We Believe...

Revelation: We believe God makes His power and divine nature known to all people through His creation, His sustaining provision throughout history, and His image bestowed upon humanity. God is revealed by His Spirit in miracles and dreams, and through His Son, Jesus Christ. God gave us His very words which are completely contained in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, written in the personality of its human authors, yet divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures can be clearly understood by those who seek God, are reliable as the ultimate source of truth, and are accurate in their original forms in everything they affirm. The Bible is the final authority over our lives, is sufficient to bring the unbeliever to salvation, and is powerful enough to change the believer’s heart to desire more righteous living.

God: We believe in the eternal triune God, identical in one essence, distinct as three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit, equal in infinite knowledge and power, and existing in all places and times. God is completely self-sufficient, independent, and perfectly good. His holiness and love always display His unending grace, mercy, and justice. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and while He is immeasurably superior to us, He desires relationship with us and chooses to share in our emotions and experiences.

Jesus Christ: We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He is the second person of the Trinity, one person with two natures – fully God and fully man whose perfect, sinless life fulfilled the Law of God, and the promises made to Abraham, David, and the prophets. Jesus’ death on the cross as our substitute was sufficient to atone for our sin and satisfy God’s just wrath. His bodily resurrection is evidence of God’s power over death and marks Jesus as the firstborn of the New Creation, so that by faith in His death and resurrection we would be declared righteous. Jesus now reigns in heaven as King and stands as our merciful High Priest who intercedes for His people. Jesus sends forth His Spirit to guide, dwell in, and lead His church.

Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third, fully divine person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, reveals God through the Holy Scriptures, and makes it possible for the unbeliever to see God. The Holy Spirit lives in the elect; is the seal and promise of their salvation; comforts and counsels Christians in daily living and brings about their desire to know and love God, love others, and live like Christ.

Church: We believe that Jesus Christ is the Head of the one, holy, and universal church which is reserved exclusively for those on earth and in heaven who are justified by faith in Jesus’ atoning work through His death and resurrection on the cross. This universal church is the Body of Christ, and revealed in local assemblies, which are led by a plurality of elders for the purpose of building up the body of believers through the preaching of the Word, the administration of the ordinances of baptism and communion, discipline, worship, prayer, and fellowship. The local body gathers to worship God, to edify its members and serve the unbelieving community to show the love of Christ and proclaim the Good News of the gospel so that they may find salvation in Jesus. The church is a unified new creation in Christ bringing God glory through their love of Him and love for people. 

Humanity & Sin: We believe God stands separate from and superior too all other earthly creations. He created a real historical Adam and Eve in His own image. Adam and Eve stand at the head of humanity with no contribution from evolution. Adam and Eve were created as male and female and are the expression of God’s design and intent for marriage, sexuality, and sexual intimacy. Adam and Eve rebelled against God, choosing their will over His, corrupting God’s creation and ushering sin into humanity. Every person is born with a perishing body, are spiritually dead, and alienated from God. All people are helpless to save themselves from their sinful condition and need God’s special grace to experience salvation in Christ.

Salvation: We believe that by His sovereign will and good pleasure, according to the riches of His grace, and by no merit found in the person, God chose those whom He would save before time began. God forgives a person the moment they respond to His irresistible grace as they place their faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, turn from their sinful ways, and out of gratitude, desire to know Christ, make Him known, and obey His commands. In this moment of conversion, the believer is united to Christ, by the power of the Spirit, and adopted by God who declares the believer to be in right standing before Him. The Father makes those who are saved, members of His church and seals their salvation in Christ by indwelling them with His Holy Spirit who empowers them to grow in Christ-like holiness, until the consummation when the believer will be glorified and united with God in heaven.

Angels: We believe that angels are spiritual beings, created by God. Good angels praise and glorify God, reveal and communicate God’s message to humans, minister to believers, execute judgment on God’s enemies and will be involved when Jesus returns.

Fallen angels, or demons, have joined Satan’s rebellion against God. They carry out Satan’s work of temptation and deception. Satan and his demon’s fate is certain. They have been defeated through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and, while there is a war between the demons and the followers of Christ today, every enemy of God will be thrown into the lake of fire when Jesus returns to establish his eternal kingdom.

Eschatology/Return of Christ: We believe Jesus will physically return in glory at any moment to establish His kingdom, which will be witnessed by all living people. The living and the dead will be raised to face final judgment based either by their faith in Jesus and the fruit it produced or by their sin. Those who denied Jesus on earth, will be denied by Him in heaven and suffer the condemnation of eternal conscious punishment in hell. Those who had saving faith in Christ will receive their reward, experience unfathomable joy in the fullness of God’s glory, and live eternally in His presence in the new heaven and new earth.