What We Believe
The Bible
We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God. God gave the Bible to us through men who were moved by the Spirit to write the words of Scripture. The Bible is without error. It can and should shape the way we live. (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Hebrews 4:12)
One God
We believe in one God who created the universe, man in His image and is the savior of all people. This one God exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are all together separate and all together one.(Genesis 1:1,26-27, 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-5,18; 1 John 5:7)
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co- equal with the Father. We believe that Jesus became flesh to reveal God, lived a sinless human life, and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of men by dying on a cross. We believe He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven and will return again to earth to reign as King.(Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:22-23; Acts 1:9-11; Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Titus 2:11- 14; Hebrews 4:14-15)
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son as God. We believe God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us live for Him everyday. The Holy Spirit connects people to Christ, equips them in their relationship with God, and helps them share Christ with people who do not know Him. He is manifested through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and grow the church.(John 14:16-17, 16:7-15; Acts 1:8, 2:4; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 12:1- 31, 14:1-40; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18;)
Mankind
We believe that mankind was created in the image of God to have fellowship with Him. However, mankind became alienated from that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, man is totally incapable of coming back into a right relationship with God by his own effort.(Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 3:23)
Relationship With God
We believe that every person has sinned and because of that sin, is separated from God. Jesus Christ chose to come to earth, live, and die on the cross so that people might be forgiven of their sin and begin a relationship with God. Mankind can never make up for his sin by self- improvement or good works. Forgiveness and a relationship with God only occurs when a person places his faith in Jesus Christ as the payment for his sin.(John 1:12, 3:16, 14:6; Romans 3:10, 23, 5:1,12-19, 6:23,10:9- 10; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)
Christian Life
We believe that every Christian should live for Christ and not for himself. By obedience to the Word and being baptized in the Holy Spirit, every believer will mature, be conformed in the image of Christ, and receive power to be a witness in this world. Our life should show Christ.(Matthew 16:24-26; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:29; Galatians 2:20, 5:24-25)
The Church
We believe that the church is the body of Christ of which Jesus Christ is the Head. It is made up of people growing in God, celebrating God together, connecting to each other, serving those in need, and sharing Christ in their community. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving Him and by making Him known to a lost world.(Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:14-16; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Ephesians 1:19-23; 4:15-16; Colossians 1:18)
Eternity
We believe that Jesus Christ will return to the earth one day to take everyone who has believed in Him and entered a relationship with God as Savior to heaven to live for eternity. People who have not chosen to accept Christ will be separated from God for eternity and will not be able to experience heaven.(Romans 3:20-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21:6-8)
Ordinances
We believe the two scriptural ordinances of a New Testament church are water baptism and communion. We follow our Lord’s command to give public evidence of our salvation with baptism by water and faithfully remember Christ’s cleansing blood and broken body with the elements of Holy Communion.(Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41, 8:12-13, 16:30-33; Matthew 26:26-29, Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30)