Our Statement of Faith

STATEMENT OF FAITH

God - We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

The Bible - We believe that God has spoken in the 66 books of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition - We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God's saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled, and renewed.

Jesus Christ - We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus- Israel's promised Messiah- was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Work of Christ - We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit - We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church - We believe that the church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Living - We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God's Word, the Spirit's power, and fervent prayer in Christ's name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ's commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ's Return - We believe in the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Response and Eternal Destiny - We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to eternal separation from God and punishment according to scripture and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace.

Family, Fellowship, and Community Life - We believe that Christian marriage has been created by God to join one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of mutual care, support, and intimacy. Marriage creates the family unit within which children (or a child) are born or adopted, and nurtured. God has created the husband’s and wife’s roles in marriage on the model of the relationship between Christ and His church. We believe that fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness are the only proper expressions of God’s plan for human sexuality. We further believe that unrepentant and active sinful behaviors including, but not limited to adultery, domestic and emotional violence, incest, pedophilia, as well as pornography and other forms of sexual perversion, are the result of mankind’s fallen nature, and require repentance and mental, emotional, and spiritual recovery and wholeness offered by the healing hand of Jesus. We believe that Jesus Christ offers acceptance and healing by repentance through the Holy Spirit to persons entrapped in sexual sin, breaking its power in them and freeing them to know and experience their true identity and freedom in Christ.
(Lev. 18:22; Lev. 20:10; Deut. 27:20-23; Prov. 6:32; 1 Cor. 9-10, 18-20; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5; Thes. 4:3; Heb. 13:4; 1Tim. 1:10; James 5:16; Matt. 5:28; Rom. 1:24)

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and repent of their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with scripture nor the doctrines of the church.