Statement of Faith

We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the authoritative and powerful Word of God, verbally inspired by God, and without error in the original manuscripts. We believe that God’s intentions, revealed in the Bible, are the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith, conduct, creeds and opinions. In matters not addressed by the Bible, what is true and right is assessed by criteria consistent with the teachings of Scripture.

We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and that these are the same divine essence, are equal in every divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s unique and eternal Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.

We believe in the Holy Spirit sent into the world by God to glorify the Son of God. We believe that He convicts people of their sin and need for salvation, and without His work no one would come to faith. We believe that His work in regeneration is not the result of water baptism, outward ritual, or any work of man. We believe He indwells every person who trusts in Jesus, providing guidance and power, and helps them make progress in overcoming sin and in becoming more like Jesus in thought, deed, and love for God the Father.

We believe that humanity was created by God in His own image and for His glory, as the crowning work of God’s creation. We believe all human beings, including the preborn, the aged, and people with disabilities or other debilitating conditions are worthy of love, dignity, and respect from the moment of conception through natural death, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, class, status, or any other distinction.

We believe that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and thus incurred physical, spiritual, and eternal separation from God. We believe that all humans are born with a sinful nature, are inclined to evil and are sinners, not by constraint but by choice. All humans are therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace and comes through the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God. We believe that only those who have been born again by God’s Spirit and thus repent and trust Jesus Christ, are forgiven, counted righteous in Christ, delivered from condemnation, adopted into God’s family and receive eternal life. We believe justification is given, not because of any works of righteousness which we have done, but only through faith in Jesus. We believe that on the basis of faith in Christ, the perfect righteousness of Christ is freely given to us. We believe the Christian life involves growth in grace through persevering, Spirit-empowered resolve to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. We believe that all true believers are kept by the power of God through faith and therefore endure to the end.

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as either male or female and that these two distinct, complementary genders together are the only two God-ordained genders and reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that marriage is the joining of only one man and one woman in a single, exclusive, lifelong union and that God designed and directs sexual intimacy exclusively for one man and one woman married to each other. Any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, or any attempt to change or disagree with one’s biological sex is sinful and offensive to God. We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

We believe in one holy, universal Church made up of all who trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We also believe that God calls all followers of Christ to unite with other believers in local Churches to help one another trust and treasure Jesus above all else, to praise Him together, to be and make disciples, to grow in our love for and knowledge of Him, and to stir each other up to love and good works. We believe a local Church is a congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, exercising the gifts, rights and privileges given to them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. We believe a Church’s only scriptural officers are Elders (also known as Overseers or Pastors) and Deacons.

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  It is an act of obedience that displays our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and our own death to sin and resurrection to a new life in Him. We believe that Members of the Church should regularly share in the Lord’s Supper to commemorate together the dying love of Christ and reaffirm our hope in His return.

We believe it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to seek to make disciples, in their own communities and of all nations. We believe every child of God should constantly seek to win the lost to Christ both by verbal witness to Christ and by holy and fruitful lives of love that adorn and validate the message of the Gospel. We believe local Churches can best promote the cause of Christ by cooperating with one another and as occasion requires are free to voluntarily associate with other like-minded Churches and organizations to fulfill the Great Commission.

We believe in the personal, visible, and bodily return of Jesus to earth and the establishment of His kingdom. We believe the dead will be raised and that Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment, and the righteous, in resurrected and glorified bodies, will enjoy eternal happiness in God’s presence in the New Heavens and the New Earth.