Statement of Faith
The Word of God
We believe that the Bible, comprised of both Old and New Testaments containing 66 books, are the very words of God written through human authors. As such the Bible is fully inspired by God and completely authoritative, infallible, and inerrant in all it addresses. These Scriptures contain the complete revelation of God’s will and plan for salvation. They are intended to bring people to faith, teach, guide, correct, and nourish the believer, and are the final, divine authority for all matters of Christian faith and life.
2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 2:1-2; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Luke 1:3-4, Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 19:7-11; Isaiah 55:10-11.
God
We believe in one living and true God, creator of all things, perfect in every way, without beginning or end, and eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and that these are equal in every divine attribute and perfection.
Genesis 1:1, 26; Psalm 90:1-2; Isaiah 45:5-6, 21-22; Acts 17:24-28; 2 Corinthians 13:14, Matthew 28:19.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe in His sinless life, miracles, and teachings that hold the full authority of God Himself. We believe in His substitutionary and atoning death on the cross in payment for the right and just penalty of humanity’s sin against a good and holy God. We believe in His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven where He is now exalted at the right hand of God and intercedes for His people, as well as His personal visible return to earth as promised in the Scriptures.
John 1:1-3, 14; Luke 1:26-37; Romans 3:21-26, 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 20-24; 1 Timothy 2:5-6.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God alongside the Father and the Son. We believe the Holy Spirit is a personal being (not an impersonal force) who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We believe the Spirit regenerates the believer (changes their heart) into new life in Christ at the moment of salvation, sanctifies the believer into greater and greater Christ-likeness, and seals the believer as a guarantee of their salvation unto the day of redemption. We believe that the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer and that He guides, instructs, and empowers them for godly living and service. We also believe the Spirit gives gifts to God’s people, the church, for the mutual upbuilding of one another and to reach those who don’t yet believe.
Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 14:16-17, 26; Acts 1:8, Romans 8:16-17, 26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:4, 10-16; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5-6.
Mankind
We believe that mankind was created in the image and likeness of God, but that because of Adam's sin (willful rebellion against God), mankind fell and thereby rightly deserves physical, spiritual, and eternal death under God’s good and righteous judgement. We believe all human beings are born with a sin nature and regularly make personal choices to sin. Because of sin, mankind is alienated and separated from God and unable to remedy their lost condition on their own. Thanks be to God that He intervenes and saves many men and women through His free gift of grace and forgiveness, something accepted by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. As such we believe that those whom God saves become completely forgiven of sin and get to dwell with God in recreated bodies with all sin and brokenness removed in a renewed heaven and earth when He returns.
Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3; Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22-27; Ephesians 2:1-10; Revelation 21:1-14, 22:1-5.
Salvation
We believe that salvation (total deliverance from all harm, all broken things made right) is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received through personal faith in Jesus Christ whose blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that the only way people receive salvation is through Jesus. We believe that when someone trusts in Jesus Christ as Savior they repent of their sin, are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, become new creations in Christ, are reconciled back to God in relationship, are freed from condemnation, and receive eternal life as God's children. We believe this is experienced to a degree here on earth, and completely in the next life with God.
John 1:12-13, 3:3-6, 3:16-18, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23-26, 10:9-13; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Ephesians 2:8-10.
The Church
The word “church” is an English translation of a biblical word that means “assembly” or “called out ones” and is made up of God’s people who love Him. We believe in the universal church which is made up of all people who have been saved by faith in Jesus, of which He is also the head and Lord. We believe that God’s design is for the universal church to manifest itself in local churches as patterned in scripture, and that every believer is called to be a part of a local church. We believe in the autonomy of each local church under the headship of Christ and his teachings delivered through the apostles (the New Testament) to decide and govern its own affairs. We believe that God has given the local church the primary task of taking the good news of Jesus Christ (the gospel) to the world and helping believers grow and glorify the God more and more.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:22, 2:19-22, 4:14-16; Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Matthew 28:18-20.
Last Things
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ when he will exercise his role as final Judge. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessing in the presence of God in the new heaven and the new earth. On that day all believers will be faultless before God because of the obedience and triumph of Jesus with all sin purged and its effects forever banished.
Matthew 10:28,16:27, 24:4-31; John 14:3; 1 Corinthians 15:40-58; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18, 5:1-11; Titus 2:13; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15.