17:20–26; Romans )We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy is the personal return of Jesus Christ to remove from the earth His church and to reward each believer “according to his works.” – 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
We believe that at death the souls of believers pass immediately into the presence of Jesus Christ. When Christ returns for the church they will be reunited with their glorified bodies and associated with Him forever in glory. At death the souls of unbelievers pass immediately into torment. At the close of the millennium they will be reunited with their bodies, judged before the Great White Throne, then cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be separated from God forever in conscious punishment. – 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15
Confession:
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sins, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11)
Compassion
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful, harassing behavior or attitudes directed towards any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with scripture. (Matthew 5:43-48; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31; Romans 12:10; James 4:17; 1 John 3:15, 4:20)