Statement of Faith

We believe that the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament Scriptures are holy, inspired of God, authoritative, free from error and the final authority in doctrine and practice. [i]

We believe that there is one God eternally existent in three equal and distinct Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [ii]

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man, that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, that He lived a sinless life relinquishing the independent use of His divine attributes.  We believe He stepped into human history, died on the cross for the sins of all mankind according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again bodily on the third day in triumph over Satan, Hell and Death.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, and the Head of the church. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted to the right hand of God where, as High Priest to His people, He serves as our Advocate and intercedes for us. [iii]

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer from the moment of salvation manifesting His presence through a life that glorifies and magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ through holiness and love.  We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a holy and godly life.

We believe in the gifting of the Holy Spirit to each believer to equip them for edification and ministry. [iv]

We believe that man was created innocent and in the image and likeness of God but through the sin of the first man, the human race and all of man’s descendants inherited a sin nature.  The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death.  Therefore, the whole human race has fallen short of the glory of God, and is subject to eternal separation from God.  Man can do nothing to merit the favor of God and is therefore in need of salvation.

We believe God created mankind in His image, forming each person in the womb from conception until the point of death; and assigned gender to each person, male (man) and female (woman).  He created them sexually and biologically different, but with equal personal dignity and value.

We believe that God ordained marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman. Those who accept and live within God’s design for sex, biological gender, and marriage experience the blessing of His good design.  Decisions to change, alter, or modify God’s design for marriage, sex, or gender are part of man’s brokenness and God’s judgment on sinful man. (Romans 1) [v]

We believe God so loved the world that He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin for the salvation of mankind.  We believe that salvation comes by God’s grace alone through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as total payment for all sins.  Forgiveness of sin comes through the death of Jesus Christ and life comes through His resurrection. Therefore, repentance (turning from self-reliance to faith in Jesus), and full dependence on God’s grace produce a new life.  We believe that each new believer should be baptized in water, in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit after coming to faith, according to the command of Jesus. [vi]

We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.  We believe that there is one universal Church, one body, ordained of God, consisting of all true believers in Jesus Christ.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.  We believe that, as a local assembly of Christ followers, we should obey His Great Commission by making disciples and teaching them to observe all that He commanded.  Our purpose as part of the universal Church is to be salt and light to a fallen world.  We do this by putting Him on display in what we do both individually and corporately. [vii]

We believe in the bodily, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven in glory to establish on the earth a kingdom in which He shall reign in righteousness and peace.  We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost.  The saved will be given glorified bodies to enjoy unending blessedness with the Lord Jesus Christ, the lost to eternal damnation in the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [viii]