OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH

OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH

God

We believe there is one living and true God, Creator of all things, the self-existent, sovereign, holy, transcendent, infinitely perfect, infinite and eternally existing. God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is revealed in the unity of the Godhead as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each having a distinct ministry in relation to His creation and His people. These three are co-equal and are one God. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory. 

The Bible 

We believe the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, without error and the authority on which we base our faith, conduct and doctrine.

We believe the Bible, the complete writings of both the Old and New Testaments is the literal Word of God, verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit, inerrant as originally given by God, and infallible as the standard of our faith and practice. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises. 

The Human Condition 

Man was originally created in the image and likeness of God but became a sinful creature by personal rebellion against God and perpetuated a sinful nature to all his descendants. Man is universally sinful by nature and by choice,alienated from God, and under His wrath. He is void of spiritual life and incapable of saving himself. He stands under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, condemned to a literal, eternal, and fiery hell. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. 

Jesus Christ 

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people, was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate. 

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. 

 The Holy Spirit 

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service. 

The Church

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. 

Our Belief in Salvation

We believe Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins. We believe that salvation is found by placing our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. We believe Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again. 

Water Baptism

We believe in baptism in water by immersion for every believer. Baptism in water is a public profession of a believer’s personal faith in Christ. It is an outward testimony of what has happened inwardly with the experience of salvation. It’s a public confession of Jesus’ Lordship in the believer’s life. It represents our dying to the old nature and living in the resurrection power of Christ. It’s an obedient response to Christ’s command.Every born again Christian should be baptized. Baptism is by immersion per the examples set in Scripture. We baptize in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Christian baptism illustrates and symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. At the same time, it also illustrates our death to sin and new life in Christ. As the sinner confesses the Lord Jesus, he dies to sin (Romans 6:11) and is raised to a brand-new life (Colossians 2:12). 

Being submerged in the water represents death to sin, and emerging from the water represents the cleansed, holy life that follows salvation. The apostle Paul in Romans 6:4 puts it this way: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Holy Communion

The Lord’s Supper is the sharing of the bread and the cup by the assembled church as a memorial to the broken body and shed blood of Christ.The elements used to represent Christ's body and blood, are bread and wine. 

The Lord’s Supper is a testimony. By partaking of it, we testify that Jesus’ body was broken for us and that He shed His blood for us. We are to do this in remembrance of Him. When we break the bread, we remember how His body was broken for us. When we drink of the cup, we remember that He shed His blood for our sake for the forgiveness of sins. 

It causes us to remember our Lord’s death and resurrection and to look for His glorious return in the future. When He said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” He indicated this was a ceremony that must be continued in the future.

It indicated also that the Passover, which required the death of a lamb and looked forward to the coming of the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, was fulfilled in the Lord’s Supper. 

The New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant when Christ, the Passover Lamb was sacrificed. The sacrificial system was no longer needed. The Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion is a remembrance of what Christ did for us and a celebration of what we receive as a result of His sacrifice.

“‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” (Luke 22:19-20)

Christian Living

We believe every believer should be in a growing relationship with Jesus by obeying God's Word, yielding to the Holy Spirit and by being conformed to the image of Christ. 

We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.  

Christ’s Return

We believe that Christ will literally return from Heaven in a personal, visible and glorious fashion. We believe that His return is the Blessed Hope, for which all believers should continually watch and pray, and that it signals the consummation of the age and the final disposition of all creation. We also believe that the time of His return is unrevealed but always imminent. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission. 

Response and Eternal Destiny

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

Our Belief in the Church

We believe the Church, in its universal context as the body of Christ, is composed of all believers regardless of name, race, nation or generation.

The local church, as a part of that body, is composed of a group of believers in Christ who have voluntarily joined together and are devoted to one another in love, so that the church can fulfill its purpose and mission.

A New Testament church is a local congregation of born-again, baptized believers united together to proclaim the good news and exalt the Lord Jesus. 

We believe in the two Ordinances of the Local Church. Baptism is the immersion in water of a believer as a public profession of his personal faith in Christ. The Lord’s Supper is the sharing of the bread and the cup by the assembled church as a memorial to the broken body and shed blood of Christ.

The mission of the Church is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Central to this mission is the proclamation of the Word of God for the equipping of each believer to become an effective witness so that the Church will grow to the glory of God. The local church seeks to accomplish its mission by gathering together to participate in worship, instruction, fellowship and service, so that each believer will grow into the full measure of the stature of Christ and, in obedience to him, will reach out in witness to unbelievers. As the Church makes disciples, it becomes a force for restraining evil and producing righteousness in the world.