OUR BELIEFS
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The Word of God
We believe that only the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired and infallible Word of God. The Bible is the final authority for all that we believe and for how we are to live.
The Trinity
We believe that the one true God exists eternally in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that these being one God are equal in deity, power, and glory. God is infinite in love, perfect in wisdom and judgments, and unchanging in righteousness and mercy. We believe that God created the world, and that He upholds, sustains, governs, and providentially directs all that exists. He will bring all things to their proper consummation in Christ Jesus to the glory of His name and according to His sovereign will.
God the Father
We believe the heavenly Father is the source of all that exists, whether of matter or spirit. With the Son and the Holy Spirit, He made man, male and female, in His image. He relates to people as Father, thereby forever declaring His goodwill toward them. In love He both seeks and receives penitent sinners.
God the Son
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God; that He is God incarnate, fully God and fully man; that He was eternally preexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit; and that He was conceived and born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and offered Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for sinners. By His blood shed on the cross He obtained for us eternal redemption–the forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and eternal life. He was raised bodily on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the Father, and He is forever fully God and fully human, making intercession for the saints forever, and reigning over all of heaven and earth, one day returning to the earth in glory to consummate our salvation and restore all things.
God the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit, in whom we are also sealed for the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit regenerates, forever indwells, and graciously equips the Christian for godly living and service, resulting in our increasing sanctification, Christlikeness of character, and fruitfulness. Subsequent to conversion, the Spirit desires to fill, empower, and anoint believers for ministry and witness. We also believe that signs and wonders, which are supernatural manifestations of God’s power such as healing and miracles, as well as all the gifts of the Spirit described in the New Testament, are all operative today, and are designed to testify to the presence of the Kingdom and to empower and edify the Church to fulfill its calling and mission.
Salvation
We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and is in Christ and His work of redemption through the cross alone. No ordinance, ritual, good work, or any other activity on the part of man is required or accepted in order to be saved. This saving grace of God, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, also sanctifies believers by enabling us to do what is pleasing in God’s sight in order that we might be progressively conformed to the image of Christ.
Sacraments
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances of the Church given by Christ to be observed until the time of His return. They are not a means of salvation, but are vital and necessary means of God’s sanctifying grace and blessing to the faithful in Christ Jesus, and we are commanded by Christ to observe these faithfully.
The Church
We believe that the Church is God’s primary instrument through which He is fulfilling His redemptive purposes in the earth. For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, God has given the Church ministry gifts in specific men and women, as well as spiritual gifts to every individual believer, that the church would be built up and mature in love and ministry. We also affirm the priesthood of all believers, and that every Christian has personal access to God directly, and serves God through serving others as His representative. We believe in the importance of every Christian being joined with and actively involved in a local community of believers, which are led by servant leaders who care for the flock of God, and equip and release each believer into their calling. We understand that women, no less than men, are called and gifted to proclaim the Gospel and do all the works of the Kingdom.
The Return of Christ
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 and to consummate His Kingdom. We believe in and are praying for an end-time great harvest of souls and the emergence of an overcoming Church that will experience an unprecedented unity, purity, and power in the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Rewards and Judgment
We believe that when the Christian dies they pass immediately into the presence of Christ, there to enjoy conscious fellowship with Christ until the day of the resurrection, and the glorious transformation of their body. The saved will receive eternal rewards and forever dwell in blissful fellowship with their great triune God and serve in His eternal purposes in the ages to come. We also believe that when the unbeliever dies they are consigned to hell because of their refusal to repent and believe, there to await the final just judgment of God, and eternal separation from the presence of God because of their impenitence. God desires that all men be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
We Confess and Believe the Historic Creeds of the Church
We are committed to the great truths and abiding fundamentals of the Christian faith. This commitment is expressed through our alignment with the historic creeds, the two primary examples being the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. We also align ourselves with the more contemporary Statement of Faith of the National Association of Evangelicals (USA).