The Bible

We believe that the Bible, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is breathed out by God. That means that all of it, the words written, the order of events, all come from Him. The Holy Spirit inspired the human authors to write down what He spoke to and through them. It is perfect, complete, and inerrant in the original languages. It tells us how to know God in a personal way, how to live a life pleasing to Him, and how to treat our fellow man. The Bible is our final authority in all matters relating to what we believe and how we are to live, both in the church and in our personal lives (John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21).

God

We believe there is but one living and true God who has revealed Himself in three persons (the Trinity): the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is perfect in all His attributes which include His being holy, loving, just, all powerful, all wise, omnipresent, and unchanging. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience (Genesis 1:26-27, 18:25; Exodus 3:14; Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; Daniel 2:20-23; Malachi 3:6; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:37; John 8:58, 10:22-30, 14:15-21; II Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 13:8; I John 4:8; Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13).

God the Father

The first person of the Trinity, God as Father, reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. He is the source of all good and perfect things and the sender of the Son. He draws near all who come to Him through Jesus Christ and relates Himself to them as their Heavenly Father (John 14:6, 20:21; I Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; James 1:17; I John 4:10).

God the Son

The second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, eternally existed with the Father. Jesus is fully God, but also became fully man in the incarnation. At the Father's appointed time, He sent Christ Jesus to be born of a virgin, both to reveal the Father and to save mankind from sin. Living a sinless life, Jesus perfectly revealed the love of God through His miraculous ministry. He died on a cross as a perfect and complete sacrifice, making atonement for the sins of the world, was buried and rose bodily from the grave, and, prior to His return to the Father, appeared to as many as 500 people over a period of 40 days. Jesus, presently at the right hand of the Father, intercedes on our behalf for our unity, joy, and perseverance (Isaiah 7:14, 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-21, 11:27; Luke 1:26-37; John 1:12, 14, 8:58, 17:1-26, 20:24-31; Acts 1:9-11, 7:55-56; Romans 5:8; I Corinthians 15:3-8; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 4:15, 10:12; I Peter 2:22-24, 3:18).

God the Holy Spirit

The third person of the Trinity, was involved in creation, the birth of Christ, and the inspiration of the Bible. At Pentecost, He was sent from the Father and the Son to bring glory to Christ, to make Him known, and to reside in every believer at the moment of salvation, baptizing them into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin, of God's righteousness and for the coming judgment, drawing them to salvation through Jesus Christ. He is our helper, teacher, intercessor, and empowers us to be witnesses for Christ. He bestows spiritual gifts and produces Christian character in the lives of believers so that Christ is glorified through them. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. (Genesis 1:2; Matthew 28:18-20; John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7-15; Acts 1:8, 2:1-4; Romans 8:26-27; I Corinthians 3:16, 12:13; II Corinthians 5:5; II Peter 1:20-21)

Creation

We believe the Genesis account of the creation of the world as a literal six days, historical account of the direct creative acts of the Trinity, who created out of nothing, the heavens and the earth as well as all life, each after its own kind, and is actively involved in its existence. (Genesis 1:1-2:25; Exodus 20:11; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3, 11:3)

Man

We believe that God created the first human beings, Adam and Eve, as male and female, equal in dignity, value, and worth, in order to mirror and reflect God as an act of worship and obedience. We believe that human beings, as God’s sole image bearers, are under God and over lower creation, not to be pulled up like gods or pushed down like animals. We believe that human life begins at conception and that an unborn baby is an image-bearer of God. We believe that God created marriage solely for one man and one woman, and created sex only for married couples. Because God created human life and marriage, we value the sanctity of life and godly marriage. (Genesis 1:26-30, 2:7, 2:15-23, 3:1-24; Isaiah 43:7; Romans 3:10-12, 5:8-19, 6:23)

Sin

Sin in its simplest terms is disobedience or rebellion towards God. We believe that God created this world in a perfect state. In Eden, Satan tempted Eve to mistrust God’s word and His character, and by doing so she was deceived. The sin committed by Adam, also called “original sin,” has been imputed to all human beings except Jesus Christ. All human beings are sinners by both nature and choice. The Bible tells us that the punishment of sin is death and eternal separation from a holy God. Sin, without a savior would mean that mankind is hopeless because there is nothing we can do to atone for our sins. We are in need of a Savior and new nature. Sin is influenced in our lives through our flesh (human fallen desires), the world (empty promises of earthly blessings), and fallen spiritual forces (Satan, demons, and fallen angels). (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:7; 5:1-3; 9:6; Romans 1:25; 1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9. Psalm 51:5-6; 139:13-16; Isaiah 49:1; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15. Genesis 2:18-25; Proverbs 5:18-19; Matthew 5:32; 19:9, 18; Mark 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-24.)

Salvation

We believe that salvation is a gift wholly of God given by grace as He draws people to repentance and personal faith in His only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus willingly paid the price for our sins, once for all, through His shed blood and death on Calvary's cross. There is nothing mankind can do to earn or add to salvation, it is simply a free gift of God extended to mankind. Every individual needs to experience a personal conversion in order to establish a relationship with God and receive forgiveness of sins, and eternal life (John 1:12, 3:16; Romans 10:9-10, 8:30; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; I Peter 1:18-19).

Justification

is the act of God in declaring righteous all who believe in Jesus Christ's death as atonement for our sin, and His bodily resurrection making us alive in Christ (Romans 3:21-26, 4:4-5; I Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 2:1-6).

Sanctification

is the on-going work of God the Holy Spirit in the believer who, having been set apart (sanctified) through faith in Christ, gradually is transformed into the image of Christ’s holiness. (John 17:17, 19; Acts 20:32; II Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:22-24; I Thessalonians 4:3-4, 5:23)

Preservation

is the working of God, keeping all true believers in Jesus Christ secure in their eternal salvation. This is not a license to sin, but the assurance of our salvation sealed by the Holy Spirit (John 5:24, 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Romans 6:15-22, 8:1, 31-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; I Peter 1:5; I John 5:11-13; Jude 24).

Glorification

is the final perfecting by God of the redeemed, and will be completed in the New Heaven and the New Earth, where there will be no sin, pain, or tears (I Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 2:10; Revelation 21:1-4).

The Church

We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the living spiritual body called "The Church". We believe that the local church is a body of baptized believers who have made a covenant to serve and worship God together, obey His teachings, observe the two ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper), and share the good news of the gospel with all the world. Each church is a totally autonomous body, led by pastors and elders. The New Testament teaches that the pastoral oversight of the local church be shared by a plurality of Elders. The body of Elders is exclusively male, and the official oversight body of the church, being made overseers of the flock by the Holy Spirit. The twofold task of the church is to evangelize the unbeliever and to strengthen the believer, thus bringing glory to God (Matthew 16:18; Acts 14:23, 20:17, 28; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Titus 1:5).

Worship

We believe that human beings are to be unceasing in worship, created to continually pour out all they are, all they do, and all they can ever become to God. Worship includes praise, proclamation, service, participation, sacrifice, and submission. We believe that the corporate worship of a local church is to be God-centered. We believe that the corporate church worship should include Bible preaching, the sacraments, prayer, Scripture reading, financial giving, and singing and music. Because we are worshippers, we embrace all of life, including our corporate church gatherings, as an opportunity to passionately worship God in practical ways. (Hebrews 13:15-17. Matthew 4:8-10. Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; 2 Corinthians 8–9; Colossians 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:1; 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:2.)

Baptism

We believe that the Bible teaches that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water, which is a public testimony of the believer's new life in Christ through his or her identification with the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection. It is expected that Christians take this step of obedience unless prevented by extenuating circumstances (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:41, 18:8; Romans 6:3-5).

Lord's Supper

We believe that the Lord's Supper was foreshadowed by thousands of years by the Passover, through which God painted a picture to the Jews of the coming Messiah's sacrificial death. The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ to commemorate His death. The elements of communion are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and serve to remind us of the sacrifice He made and to proclaim the hope of salvation that comes from this sacrifice. We are reminded to enter into the Lord's Supper only after careful examination of the condition of our heart (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:15-20; I Corinthians 11:23-29).

Culture

We believe that God established civil government. Thus, we are to submit to the civil authorities unless they direct us to disobey God's Word. We believe in a free church, unfettered by governmental intrusion, and in the right of Christians to be involved in the political arena. However, the primary responsibilities of every Christian are to demonstrate the love of God to those in his or her sphere of influence and to act as a preservation force for moral and spiritual values in society (Esther 4:16; Daniel 3:12-18, 6:10; Matthew 2:12; Acts 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; Colossians 3:23; Titus 3:1-2; Hebrews 11:23).

Marriage and Gender

We believe that God established marriage to be the union of an individual man and an individual woman, and is the only context for sexual desire and expression. Marriage is a reflection of the mystical union of Christ and the Church. God creates people in His image as either male or female, and this creation is a fixed matter of human biology, not individual choice. Self-conception as male or female should be defined not by government, culture, or personal autonomy, but by God’s holy design in creation as revealed in Scripture. Sin distorts sexual desires by directing us away from the marriage covenant and toward sexual immorality a distortion that includes both heterosexual and homosexual immorality. Adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is inconsistent with God’s holy purposes in creation. The sin nature we all possess from birth can lead us to experience sinful sexual attractions in a variety of ways including same sex attraction. But when we look to Christ, our Deliverer, Christ empowers us to live rich and fruitful lives, pleasing to God. (Genesis 1:27, 2:22-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-23; Romans 1:26-27, I Corinthians 6:9-11).

Future Things

We believe in the personal, imminent, and visible return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that this blessed hope has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead: the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in Heaven; the unbeliever to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in Hell (Acts 1:11; I Corinthians 15:12-28; I Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; II Thessalonians 1:5-12; Titus 2:11-13; I John 3:2-3; Revelation 20:1-6, 11-15).