our beliefs

Our Statement of Beliefs

I. We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and life. Scriptures: 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Hebrews 4:12.

ii. We believe there is but one living and true God, who is one in essence, while eternally existing in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though each person of the Godhead possesses the same nature, each function differently in respect to God’s dealings with man. Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29

iii. We believe that God created a great number of angels; that the greatest angel became proud and rebelled and is called Satan; that with the other angels who rebelled with him, called demons, he is seeking to destroy the kingdom of God. We believe that Satan was defeated at the cross and will be thrown into everlasting punishment at the end of the age. Scriptures: Revelation 12:3-9; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Ephesians 6:11-12; Colossians 2:15; Revelation 20:10.

iv. We believe that with the creation of the universe God created man in his image; that all men have sinned in the transgression of Adam as well as in personal experience; that they are totally dead in sin and apart from the grace of God are eternally lost and on their way to everlasting separation from God in “the lake of fire”. Scriptures: Genesis 1:26; Romans 5:15-19; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14-15.

v. We believe that Jesus Christ is both the eternal Son of God and virgin-born Son of man. Fully God and fully man, He surrendered nothing of His deity during His earthly life. Having lead a sinless life, He satisfied the Father’s justice concerning sin by His death. Scriptures: Luke 1:30-35; John 1:1-2.

vi. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a substitutionary sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and to completely reconcile us to God; and that all who truly trust Him as Savior are justified and eternally saved on the ground of His shed blood. Scriptures: Romans 5:6-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:8-9.

vii. We believe in the personal resurrection of our Lord and Savior in the body in which He suffered, in His physical ascension into heaven, in His present life at the right hand of God the Father, and in His present work on our behalf as High Priest, Mediator and Advocate and His visible return to this earth to establish His earthly kingdom. Scriptures: Luke 1:30- 35; John 1:1-2, 14-18; John 20:19-20; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15; Romans 3:24-26, Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:17-18, 7:24-28; 1 John 2:1; Revelation 20:11-15.

viii. We believe that all who by faith have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior are “born again” of the Holy Spirit into the family of God, and that the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer to enlighten, guide and enable him in life, testimony and service. Scriptures: John 1:12, 3:16; Romans 1:16-17; Romans 8:9

ix. We believe that all who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit belong to the one true church and are directed by the Scriptures to associate themselves in local, visible churches. The local church is the only visible representation of Christ’s invisible church and consists only of regenerated believers. The local church is autonomous in its relationship, and elects its own members to the biblical offices of elder and deacon. The two-fold purpose of the church is to lead men to Christ and mature them in the faith. Scriptures: Matthew 16:13- 28, 24:36, 28:18-20; John 14:1-3; Acts 2:9-11, 41-47; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 2:19- 22; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Hebrews 10:24-25.

x. We believe that divine, enabling gifts for service are bestowed by the Spirit upon all who are saved. While there is diversity in gifts, each believer is energized by the same Spirit, and each is called to his own divinely appointed service as God wills. These gifts are not signs of deeper spirituality, but each believer has at least one gift and it should be used to build up the body of Christ. Scriptures: Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Ephesians 4:11.

xi. We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances of the church, and that they are a scriptural means of testimony for the church of this age. Scripture: Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 12:12-13.

xii. We believe in the Blessed Hope, the personal and bodily, pre-millennial and imminent, return of Christ to receive believers to Him. Scriptures: Titus 2:13; John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

xiii. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved in glory, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost. Scriptures: Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Luke 16:19-26; Philippians 1:23; Revelation 20:10- 15.

xiv. Marriage has been instituted by God. We define marriage as the permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, and conjugal “one flesh” union of one man and one woman, intrinsically ordered to procreation and biological family, and in furtherance of the moral, spiritual, and public good of binding father, mother, and child. A civil government's sanction of a union will be recognized as a legitimate marriage by the church only to the extent that it is consistent with this definition of marriage. Scriptures: Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 2:18-24;Matthew 19:4-9; Mark 10:5-9; Ephesians 5:31-33.

xv. Legitimate sexual relations are exercised solely within marriage. Hence, sexual activities outside of marriage (referred to in the New Testament as "porneia"), including, but not limited to, adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, and pedophilia, are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the church. Further, lascivious conduct, transgender behavior, and the creation and/or distribution and/or viewing of pornography are incompatible with the biblical witness. Scriptures: Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:7-23; Leviticus 20:10-21; Deuteronomy 5:18; Matthew 15:19; Matthew 5:27-28; Matthew 15:19; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 13:4; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:17-19; Colossians 3:5.

BELIEVE. BELONG. BUILD UP. BE STRONG.