The Bible

We believe that the Bible is the inspired, authoritative, living, eternally reliable Word of God equally in all parts and without error in its original manuscript, absolutely infallible, and our source of supreme revelation from God, superior to conscience and reason, though not contrary to reason; and it is therefore our infallible rule of faith and practice and necessary to our daily lives (II Timothy 3:16-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12).

God

We believe in one God who has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:20, Matthew 28:19).  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all co-eternal, all stand equally superior to time, free from the temporal distinctions of past and future (FATHER – Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; Psalm 102:27; I Timothy 1:17; SON – John 1:1-2; John 8:58; Hebrews 1:8; I John 1:2; Revelation 1:8; SPIRIT – Hebrews 9:14; 1 Corinthians 3:17-18).

We believe in God the Father, creator of all things visible and invisible. (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3)

Jesus Christ

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who came into the world to reveal the Father, and was the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person; that through Him all things were made.  We further believe that in Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and that He was very God and very Man (John. 1:1-2 & 14; I Tim. 3:16; Acts 7:37-38; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15,16).

We believe in Jesus Christ’s pre-existence, incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, substitutionary and atoning death, bodily resurrection, bodily ascension into heaven, exaltation, present rule at the right hand of God, coming personal return in power and great glory, and in His everlasting Kingdom and dominion (Acts 1:11; 3:19-21; Daniel 7:14; Revelation 20:4). We acknowledge His Lordship — that Jesus Christ is Lord over all things in heaven and on earth, and under the earth (Phil. 2:9-10).

Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is God personally with us today.  He was sent by Jesus to pour the love of God into our hearts, teach and remind us of all things, convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment and glorify Christ.  He dwells in the heart of every believer upon salvation and seals him until the day of redemption.  The Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Bible, intuitive thoughts, other people and circumstances.  We believe in His present ministry, His indwelling, His empowering, His impartation of gifts for today, and His transforming power in the lives of all believers (I Corinthians 12:4-11, Gal 5:22-23).

We further believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Scripture (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:21-23, 4:1-2, 14, 18-19; Acts 2:4, 4:31, 10:46, 19:6). We hold that the real evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is one’s response to the Word of God (John 16:13), a Christ-like life, showing forth Christ’s character, and experiencing and manifesting the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:14; Galatians 5:22-23; I Corinthians 12:4-11). We believe the Spirit is fully deposited in our hearts when we receive Christ as seal of our salvation (Ephesians 1:14; 1 Corinthians 12:13).  We also believe in the ongoing experience of being “continually filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

Man & Sin

We believe that man was created in the image of God by a good, direct and immediate act of God in order that man might glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:4). We believe that man by transgression fell from a state of righteousness and holiness in which he was first created into total spiritual depravity, a state of death in trespasses and sins in which he is held as a slave of sin and an enemy of God.  Thus every person is born with an inherited sin nature and volitionally sins, whereas apart from the grace of God, we are all deserving of death and eternal separation from Him in hell.  As such, he is unable to attain divine righteousness by his own efforts or good works but must be redeemed and delivered by God’s grace and the power of the gospel (Genesis 3; Psalm 51:5; Romans 1:18-32;  Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12-21; Romans 6:23; I Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:5-10).

Salvation

We believe that repentance and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ are a necessary part of God’s work of justification of the believer.  Through faith in the shed blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and His resurrection from the dead, he or she is justified and made a partaker in the death of Christ (Romans 5:1, 9; 10:9-10). We believe that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).  We believe that faith comes through hearing God’s word (Romans 10:17).  We believe that repentance is dependent upon the convicting action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of sinners and believers and their response.  The conviction of the Holy Spirit, which often accompanies the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will result in the revelation of the sinfulness of self, which should lead to godly sorrow and an earnest desire to turn from sin. (II Corinthians 7:10; Psalm 51; Acts 11:18; II Timothy 2:25; Matthew 9:12-13).

Christian Living

We do not believe that water baptism is required for salvation but it is a necessary, obedient response to the command of Jesus. Baptism is to be performed only upon repentant believers in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:18-20) as public proclamation of personal faith and the work of Christ.

We further believe that the emphasis for a continuous walk in grace by faith should be evidenced by righteousness and purity of heart, believing in the keeping power of God, walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh, living a lifestyle that reflects the character and ministry of Jesus Christ, and not being conformed to the world for the glory of God.  We believe grace is the unmerited favor of God as well as the power to do the will of God (Jude 24; Romans 8:25; Galatians 5:16-25; Romans 4:1-5; 12:1-2; I Corinthians 15:10).

Church

We believe that the Church is administration of God’s continuing work on earth.  The Church is the body of Christ, under His headship, whom he has called out of darkness and a life of sin to proclaim His glorious light to the rest of the world.  The church gathers for mutual encouragement and seeks to fulfill the commission of God to make disciples in all nations (Matthew 16:17-19, 28:18-20, 24:14; Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:9-10; Hebrews 10:23; 1 Peter 2:9-10)

Family

“We believe God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.  The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image, yet maintain differing roles within marriage in accordance with scripture for their mutual edification for the glory of God. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.” (Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 2:20-25; Genesis 1:27; Ephesians 5:25; Ephesians 5:24; Genesis 2:20-21; Titus 2:4-5; Psalm 139:13-15)

End Times & Eternal States

We believe at the appointed time Christ will return to earth bodily in order to judge the world and establish His rule on earth forever.  We believe this will occur after the church has fulfilled God’s purpose and a period of great suffering and deception (Matthew 24; 1 Thessalonians 4-5; Revelation 19-20).

We believe that in the final judgment, which will accompany the return of Christ, every person will given an account to God of every aspect of this earthly life.  The Judgment Seat of Christ (Bema Seat) is the judgment of believers in reference to rewards or lack thereof.  The Great White Throne Judgment is the judgment of unbelievers who will be eternally separated from God and in torment (I Cor. 3:10-15; II Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:11-15).

We believe that God will create a new heaven and new earth after this present age passes away.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of believers, the final destruction of Satan, the eternal reign of Christ for the ever-increasing joy of all whom in this age would call upon His name (Isaiah 65: Revelation 21-22).