ABOUT SCRIPTURE
We believe that God has revealed His grand story in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, a collection of 66 books we know as the Bible. We believe that the entire Bible is God-breathed, infallible, without error in the original writings, and is the supreme and final authority in all matters of truth and life. We believe that the Bible is complete, meaning it is not to be added to or changed, and that all scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, and correction and for training in righteousness. We believe that the meaning of the Biblical text is fixed and unchangeable, but that the meaning can have many applications. While understanding the scriptures can be a difficult task, knowledge is attainable through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 16:13
ABOUT GOD
We believe there is only one God, eternally existing in community with Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – one God in three persons, distinguishable but indivisible – co-eternal and co-equal in power and glory, altogether holy, loving and just. He is self-existent, meaning nothing created him. He is the Creator of everything. He is all knowing, all-powerful, totally righteous and good, gracious and merciful.
ABOUT HUMANITY
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in His own image and likeness, to care for, manage and have dominion over all creation and live in perfect fellowship with Him. We believe that through Adam’s sin, humanity fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. We believe that as a result of the fall, man is totally depraved and utterly incapable of rescuing himself, remedying his condition, and regaining fellowship with God through his own efforts. We believe man is sinful and it is this sin that makes us enemies of God. We believe our sin demands the punishment of death by God, and it required the perfect sacrifice of Jesus as payment. In addition, we believe that God has subjected all of creation to futility because of the fall of humanity and its continual sin. We believe that every day of life is a merciful reprieve from the rightful judgment humanity deserves.
ABOUT GOD THE FATHER
We believe that God the Father, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is the first member of the Trinity. By His word and for His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world out of nothing. Through this same word, He daily sustains all His creatures. He rules over all and, together with the Son and the Spirit, is the only Sovereign. His plans and purposes never fail. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for good of those who love Him, and in His grace, gave His Son Jesus for mankind’s redemption. He made all things for the praise of His glory and intends for man, in particular, to live in fellowship with Himself.
Genesis 1:1; Ephesians 4:6; Isaiah 50:4; Job 42:2; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Romans 8:28
ABOUT THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
We believe that Jesus is God who became man without ceasing to be God. We believe He is God the Son, the second person of the Trinitarian Godhead along with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that through Him, for Him, and by Him, everything was created and He holds everything together. We believe that he humbly came down from heaven, wrapped in human flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary. We believe He came and made His dwelling among us on a mission to reveal God the Father to a lost world and save mankind.We believe that Jesus Christ, fully God yet fully human, did what sinful man could not do. We believe that He lived a perfect, sinless life, and then showed God’s greatest love for us through his obedient sacrifice on the cross, becoming our substitute, paying the penalty for our sin. We believe that in that moment, a beautiful exchange took place, such that Jesus was considered by God as sin, and we in turn were regarded by God as His very righteousness. We believe that after three days, Jesus resurrected from the dead, conquering sin and defeating hell. And so we believe that Jesus’ death satisfied God’s wrath, making us right with God, freeing us to draw near to Him and to live the right way. We believe that Jesus Christ physically ascended into heaven to appear before God as our Advocate, and sits at the right hand of God the Father where He reigns as head of the church and intercedes for us always. We believe He is coming again, in bodily form, to judge the living and the dead.
ABOUT THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, promised by Jesus, convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. We believe that the Holy Spirit works to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all those who believe in Jesus Christ. He helps us, instructs us, guides us, draws us close to Jesus and transforms us into His likeness. We believe that He lives within us, secures our salvation, empowers us with spiritual gifts, and enables us to live and serve just as Jesus did.
ABOUT SALVATION
We believe that salvation, with its forgiveness of sin, impartation of a new nature, and eternal life with God, is made possible only by God’s saving grace in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We believe that salvation is a gift, and cannot be earned. We believe it is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. We believe that it is received by regenerated hearts of those whom God chose in Christ before the foundations of the world not on the basis of foreseen faith but according to His sovereign good pleasure and will. We believe that those whom the Holy Spirit draws will respond in repentance towards God and in faith in Jesus Christ, and will be delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life. We believe that upon salvation, one becomes a new creation, dead to sin, alive unto God. But we believe that the Holy Spirit continuously transforms and matures us until the end of our life when Jesus calls us home to be perfected in heaven, or until Jesus returns to perfect and restore creation. We believe that those who truly trust in Jesus cannot and will not lose their salvation. We believe that this perseverance/ preservation of the Saints is the promise of the New Covenant, obtained by the blood of Christ, and worked in us by God Himself.
ABOUT THE CHURCH
We believe that the church is the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, God’s household, made up believers everywhere, throughout all of history.
We believe in the universal church, the household of God, the bride of Christ, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons throughout all of history are members. We believe in the local church, made up of believers in Jesus Christ who are baptized on a credible profession of faith, and who come together worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. We believe that just as one body has many parts and functions, churches all over the world that are united in Christ will often differ in their expressions of church. We believe however that a genuine church is recognized ultimately by her gospel message and by her love for God and others. We practice two ordinances in the church instituted by Christ Himself: Water Baptism and Holy Communion.
ABOUT GOOD WORKS AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
We believe that genuine followers of Christ will no longer live for themselves but for God, pursuing a life rich in good works through the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe that good works, although not a means to salvation, make up vital evidence of saving grace. We believe that Christ-followers are salt and light in a dark and decaying world, called not to retreat from the world nor conform to it, but to engage it with the gospel and bring change to it for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom on earth.