STATEMENT OF FAITH

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error and the infallible rule of faith and practice. The Word of God is the foundation upon which the church operates and is the basis for which the church is governed. We believe that the Word of God supersedes any earthly law that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures.

(Isaiah 28:13; Nehemiah 8:8; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:3-4, 21)

THE TRINITY

We believe that there is one living and true GOD, eternally existing in three persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that this triune God created all, upholds all, and governs all things.

(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:8, 48:16; Matthew 28:19-20; John 10:30; Hebrews 1:3)

SIN

We believe that all people are sinners by nature and choice, falling short of God’s standard and breaking His commandments – and therefore are under God’s righteous judgment. Yet, God saves and gives new life to all who come to Him in repentance and faith, trusting in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. At the cross, Jesus Christ died in our place as our substitute, absorbing God’s wrath that should have come upon us. Because Jesus died for the sins of the world the invitation to believe is open to all, and whoever desires may come unto Jesus for new life and the forgiveness of sins.

(Matthew 11:28; John 3:16; Acts 3:19, 20:21; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-3, 8-9; I John 2:2; Revelation 22:17)

HEAVEN AND HELL

We believe in a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that all those who place their faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord. Those who reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will spend eternity separated from the Lord.

(Psalm 9:17; Matthew 5:3, 5:22, 18:9, 25:31-34; Mark 9:42-49; Luke 12:5; John 3:18; Hebrews 12:23; I Peter 1:4; Revelation 14:10-11, 20:11-15)

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ’s death fully accomplished justification through faith and redemption from sin. Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8-9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). On the third day after His death, Jesus physically rose again, demonstrating His victory over sin and death (Romans 14:9).

We believe salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Good works and obedience are results of salvation, not requirements for salvation. Due to the greatness, sufficiency, and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice, all those who have truly received Christ as Savior are eternally secure in salvation, kept by God’s power, secured and sealed in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24). Just as salvation cannot be earned by good works, neither does it need good works to be maintained or sustained. Good works and changed lives are the inevitable results of salvation (James 2). 

ORDINANCES

We believe that the Lord, Jesus Christ instituted two ordinances for the church: the full-immersion water baptism of believers and the Lord’s Supper. (Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 2:38; I Corinthians 11:23-26)

THE GREATEST COMMANDMENTS

The Bible has much to say about what God wants us to do, but it can all be summed up in just two great commandments. (Matthew 22, Mark 12, and Luke 10) record Jesus telling what the two greatest commandments are. Simply said, we are to “love God and love other people.” These two great commandments were both given by Moses in the Old Testament and taught by Jesus in the New.
THE GREAT COMMISSION

We believe all Christians are called to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20) “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus gave this command to the apostles shortly before He ascended into heaven, and it essentially outlines what Jesus expected the apostles and those who followed them to do in His absence. 

MARRIAGE

We believe that God created man and that He created them male and female. As such, He created them different so as to complement and complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. Therefore, we perform marriages in accordance with the Bible consistent with the Old and New Testament.

(Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; John 4:16-18; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 5:11, 6:9-11,18-20, 7:1-3,8-9; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-7; I Timothy 1:9-11)

LEADERSHIP IN THE CHURCH

We believe in the pattern and principle of leadership and responsibility in both the home and the church, according to the sacrificial example of Jesus. We believe this limits the roles of pastoral leadership and doctrinal authority to qualified men. (I Corinthians 11:1-12; I Timothy 2:1-15) We believe in the universal church, the living spiritual body, of which Christ is the head and all who are born again are a part of the Body of Christ.

(I Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:15-16)

CHRIST’S SECOND COMING

We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which is His personal, visible return to Earth and the establishment of His millennial kingdom, in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous and endless separation of the wicked.

(Matthew 16:27; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11-16, 20:11-15; Isaiah 26:20; Matthew 24:29-31; Luke 21:36; Romans 1:18, 5:9; I Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-16, 5:9; II Peter 2:7-9; Revelation 3:10, 5:7-10, 7:13-14)