What We Believe

BIBLE

We believe in the Holy, Inspired, Infallible, Word of God.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.
It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction.
It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.
It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
That the Bible is the final authority in all matters of Faith & Conduct.

2 Timothy 3:16; Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua. 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11, 89, 105, 140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah. 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff,; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25- 26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

GOD

There is one and only one living & true God.

He is intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe.
God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections.
God is all-powerful and all-knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures.
To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.
The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.

GOD THE FATHER

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history according to the purposes of His grace.

He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.
God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalms 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3; 15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1- 8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Col. 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 /John 5:7.

GOD THE SON...JESUS CHRIST

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of our Lord Jesus Christ

Christ is the eternal Son of God.
In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion.
He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the absolute and essential deity, and in the personality of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine.
Through illumination He enables men to understand truth.
He exalts Christ.
He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.
He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.
His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ.

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28- 32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10, 12; Luke 1:35; 4:1, 18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17, 39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11, 14-16, 26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11, 13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8, 14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

MANKIND

Man is the special creation of God, created in His own image.

He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation.
The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation.
In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice.
By his free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.
Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence, whereby his posterity inherited a nature and an environment inclined toward sin.
Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation.
Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.
The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5, 7, 18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18, 23; 5:6, 12, 19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18, 29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19, 21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

SALVATION

The Salvation, by the Grace of God, of any sinner who personally repents of his sin and trusts in the death burial & resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, as the Only way of salvation from sin.

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man.
And is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.
There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14, 29; 3:3-21, 36; 5:24; 10:9, 28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18, 29-39; 10:9-10, 13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8- 22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8, 14; James 2:14- 26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1 to 22:5.

GOD'S PURPOSE OF GRACE

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, and glorifies sinners.

It is consistent with the free agency of man and comprehends all the means in connection with the end.
It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable.
It excludes boasting and promotes humility.
All true believers endure to the end.
Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.
Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 19-22; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22, 31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45, 65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6, 12, 17-18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7, 26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 15:24- 28; Ephesians 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10, 19; Hebrews 11:39-12:2; James 1:12;1 Peter 1:2-5, 13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.

THE CHURCH

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the Faith and Fellowship of the Gospel...

Observing the two ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His word; and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The autonomy and independence of each local church.
Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Jesus Christ through democratic processes.
In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord.
Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.
While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The cooperation with other like-minded churches to preach the Gospel to every creature.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ, which includes all the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.
The personal stewardship of time, opportunity, energy, influence, and material possessions of every person, and the personal accountability to God for such stewardship.

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42, 47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23, 27; 15:1- 30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11, 21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; I Timothy 2:9-14;1 Timothy 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2- 3; 21:2-3.

BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in the water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior;
The believer’s death to sin;
The burial of the old life;
And the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead.
Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience

Thereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; Acts 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

THE LORD'S DAY

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day

It is a Christian institution for regular observance.
It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.
Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3, 33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1, 19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Col. 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

LAST THINGS

God in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end...
According to His Promise...

Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth;
The dead will be raised;
And, Christ will judge all men in righteousness.
The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment.
The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
After the judgments of God upon this sinful world in the Great Tribulation, Jesus our Lord will come with His saints to establish His millennial kingdom.

Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27, 30, 36, 44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40, 48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28, 35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff., 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13.

EVANGELISM & MINISTRIES

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.

The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others.
Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations.
It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.

Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthews 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37- 43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8, 16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17.

THE CHRISTIAN & SOCIAL ORDER

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society.

Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.
In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography.
We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick.
We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.
Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.
In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
Therefore, the greatest contribution the Church can make to social betterment is to bring individuals to a heart-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalms 101:5; Micah 6:8; Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16, 43-48; 22:36-40; 25:35; Mark 1:29- 34; 2:3ff.; 10:21; Luke 4:18-21; 10:27-37; 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15; Romans 12-14; 1 Corinthians 5:9- 10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12- 17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8.

THE FAMILY

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society.

It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.
It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God since both are created in God’s image.
The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people.
A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church.
He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family.
A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.
She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage.
Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26 28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6, 15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-