Our Beliefs
The Bible. We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are given by God's inspiration, and in the original writings they are without error. They are the unique and final authority on all matters of Christian faith and practice. All cures, keys, answers, and solutions needed for a victorious life can be found within the Bible. For this reason, we practice and encourage daily ‘exposure to’ and ‘intake of’ the Word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 15:4; II Peter 1:19-21).
God. We believe in one God. He is sovereign over all His creation, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; John 14:16-18; Philippians 2:5-8).
Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ is the union of God and man. He is fully God who became man, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, revealing to man the love and nature of God the Father. He died on the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of all men. He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, presently is seated at the right hand of the Father, and one day will return for His family. We believe that Jesus Christ our Lord is the only access which humanity has to God the Father (John 1:1-3; Matthew 1:20-23; Hebrews 4:14-15; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Thessalonians 5:1-5; I Timothy 2:5-6).
The Holy Spirit. We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as the third person of the Trinity, is to apply to people the saving work of Christ by bringing conviction of a person's need for the forgiveness of Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life is to guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service. We believe the best way possible to live an effective Christian life is to have God’s power released in our daily living. So we seek to practice a daily dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide, teach, and empower us in every area of life (Romans 8:14-15; Galatians 5:16; John 15:26-27; John 16:13-14).
Humanity. We believe that people were created in the image of God for a loving relationship with God. However, people have rebelled against God, actively or passively choosing to go their own independent way. Thus we are alienated from God and suffer the corruption of our nature because of our sin. The effects of this fall from our intended relationship with God can be reversed through faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23).
Salvation. We believe that Jesus Christ died as the substitution for the death penalty we owed. No amount of good works or human effort can restore us from our state of eternal alienation from God. It is only by God's free gift of grace that we are saved from this state of alienation, and this grace is appropriated by a change of heart toward God's leadership in our lives and by faith in Jesus to forgive our sins. It is by this that one enters into the family of God, releasing them from sin, and granting them eternal life (Acts 15:11; Romans 5:8-9; Romans 10:9-11).
The Church. We believe that there is only one true Church composed of all people who have asked Jesus Christ for forgiveness and made Him leader of their lives. The diversity of all believers working together, using their gifts to build up one another, form the parts of the body of Christ, the Church. The scripture commands believers to gather together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, the teaching of God's Word, using our gifts to build up one another, outreach, communion, and baptism. Wherever God's people meet in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the church. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church, and that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs. The local church has a missional mandate to take the Gospel to it's culture around them and to reach out to people far from God (Matthew 18:20; Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:8).
