See how we view God, Jesus, the Bible, man, and many significant aspects of our faith.
They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.
Psalm 78:35
They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.
Psalm 78:35
We believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired Word of God, without error in the original manuscripts, and the supreme and final authority in doctrine and practice. We believe the Bible, including all sixty-six books of the Old Testament and New Testament, is Holy Scripture and was written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is fully authoritative and serves as a the only trustworthy blueprint for life and faith.
Supportive Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 5:46-47, 2 Peter 1:21
We believe in the one, triune God who is of one substance, power, and purpose yet eternally existing in three equally divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is the pre-existent, eternal creator of all things and the sovereign ruler over the heavens and the earth. He upholds, directs, and governs all things according to the infallible, unchanging counsel of His own purposes and will. He is entirely sufficient in of Himself, not dependent or in need of anything He has made. God the Father hears, answers, and intervenes prayer according to His love, wisdom, and providence. He draws sinful, fallen man to Himself, forgiving sin and delivering from death those who come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, for salvation.
Supportive Scripture: Genesis 1:2, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 2 Corinthians 13:14, John 10:30, John 1:1, Ephesians 4:5-6, Psalms 90:2, 103:19, Isaiah 43:13, Ephesians 3:9, 1 Timothy 1:7, Isaiah 14:24, 46:9-10, Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19, James 1:17, Psalms 139:1-6, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7, 1 John 4:8, John 3:16, 1 Peter 1:3, 2 Peter 3:9
We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal, begotten Son of God, who became man, without ceasing to be God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary and manifested in a body of flesh. He lived a perfect, sinless life and performed many signs and miracles. He accomplished our redemption through His substitutionary atonement on the cross, where He was physically crucified, suffered, bled, died, and was buried. Through His death on the cross, He secured for us eternal redemption and made a way for life everlasting. We believe our redemption and salvation are guaranteed by His literal, physical resurrection on the third day from the dead and that He is the only means of salvation. We believe He then ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father and as High Priest, He serves as our Advocate, the only Savior and Mediator between God and man. He 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 His Body the church. He will personally return for a final resurrection of His people and judge His creation to usher in the final portion of redemptive history. At His appearing, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Supportive Scripture: John 1:1, 14, John 3:16, Luke 1:35, 1 John 2:2, John 14:61, Corinthians 15:17, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 1:3, 3-1, 1 John 2:1-2, Colossians 1:15-19, Philippians 2:5-8
We believe in the Holy Spirit, eternally one with the Father and Son, who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We believe the Holy Spirit is a person who draws the unredeemed to repentance and faith, bringing them into union with Christ and the Body of Christ. At the moment of salvation, the Spirit baptizes believers into the body, seals them for salvation, regenerates them to new life, empowers them for service and witness, imparts spiritual gifts, and is fully present to continually fill, guide, and equip the believer for Christ-like living.
Supportive Scripture: Genesis 1:2, John 16:7-13, John 14:26, Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 3:5-8, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 2:10-13, 12:4-13
We believe the Church universal is the Body of Christ, with Christ as its all-authoritative Head, and is made up of believers who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation. We believe the local church is a gathering of believers who are voluntarily joined together for the purposes of the teaching and study of the God’s Word, worship, prayer, observance of the ordinances of communion and baptism, Christian fellowship, exercising their spiritual gifts for service within the local body, and engaging in evangelism to the lost through the fulfillment of the Great Commission. We believe wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to these commands there is a local expression of leadership under a plurality of church elders.
Supportive Scripture: Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18, Acts 2:42-46, Hebrews 10:24-251 Corinthians 12, Romans 12:6-8 Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 Acts 14:23, 1 Peter 5:1-4
We believe that God created mankind - male and female - in His own image as the crown of all creation. Under the sovereign, redemptive plan of God, man fell into temptation, and chose to rebel against God bringing sin, death, and condemnation to all mankind. Through this sin, man incurred not only a physical death, but also a spiritual death and became incapable of returning to God apart from Jesus Christ. For this reason, we believe all human beings are totally depraved by nature and by choice through their mind, will, and actions. Although this corruption is pardoned through Christ, it is never completely gone until our glorification with Christ, thus serving as a reminder of our desperate need of a Savior.
Supportive Scripture: Genesis 1:27-28 Genesis 2:17, 3:1-6, Romans 5:12-21, James 1:13-15 John 6:44, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1-5
We believe salvation is a sovereign gift of God and is received through a personal faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It is only through Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross in which complete payment for our sins can been made, completely satisfying the demands of God’s holy justice. This free gift of salvation is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Salvation is apart from works and no man is justified in the sight of God partly by Christ and partly by works. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation and that no one is saved apart from a conscious, personal decision to trust in Christ as their one and only Savior. We believe all true believers, once saved, are made a new creation by the Holy Spirit, declared righteous before God, and are eternally secure in Christ forever. Believers may fall into sin through neglect, spiritual apathy, and temptation, whereby they grieve the Holy Spirit and degrade their God-given graces and joy. Even so, they will be kept by the power of God through faith and will never fall away because God, by His grace, preserves them.
Supportive Scripture: John 6:44 Romans 3:23, Colossians 2:13-15 Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-10, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:9-10, John 10:27-30, Jude 24-25, 1 Peter 1:3-5, Romans 8:28-30
We believe the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper were instituted by Christ and are to be observed by believers, within the church, until His return. We believe that baptism is the water immersion of a believer in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that Christian baptism is a public declaration of a believer’s decision to follow Christ identifying with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We believe that infants may be dedicated to the Lord but should not participate in baptism until they can articulate their faith and the purpose of baptism. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a regular reminder of Christ’s death through the sacrifice of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross. It is a right for every believer, in anticipation of His second coming, and should be preceded by a time of solemn self-examination. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are significant expressions of salvation, worship, and submission to God for the believer.
Supportive Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:38-41, 1 Corinthians 11:26, Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34, Acts 8:35-39, Romans 6:3-6, Colossians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 10:16, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
We believe God is the only authority in matters of marriage and sexuality for all people, and the term “marriage” only has one meaning: a sacred covenant between one man and one woman joining together in an exclusive, complementary, permanent union. This bond is to represent the heavenly covenant between Christ and His Church, therefore intended not to be broken by anything but death. Jesus stated that marriage was created by God from the beginning, so no human institution has the authority to redefine marriage any more than a human institution has the authority to redefine Scripture. We believe sex is a gift from God to be enjoyed solely within the covenant of the marriage relationship. We believe that the exercise of sexual expression outside of this biblical definition of marriage, including but not limited to lustful thought, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, premarital sex, bisexuality, transgenderism, or polygamy does not align with God’s design for sexuality and marriage. We believe that God created mankind in His image: male (man) and female (woman), sexually and biologically different, but with equal personal dignity. We believe it is inconsistent with God’s design for a follower of Christ to physically seek to change, alter, or disagree with their biological sex which has been assigned by God The fall of man has corrupted God’s original intent for sexuality and all people have experienced this to some extent. We recognize that these sins are no different than others and we all need to hold fast to the grace given to us through Jesus Christ. We also believe that all forms of abuse, discrimination, slander, and oppression towards fellow humans are offensive to the sacred image of God, which is impressed upon all people.
Supportive Scripture: Genesis 2:18-24, Matthew 19:1-9, Ephesians 5:31-33, Mark 10:5-9, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, Hebrews 13:40, Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 139
We believe the souls of believers in Jesus Christ, at the moment of death, become absent from the body and present with the Lord, and there remain with Him until the resurrection of our earthly bodies at His coming for the Church, when our souls and new incorruptible bodies shall be with Him forever in glory. We believe the souls of unbelievers are held in Hades, until the Great White Throne judgement occurs at the close of the millennium when soul and body reunited will be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting punishment.
Supportive Scripture: Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 15:35-54, Philippians 3:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Matthew 13:49-50, 25:41-46, Luke 16:19-26, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8
We believe that all human life is created by God, in His image (Imago Dei). We believe that human life begins at conception and lasts beyond a natural or physical death into eternity. We advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves including pre-born babies, the elderly, the physically or mentally challenged, the chronically ill, and any other life stage from conception to physical death. Due to these Biblical views regarding human life, we oppose induced abortion and oppose laws that allow abortion.
Supportive Scripture: Psalm 139, Proverbs 31:8–9, Matthew 25:45
We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to collect His Church, an event commonly referred to as the rapture. This event will be followed by a seven-year tribulation period where God’s wrath will be poured out upon the entire earth. At the end of this tribulation period, Jesus Christ will return with His saints to establish the Messianic Kingdom where Christ will rule and reign for a thousand years, ending with the Great White Throne judgement and the creation of a new heaven and earth. We do not believe in the existence of an intermediate state in which the unsaved can atone for their sins after their physical death.
Supportive Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:51-54, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Titus 2:13, Revelation 3:10, Jeremiah 30:7, Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:21, Revelation 6:17, 7:14, 12:6, 12:13-14, 13:5-9, Zechariah 14:4-11, 1Thessalonians 3:13, Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6, Revelation 20:7-15, Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1-5, Hebrews 9:27-28