Our Beliefs

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God and that human authors were moved by the Spirit of God to write the very words of God. Therefore, we believe the Scriptures are infallible and inerrant in the original writings and are the final authority on all matters of faith and practice.

God

We believe in one God, the Creator of all things, who eternally exists in three distinct persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – co-substantial in being, co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and possessing the same perfections.

Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He became flesh to reveal God to man and become the Savior of lost humanity. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless human life, and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead in bodily form after three days demonstrating his power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory where he is the only Mediator between God and people. He will personally return again to earth at a time known only to the Father to establish his kingdom fully and exercise his role as Judge of all.

Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son as God. He is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for godly living, understanding of spiritual truth, and ability to produce spiritual fruit.

Humanity

We believe that mankind was created in the image of God to have fellowship with him but became alienated in that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, man is incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through his own effort by self-improvement or good works.

Salvation

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as our substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice once and for all. His blood, shed on the cross, provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Only by personally trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of salvation can a person be saved from sin’s penalty and be justified before God.

The Christian Life

We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for himself. 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. This church recognizes that it cannot bind the conscience of individual members in areas where Scripture is silent. Rather, each believer is to be led in those areas by the Holy Spirit, to whom he alone is ultimately accountable.

The Church

We believe that the Church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the Church are only those who have trusted in the finished work of Christ through faith and regeneration by the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God by loving him and by making him known to the lost world.

The Ordinances

We believe Christ instituted the ordinances of believer’s water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, both of which are to be observed by believers until he returns. We believe by water baptism a believer is personally and publicly identified with Christ in his death and resurrection. We believe the Lord’s Supper is a commemorative remembrance of Christ’s sacrificial death, the elements being symbols of his body and blood. Both ordinances are not regarded as a means of salvation.

Future Things

We believe that at the bodily resurrection of the dead, those who have turned to God in repentance and received salvation through Jesus Christ will experience eternal blessedness and joy with him in heaven. Those who have rejected Jesus Christ will face eternal and conscious judgment in hell, the condition of total and complete separation from God.