Our Beliefs
TRINITY
We believe there is one God eternally existing in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 1st Cor. 8:4; 2nd Cor. 13:14)
JESUS CHRIST
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. He was born of a virgin as both fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, voluntarily died on the cross to atone for the sins of human beings, was buried, arose from the grave, ascended into heaven where he makes intercession for us. We believe in His personal imminent return. (John 1:1, 14; Col. 2:9; Matt. 1:23; 24:30; Heb. 4:15; 7:25; Acts 2:22-23; 1stPeter 3:18; 1stJohn 1:7; 1stCor. 15:4; Mark 16:19; Titus 2:13; Matt 24; Rev. 20:1-6 )
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, that He performs the miracle of the new birth in an unbeliever and indwells believers enabling them to live a godly life. (John 16:8,13; 1st Cor. 2:10-11; 6:19; 12:11; Gal. 5:16, 22-23; Eph. 5:18)
BIBLE
We believe the Bible is God’s authoritative written revelation to man. We believe it is inspired by God and without error as originally written. We believe it provides the complete revelation of His will for salvation and the rule of faith and practice for daily Christian living. (Matt. 5:17-18; John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)
MANKIND
We believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of sin was alienated from God becoming spiritually dead or fallen. We believe that all people are sinners by nature (total depravity) and practice and cannot save themselves. We believe in the gospel of grace, that it is only through faith in Christ alone for salvation which was made possible by His substitutionary death on the cross and resurrection that our alienation can be removed and we are given new life. (Gen. 1:27; 1 John 3:4; 5:11- 13; Rom. 3:23-24; 28; 5:8; John 3:16; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 15:3- 8; Eph. 1:7, 13-14; 2:8-9; 4:30; Phil. 3:9)
SALVATION
We believe that our salvation lies not in our works or religious affiliation, but on what Christ did for us on the cross. His blood shed for us is the sole provision for forgiveness of sins. We believe that we are not only saved from the penalty of sin by grace through faith, but we believe that we are also empowered by the Holy Spirit for daily living and victory over sin by grace through faith. (Rom. 7:24- 8:11; Col. 2:6-7)
RESURRECTION
We believe in the bodily resurrection of everyone who has lived. We believe that those in right relationship with God will rise to everlasting life and blessedness and those who have rejected God’s forgiveness in His Son will rise to everlasting conscious punishment. (1 Cor. 15:50-54; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Matt. 25:41; Luke 16:19-31; John 3:18, 36; Jude 6; Rev. 20:10-15)
JUDGEMENT
We believe that all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ where believers will appear to give an account for how their lives were lived as believers. We believe that faithfulness will be rewarded by Christ Himself while loss of reward will be accorded to those who have not. (2 Cor. 5:9-10; 1 Cor. 3:9- 15; Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27; 2 John 8)
LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a local church is a congregation of believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word. We believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all the world as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; that the one and only superintendent is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel. On all matters of membership, of policy, or government, of discipline, and of benevolence the will of the local church is final. Marriage and Sexuality We believe that term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning and that is marriage sanctioned by God which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of the church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the church members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the church in any capacity, or who serve as leaders, should abide by and agree to this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality and conduct themselves accordingly. We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with scripture nor the doctrines of the church.
BAPTISM
We believe a person should be baptized as commanded in scripture and encourage believer’s baptism by immersion. (Matt. 28:18-20)
COMMUNION
We believe the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes again, and should always be preceded by some self-examination. (1 Cor 11:23-30) These ordinances are not to be regarded as a means of salvation, but we strongly recommend on the authority of the Word of God, that they be observed by every believer.