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OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH

What We Believe

The Bible

• We believe the Bible, as originally given, to be the verbally inspired Word of God, absolutely authoritative and infallible (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:21). God’s Word has been copied from the original manuscripts and passed down so that it is available to us today. God has preserved His Word so that it has not been lost throughout the centuries (Ps. 119:152; Matt. 5:17-18). Although men have made minor errors in copying the Scriptures, the message, as a whole, has been preserved. Scripture is indestructible (Jer. 36).

Triunity

• We believe in one God existing in three persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–co-equal and eternal. God is one God (Deut. 6:4; James 2:19), but He exists as three personal distinctions (Is. 42:1). Each person of the Godhead is equally God; no one person is less God than the other two–God the Father (1 Cor.15:24), God the Son (Rom. 9:5), and God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).

• Father
  • God the Father is the Father of creation (Mal. 2:10), the Son (1 Pet. 1:3), Israel (Jer. 31:9), and believers (Gal. 3:26; 4:6). He provides for our physical needs (Matt. 6:26) and communication with Him through prayer (Matt. 6:9), disciplines (Heb. 12:4-8), and is our example (Matt. 5:48).
• Jesus
  • Was born of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:34-35, Matt 1:18), suffered and died for our sins upon the cross (2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Pet. 2:24,1 Pet. 3:18), rose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:4), ascended to God’s right hand (Heb. 10:12), and is coming again in power and great glory (1 Cor. 15:24).
  • Jesus is fully God (John 1:1). He equates Himself with the Father (John 10:30). He demonstrates attributes of God. (Mic. 5:2, John 1:3, Col. 1:17, Heb. 1:10-12, Matt. 28:20, Mark 2:1-12).
  • Jesus is fully man. Christ came to the earth and took on flesh (John 1:14). He laid aside the independent application of His divine attributes in order to become fully human (Phil. 2:7-8). He lived a human life (Gal. 4:4, Luke 2:52, Matt. 4:2, John 19:28,John 4:6, John 11:35,Heb. 4:15).
  • Jesus is sinless. Jesus Christ never sinned (Heb 4:15), nor could he sin because though He was fully human, he was also fully God. He was tested or tempted by Satan in the wilderness yet did not sin (Matt. 4:1-11).
• Holy Spirit
  • The Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of unbelievers convicting them (John 16:8-10). At the time of a person’s salvation He is at work regenerating and renewing (Titus 3:5). He indwells new believers permanently (John 14:16-17) and baptizes them into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). He seals them so that they can never lose salvation (Eph. 4:30) and endows spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:1-11) for the edification of the church (Eph 4:11-12). For the Christian life the Holy Spirit fills (Eph. 5:16-17), teaches (John 14:26), and guides (John 16:13). He gives assurance to believers (Rom. 8:14-16), prays for them (Rom. 8:26), empowers them (Acts 1:8), and transforms them into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18)

Sin

• Since Adam sinned, all men are sinners (Rom. 5:12) and thus are separated from God as His enemies (Rom. 5:10). Because all mankind are descendants of Adam, all share in his rebellion. The sin nature is passed down through each generation (Ps. 51:5). Adam’s sin was also placed on the account of each individual (Rom. 5:18-19). Humans are blinded by Satan so they cannot recognize their sin (2 Cor. 4:4). As a result of our sin, all mankind is destined for eternal judgment in Hell (Rom.3:23, Rom. 6:23, Rev. 20:15).

Salvation

• We believe that salvation has been provided through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21, Is. 53:5) and is verified through his bodily resurrection (1 Cor. 15:4).
• Salvation is received at the point of conversion when a person turns from their sinful ways, denying self in repentance (Acts 3:19) and places their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. This is done by faith (Eph. 2:8-9) or belief (Acts 16:31) in Jesus Christ, fully relying upon His work on the cross to pay the debt they couldn’t pay (Rom. 6:23). New life is given by God to the new believer (John 3:3, 5, 7; Eph. 2:1, 5) in the act of regeneration.
• God’s act of salvation in the believer’s life is irreversible (John 6:39-40, John 10:29, Rom. 8:38-39, Eph. 4:30).  
• Believers will live in the presence of God for eternity (John 3:16, John 17:3, Rev. 21:2-4)

Church

• We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and that all believers, past and present (1 Cor. 12:13) are members thereof and are set apart as ambassadors of God (1 Pet 2:9, 2 Cor. 5:20).
• The local church is a localized group of believers that are organized to meet consistently for the purpose of worship, preaching, the ordinances, and other ministry. The congregation chooses the leaders (Acts 6:3-5) and is also involved in the discipline process (Acts 18:17). The two offices of the local church are pastors/bishops/elders and deacons and are to be filled by qualified men (1 Tim. 3:1-13). There are also two ordinances practiced by the local church being water baptism (Matt. 28:19) and communion (1 Cor. 11:23-34). Baptism is for those who are saved and serves as a public testimony of their identity with Christ (Acts 2:41). It is a picture of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection so is best illustrated by immersion (Col 2:12). Communion is a memorial testimony of Christ’s death for our sins to be observed  by believers in a worthy and reverent manner, until His return (1 Cor. 11:17-29).

The Christian Life

• New believers are positionally sanctified at salvation, but after salvation, God expects the believer to grow (1 Pet. 2:1-2) and continue to be sanctified (1 Thess. 4:3-4, 2 Pet. 1:3). When a believer sins, he is to confess it to God and repent and God will forgive him (1 John 1:9). The goal is for the believer to become like Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). The Holy Spirit has bestowed spiritual gifts to all believers that God commands to be used in service for Him (Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 12). We will be made perfect when Christ returns (1 Thess. 3:13).

Sanctity of Human Life

• We believe the Bible makes clear that there is a distinction between man and all other life in the universe. All human life, from conception on, is of immense value because of the uniqueness of being created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27, Ps. 139:14-16, Is 49:1). For this reason the unjustified, unexcused taking of human life is sin (Ex. 20:13).

Creation

• We believe that God created the universe in six literal 24-hour periods (Genesis 1-2; Ex. 20:11, Ex. 31:17).

Marriage & Sexuality

• God instituted marriage when He presented Eve to Adam, and ordained that there be but one man and one woman in marriage (Gen. 1:27-28a; 2:20-24; Eph. 5:31). It is established on the basis of their mutual commitment of loyalty to each other, to which God is the highest Witness (Pro. 2:17; Mal. 2:14). This is to be a lifelong commitment (Matt. 19:3-9, Mark 10: 6-12).
• Sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift of God that is only to be expressed between a man and a woman within the love and bonds of marriage. Therefore, any other form of sexual intimacy is both immoral and a perversion of God’s gift (Ex. 20:14; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Deut. 22:13-30; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:3-6; Heb. 13:4).

Gender Identity statement

• From creation, God made humans to have one of two distinct genders, male and female (Gen. 1:27). There is no evidence in the Bible that gender is optional or negotiable (Ps. 139:13-14).

Spiritual Gifts

• God gives a variety of spiritual gifts to His disciples for the purpose of edification of fellow man and glorifying God (Rom. 12:5-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 1 Cor. 12:28).
• The overall biblical narrative suggests that certain gifts, have ceased. These gifts are often referred to as sign gifts and include the gifts of miraculous powers, healing, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues (1 Cor. 13:8-12).

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