What We Believe
- We believe in the absolute authority and accuracy of the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments; its full verbal inspiration by the Holy Spirit in the original manuscripts, and its all-sufficiency as the Christian’s rule of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
- We believe there is one living and true God, and that He exists eternally as three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and harmonious in all His works. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; Isaiah 45:21b)
- We believe that God the Father is the infinite, all-knowing, perfect Spirit and personal Being, the Creator, Sustainer, and Supreme Ruler of the universe; that He is perfect in holiness, mercy, love, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power, and worthy of all possible honor. The Father does everything according to His perfect will, and is sovereign over all. (Genesis 1:1; Nehemiah 9:6; 1 Chronicles 29:11, 12; Exodus 15:11; Isaiah 46:9-11; 1 John 4:8; John 4:24)
- We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal and only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, and that He is fully God and fully man, and is the only sufficient Mediator between God and man. (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35; John 1:1; 1:14; 12:45; 14:9; 1 Timothy 2:5)
- We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune God, co-eternal with the Father and the Son. His ministry to unbelievers is to convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to affect their regeneration. His ministry to believers is to seal, sanctify, and empower them to live a life of obedience to God. (John 16:8-11; 3:3- 7; 14:26; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:16-25)
- We believe that humanity was created in the image of God, male and female, and that they sinned and thereby incurred both physical and spiritual death; thus, we believe that all people by nature and by choice are sinners and, apart from Christ, shall be forever separated from God. (Genesis 1:27; 2:17; 3:6-8; Romans 6:23)
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and died for our sins as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and His present ministry there for us as High Priest and Advocate. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 1:5)
- We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, not of works. All who turn from sin and by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, set free from the penalty and power of sin, and adopted as children of God. (John 3:3-7; 1:12; Romans 6:20-23; Ephesians 2:8-9)
- We believe in the personal, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom upon the earth. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Revelation 19-22)
- We believe in the bodily resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous will be raised to reign with Christ eternally in His Kingdom, while the unrighteous will experience everlasting conscious punishment. (1 Corinthians 15:20-24; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 20:12-15; 21:1-4)
- We believe in the church, a living, spiritual body of which Christ is the head, and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that this body expresses itself in local assemblies whose members have been baptized upon a credible confession of faith and have covenanted together for worship, prayer, service, and fellowship. (1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Matthew 16:16-18; 28:19-20; Acts 2:42-47)
- We believe in the observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper in obedience to the command of Christ.
- We believe that baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is done as a symbol of our death to sin, the burial of our old life, and our resurrection to walk in the newness of life in union with Christ Jesus. (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:1-7; Colossians 2:9-12)
- We believe that the Lord’s Supper is of the bread and the cup in commemoration of His death and in anticipation of His return. (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
