what we believe

 We believe that there is one living God, and that He has revealed Himself in three distinct persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God’s being is perfectly unified and of one essence. The three Persons are co-substantial, co-inherent, co-equal and co-eternal in the Godhead (Titus 3:4-6; Deuteronomy 6:4, 20:2-3; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 6:1-3, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-13; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; John 1:18; Philippians 2:11; Matthew 3:16-17; Acts 5:3-4; Revelation 1:8, 4:8). 

 We acknowledge the Creator-God as our heavenly Father, infinitely perfect and intimately acquainted with all our ways. As the first person of the Trinity, the Father is the source and ruler of all things and is fatherly in His relationship with creation in general and believers in particular. He is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, just, loving, long suffering, true, and unchangeable. He is also merciful and saves all from sin and death that come to Him through Jesus Christ (Psalm 103:19; Matthew 28:19; and 1 Peter 1:2). 

 According to the Father’s plan, the eternal Son humbled Himself and became incarnate, inseparably uniting undiminished deity with true humanity, and fully revealing the Father to the world.  As fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit to be born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross to pay, in full, the penalty for our sin, rose bodily and miraculously from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will come again to earth in His glory.  We rejoice in Him as our Lord and King.  We believe in His miracles and teachings; His perpetual intercession for His people; that He is the propitiation for our sins; and that His shed blood is fully atoning (John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 2:2, 5:11-12). 

 We recognize the Holy Spirit as the presence of God who is Himself co-equal with God and unique in his function.  He is incessantly at work convicting, convincing, and comforting. We affirm that He came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and to regenerate, seal, sanctify, and empower believers for ministry.  We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide.  We believe in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all biblical gifts of the Spirit as reflected through the fruit of that same Spirit (John 14:26; Acts 1:5, 8; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5-6; Galatians 5:22-23). 

We affirm our confidence in God’s inerrant Word.  The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and written by chosen men of God. The Bible is without error in its original manuscripts, is completely reliable as the final authority in all matters of doctrine and practice, and is centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is fully true in all that it teaches and affirms. We believe it is the final authority and end to all arguments (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; and 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Humans are unable to save themselves through any meritorious work.  Due to the fall of Adam and Eve, all humans are born spiritually dead and in need of salvation.  This salvation only occurs through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. God mercifully acts to draw people to His Son and to save those who come to Jesus by faith.  Through repenting and believing the gospel that Jesus Christ died for his or her sins and then rose from the dead, a person will be forgiven of all sin, declared righteous by God, reborn into new life, and guaranteed eternal life with God (John 1:12, 3:16; Romans 5:6-8, 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-5; and Ephesians 1:4-12, 2:8-9).

 We anticipate our Lord’s promised, imminent return.  According to the Father’s plan, Jesus Christ will one day return in power to bring the completion of salvation, and rewards to believers and judgment and wrath to unbelievers. The Bible teaches that the actual time of the Christ’s return is unknown, but the reality of His return is certain, and all believers are called to live faithfully in anticipation of His coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Hebrews 9:28; and Revelation 19:11-16). 

 We are convinced that all who have died will be brought back from beyond; believers to everlasting communion with God and unbelievers to everlasting separation from God. Though a believer’s spirit is ushered into the Lord’s presence immediately upon physical death, the fullness of salvation awaits Christ’s return, when He will resurrect believers in glorified bodies like His own immortal body that can never die. While all believers throughout history will enjoy eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth, unbelievers will be resurrected to suffer eternal conscious punishment for their sins (John 11:23-27; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; and Revelation 20:4-21:5).

 The church exists to live and proclaim God’s truth, to stimulate growth toward maturity, and to bring glory to God. Believers are called to faithful fellowship and community in a visible, local congregation for the purpose of mutual encouragement, edification and spiritual growth. As the family of God, a healthy local church is marked by God-glorifying worship, Scripture-centered teaching, intimate fellowship, and vivid expressions of the Church’s faith, hope, and love through evangelism, disciple-making, financial support, and service (Acts 2:41-47; Philippians 2:1-4; and Hebrews 10:24-25). 

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity as affirmed in the Scriptures (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual in or outside of the church are to be repudiated and are not in accord with the Scriptures.

Although some countries recognize same-sex unions, God does not. His Word, His standards, and His ways are absolute. The Bible describes marriage as a union between one man and one woman, instituted by God with Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:24 states, "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh". Jesus reaffirmed this in Matthew 19:4-5. 

 In addition to these doctrinal stances, we realize that there are a number of variant nuances of interpretation and denominational emphases that can polarize the body of Christ.  In this regard we affirm the general statement as originated in the early church by St. Augustine:  "In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity."