What We Believe

We believe God is a sovereign, just, holy and loving heavenly Father.  It is God's nature to share Himself, and therefore exists as trinity. God shared Himself with sinful humanity when, because of His love for the world, He gave His only begotten Son.  He is the source of all life, all living things are therefore responsible to Him.  He is a rewarder of those who obey Him, and the Judge of those who do evil.

We believe that God revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. We believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, Son of God, Son of Man, fully God, fully human, dwelling among humanity through the incarnation. As the perfect man, without sin, He gave His life as the perfect sacrifice for mankind. Having offered Himself "once for all" He now exercises His High Priestly ministry by interceding on behalf of the saints, waiting for the day when He comes to earth again.

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, is the giver and renewer of life. He works to convict us of sin, unrighteousness, and the judgment to come.  He is the teacher of truth and calls sinners to repentance and to life in Jesus Christ. He applies the work of Christ for salvation, purifies and empowers those who believe for holy living. He is the comforter, sanctifier, encourager, the giver of gifts, and our moment by moment guide as we, by faith, believe.

We believe that the Bible is the word of God, written by holy men of old as they were enabled to communicate God's truth without error. We believe that the scripture is infallible and inerrant in its original autographs. The Bible is our rule of faith and practice, and a revelation of God Himself and His will for all people.  Written over 1,500 years by as many as 40 authors, the scripture is authoritative in matters of faith, doctrine, and practice.

We believe that God created all people in His image, with the ability to relate to God in freedom, as immortal, spiritual beings. The original state of humanity was one of holy love relating, God to human, human to God, human to human. After the fall, human beings became a corrupt expression of God's image and incapable of any positive move toward God, except through the work of divine or prevenient grace. Only through the justifying, regenerating, sanctifying grace of God can we be saved from the pervasive corruption of sin and be conformed to the image of God.
 
God has, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, placed supreme value on all people. He has revealed His interest and involvement in the life of every individual as He has "formed my inward parts; ...covered me in my mother's womb; ...saw my substance, being yet unformed" and that in His book the days of my life were written, "fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them". Since God has placed such supreme value on every person, we believe in the sanctity of life in all its stages.
 
The two great commandments which require us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, summarize God's purpose for humanity as it is revealed in the Scriptures.

We believe that salvation is the process by which God forgives sin, renews man to favor, enlivens a soul dead in trespasses and sin, and draws a soul toward sanctification.  Full salvation indicates a full redemption from all the effects of sin. Guilt, separation from God, death, and depravity all must be dealt with in salvation. Thus, the work of Christ is sufficient for all our needs.  This salvation is grounded in the love of God, provided by the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and applied by the active work and presence of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the Church is composed of all those who believe in Jesus Christ, who is the founder and only Head of the Church. It is universal, being made up of true believers of all nations, and it is holy, belonging to God. The Church includes both those believers who have gone to be with the Lord and those who remain on earth, having dedicated themselves to the work of Jesus Christ until He returns. The Church on earth is to preach the pure Word of God, properly administer the sacraments according to Christ's instructions, and live in obedience to all that Christ commands.
A local church is a body of believers formally organized on gospel principles, meeting together for the purposes of evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, fellowship, and worship.

We believe for men and women to appropriate what God's prevenient grace has made possible, they must voluntarily respond in repentance and faith.  In His wonderful grace, God gives to each person the ability to respond to Him in repentance and faith.  Repentance is prompted by the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit.  It involves a willful change of mind that renounces sin and longs for righteousness, a godly sorrow for and a confession of past sins, proper restitution for wrongdoings, and a resolution to reform one's life.  Repentance is the precondition for saving faith, and without it saving faith is impossible. Faith, in turn, is the only condition of salvation. It begins in the agreement of the mind and the consent of the will to the truth of the gospel, but issues in a complete reliance by the whole person in the saving ability of Jesus Christ and a complete trusting of oneself to Him as Savior and Lord. Saving faith is expressed in a public acknowledgment of His Lordship and identification with His Church.

We believe that God is the Judge of all, and the acts of His judgment are based on His omniscience and eternal justice.  All persons will meet before His throne of majesty and power, where everything will be revealed--every desire, inclination, motivation, and action--will be examined. The final destiny of each person is determined by God's grace and that person's response, evidenced inevitably by a moral character which results from the individual's personal and volitional choices and not from any arbitrary decree of God.  The new heaven and earth with its eternal glory and the blessedness of Christ's presence is the final home of those who choose the salvation which God provides through Jesus Christ. For those who have neglected so great a salvation it is eternal torment and complete separation from the life of God.