What We Believe

There is one God who eternally exists as three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, the three carrying out distinct but harmonious roles.

_{Deut 6:4; Isa 45:5; Matt 28:19; John 1:1-4, 14:26; 16:7; 1 Peter 1:2}

Jesus Christ has eternally existed as fully God. Jesus became fully man, being born of a virgin. He lived sinlessly, died on a cross in our place, rose bodily from the grave, returned in exaltation to heaven, and now reigns as head of His church. Jesus will continue as fully God and fully man for eternity.

_{Matt 1:23; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-4, 14; Phil 2:6-8; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Cor 15:3-6; Eph 1:20-23; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 4:14; 7:25}

Though God created man in His image, all men are sinful – by nature and by choice – and deserve condemnation. God in His mercy provides salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from man’s works. Salvation includes complete forgiveness of sins, spiritual rebirth, righteous standing before God, and adoption into God’s family.

_{Gen 1:26-27; John 3:3-6, 16; Rom 3:9-28; Eph 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-7}

Jesus Christ will return bodily to earth to judge and to reign. All individuals will be raised, the saved to eternal life and the lost to eternal condemnation.

_{John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; Rev 19:11-16; Dan 12:2; John 5:28-29; Matt 25:31-34, 41}

The 66 books of Scripture are inspired by God, every word being inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient for all Christian life.

_{2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matt 5:18; Prov 30:5}

We believe in the one and only living and true God, eternally existing in three persons: FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT. These three, being one God, possess precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and are worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience.

_{Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4; Matthew 29:19-20; Acts 4:3-4}

We believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom and measureless in power. In Him we live and move and have our being. He is a God of truth and without iniquity, He is just and right, and He will judge the world. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

_{Matthew 5:48; Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 9:8; Hebrews 11:3; Nehemiah 9:6; Acts 17:28; Hebrews 1:2-3; Psalm 103:19; Ephesians 1:11; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalm 90:2}

We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, sinless in His life, and making atonement for the sin of the world by His shed blood and death on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension into heaven, and His high priestly intercession for His people. We believe that He will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

_{Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:14; Hebrews 10:9; John 1:29; 1 John 2:1-2; John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Acts 1:11; Matthew 1:22, 23; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14,15; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Romans 1:3,4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13}

We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, sinless in His life, and making atonement for the sin of the world by His shed blood and death on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His ascension into heaven, and His high priestly intercession for His people. We believe that He will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

_{Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:14; Hebrews 10:9; John 1:29; 1 John 2:1-2; John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Acts 1:11; Matthew 1:22, 23; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14,15; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Romans 1:3,4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13}

We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God, and inerrant in the original writings. We believe the 66 books of the Old and the New Testament were written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is God's complete and sufficient revelation to man, therefore, it is the supreme and final authority for faith, life and the total well-being of mankind.

_{Psalm 119:97-104, 160; Matthew 5:18; John 5:46-47; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Acts 17:11 ; Isaiah 8:20}

We believe that man was created in the image of God, in a state of innocence under the law of his Maker, but he voluntarily sinned and fell from his sinless and happy state. Consequently, he incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. We believe that all human beings are sinners not only by inheritance but by choice, and are, therefore, under God’s just condemnation without defense or excuse. We believe that, without exception, every man and every woman is totally depraved and needs a Savior.
 
_{Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-6; Romans 1:18, 32; 3:10-19, 23; 5:1-2}

We believe that, “God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 NIV). We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice. We believe that each person who receives, by faith, Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord has been born again of the Holy Spirit and, therefore, becomes eternally secure as a child of God.  We believe that justification means that a person is declared righteous in the sight of God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from man's works. We believe the Holy Spirit baptizes each believing person into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation once and for all.

_{John 1:12; Romans 3:21-26; 8:37-39; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:13; 2:8-10}

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ, His ascension into heaven, and His present life for us as High Priest and Advocate.

_{Acts 1:3, 9; Hebrews 7:25, 26}

We believe in "that blessed hope", the personal, premillenial, imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. His return has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.

_{Acts 1:7; I Thessalonians 4:13-18}

We believe that Christian baptism is a public declaration of and identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection signified by immersion in water.
The Lord's supper (communion) is the commemoration by believers of Christ's death until He comes and should be preceded by a careful self-examination.

_{Acts 4:13; Romans 6:3-6; I Corinthians 11:20-29}

Upon accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, all believers have therefore become part of His body, the church. There is one church universal, composed of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Scriptures command believers to gather together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, observance of the ordinances (baptism and communion), fellowship, service to the body through the development and use of talents and gifts, and outreach to the world in fulfillment of the command of Christ to make disciples of all believers . Wherever God's people meet regularly in obedience to this command there is the local expression of the church - under the watch-care of elders and other supportive leadership. Its members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the one ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.

_{Ephesians 4:16; 5:23; Romans 12:1; Acts 2:42-46; I Corinthians 14:26; Matthew 28:18-20}