WHAT WE BELIEVE
 
 
 

THE BIBLE

We believe that the Bible, both Old and New  Testaments, is supernaturally inspired, so that it is inerrant in the original manuscripts and preserved by God in its verbal and plenary inspiration, so that it is a divinely authoritative standard for every age and every life. (Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)

 

GOD

We believe in one God that eternally exists and reveals  Himself in three persons – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – having each the same nature, attributes and perfections, worthy of the same worship  and confidence. (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; John 1:1-2, 14, 10:30, 14:15-17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

We believe in God as absolute and sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and that creation was by divine command, from nothing and not through an evolutionary process. (John  1:3, 10; Acts 17:24-25; Genesis 1:1)

We believe that God, by His sovereign  choice and out of love for men, sent Christ into the world to save  sinners. (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 John 4:14)

 

GOD THE SON

We believe that Jesus Christ was fully God in the  flesh and fully man, that He was born of a virgin and that He lived a sinless life, in which He taught and performed mighty works and  wonders and signs exactly as revealed in the four gospels. We believe that He was crucified, shed His blood, died to pay the penalty for our sins and was raised bodily from the dead on the third day. Forty days later He ascended to the Father’s right hand where He is Head of the  Church and intercedes for believers. From there He is coming again personally, bodily and visibly to this earth to set up His millennial  kingdom. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-2, 7:25; Luke 1:30-35;  Ephesians 4:8; John 1:1-5, 10-14, 14:3; Colossians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:3,11; Revelation 20:4)

 

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person and  is God, possessing all the divine attributes. He convicts of sin, regenerates, indwells, baptizes and seals all believers at the moment  of their salvation, filling them in response to yieldedness with the  goal of conforming them to the image of Christ. (John 3:5, 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:13)

MAN

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature and became alienated from God. We believe that all men  are morally corrupt, and of themselves utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 1:18, 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 12)

 

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is  received by man through personal faith in Jesus Christ and His  sacrifice for sin. We believe that man is justified by grace through faith apart from works and that all true believers, once saved, are  kept secure in Christ forever. (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 4:5, 6:23, 8:1, 38-39; John 10:27-29; Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

THE CHURCH

We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving  faith in Jesus Christ; that they are united together in the body of Christ of which He is Lord and Head; and are commissioned for the  God-given tasks of worshiping, fellowshipping, teaching, evangelizing  and exercising the spiritual gifts. (Acts 2:42,47; Romans 12:5;  Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2)

We believe that the establishment and  continuance of the local church is clearly taught in the New Testament  Scriptures. (Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)

We believe that the local church is  autonomous and free of any external authority or control. (Acts 13:1-4, 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16, 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter  5:1-4)

 

THE ORDINANCESWe believe the ordinances for the believer are water baptism by immersion and the Lord’s supper as a memorial. They are, however, not to be regarded as a means of salvation, but both of  which are an evidence of obedience and fellowship with the Lord.  (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38, 41, 8:12, 35-38; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)

 

THE CHRISTIAN LIFEWe believe that a Christian should walk in holiness and not after the flesh, with the goal of being conformed to  the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a new creation, walking in the Spirit, the Christian learns to grow in faith, in obedience to Scripture, in prayer, in fellowship with the saints and in a life of service. We believe that the Christian will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to have his life evaluated according to his  deeds. (Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 4:20-24; Hebrews  11:6, 12:1-2; John 17:17; Ephesians 6:18; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians  5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

 

THE SECOND COMINGWe believe in the personal, premillennial and  imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily  resurrection of the dead, of the believer to everlasting glory and the  unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Titus 2:11-13; John 14:1-6; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Peter 3:10)