Our Statement of Faith:
The Bible – we believe:
- That the scriptures are inerrant, inspired by God, and are our only source of authority for faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
God – we believe:
- There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), but He manifests Himself in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 1:8; Gen. 1:26). Three attributes of God are: Omniscience, or knowledge of everything (Psalm 139:1-6); Omnipresence, of being everywhere (Psalm 139:7-12); Omnipotence, or pre-eminence in power (Matthew 28:18, Revelation 19:6).
- God the Father is the Father over all creation (Genesis 1:1), Father of the nation of Israel (Exodus 4:22), Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:17), and the Father of Believers in Christ (Gal.3:26). Even though He is a God of love (1 John 4: 8-10), He is also a God of Judgment (Acts 17:30-31; Matthew 25:31-46).
- God the Son has always existed (John 1:1), at a point in time became a man, being born of a virgin (Matthew 1:23), but remained fully God as is evidenced by His sinless life (II Cor. 5:21). He died in our behalf, rose bodily on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9), and will return for His church (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Salvation is only attained through the name of Jesus Christ (John 14:6) who is the Lord of all (Philippians 2:10-11).
- God the Holy Spirit convicts of the need of salvation (John 16:8) and is the source of the Believer’s guarantee that he is sealed for eternally (Ephesians 1:13,14). Every Believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9) and is thus equipped of Christian Service (Ephesians 4:7,12).
Redemption – we believe:
- That God has clearly revealed, through His Word, how we can have eternal life (John 20:31).
- All men are sinners (Romans 3:23) and God’s righteous judgment for sin is spiritual death (Romans 6:23).
- God has provided for our sin through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16), who died in our place to atone for our sin (I Pet. 3:18; I Tim. 2:5,6), and rose that we might have life (Romans. 8:9,11).
- Salvation is of faith alone and cannot be earned (Eph 2:8); it is a gift of God (Eph 2:8).
- It is each person’s responsibility to repent, or turn away from, their sin and rebellion against God (Luke 13:3), and acknowledge their faith in Christ as Savior and Lord (Rom.10:9,10).
- Baptism, by immersion, testifies to our conversion through faith in Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20, I Pet. 3:21). Every account of conversion in the book of Acts includes the response of baptism.
- Believers can have confidence concerning their eternal salvation (John 5:24, I John 5:11-13).
The Church – we believe:
- The Church is the body of Christ, composed of all believers everywhere, with Christ as the Head (Romans 12:405; Ephesians 5:23).
- Scripture has given us foundational practices for maturing of the Church (Acts 2:42).
- Teaching
- Fellowship
- Communion
- Prayer
- That the autonomous local church should be organized with only qualified leadership (Hebrews 13:7, 17):
- Elders, being the spiritual shepherds (Acts 20:28) are to be qualified men willing to oversee the church (1 Timothy 3:1-6, Titus 1:7-9, 1 Peter 5:1-3).
- Deacons, being the servants for Christ working with and under the direction of the elders (Phil. 1:1, Acts 6:1-6). The character of each deacon would meet the qualifications set forth in Scripture (I Tim. 3:8-13; Acts 6:3).
- The Church should practice two ordinances, which were prescribed by Jesus Christ and testify to our salvation by grace:
- Baptism, by immersion, declaring faith in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:1-4).
- Communion, proclaiming our assurance of forgiveness because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Cor.11:26).
- Each member of the Body of Christ should have a Christian walk that is in accord with the teaching of Scripture. This walk is outlined in Ephesians as:
- Walk in good works (2:10).
- Walk worthy of our calling (4:1).
- Walk not as others walk (4:17).
- Our Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned the church with two responsibilities:
- Evangelize the world (Matt. 28: 18-20; Mark 16:15; John 15:16).
- Equip the saints (Acts 20:32; Ephesians 4:11-13; Colossians 2:6-8).