What We Believe

We believe there is only one true, living and eternal God, who directly and immediately created all things, and who is holy and infinitely perfect.  In Him all things have their source, support, and end. The Godhead is revealed in a loving trinity of equally divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each one equal and alike in substance, yet differing in subsistence.

We believe Jesus Christ is God the Son, truly God and truly man. Jesus, Israel's promised Messiah, was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified,  rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

We believe the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ in all He does. He convicts the world of its guilt/sin. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

We believe the Holy Scriptures are the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. As the inspired and infallible Word of God, the Bible is without error, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. The Bible alone, and above all documents and human teaching, is to be believed in all that it teaches; obeyed in all that it requires; trusted in all that it promises; and is therefore the only reliable guide of Christian faith and conduct. The Bible is the sole and final source of all that we believe.

We believe God created people in His own image to bring Him glory and honor through obedience. When people voluntarily rebelled and disobeyed God, they became fallen and sinful, separated from God, and unable to restore that relationship by their own power. As a result, the curse of sin and death passed unto all mankind. Although we are born in sin, we believe  infants are in the covenant of God’s grace and that all people become accountable to God when they reach a state of moral responsibility.

We believe salvation is a gift of God's grace alone and has been provided and made available for all mankind through the redemptive work of the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession of Jesus Christ. It can be received only through repentance of sin toward God and through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not simply knowledge of, or belief in, Jesus Christ, but is an intentional act and choice of personal trust in Jesus Christ as Lord, accompanied by the miracles of regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification.

We believe those who abide in Christ have the assurance of salvation. However, we believe the Christian retains the freedom of choice; therefore, it is possible to turn away from God and be finally lost.

We believe Christians should live their lives wholeheartedly committed to and faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by serving in and through the local church, praying diligently, witnessing earnestly, showing loving kindness, giving in faith, and conducting themselves in such a way as to bring glory to God in all ways and at all times.

We believe the Church is the universal Body of Christ, the fellowship of all believers, and that its members have been called out from the world to come under the dominion and authority of the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ.  We believe a local church is a fellowship of Christians, who are part of the Body of Christ and are voluntarily banded together for worship, praise, exhortation, discipleship, service, fellowship, and evangelism.

We believe baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances instituted by Christ to be observed by Christians only.  These ordinances are not the means of salvation, nor do they confer special grace. True baptism is the inward receiving of God's Spirit by asking in faith for Him to become Lord of one's life through salvation.  We celebrate this inward working of salvation through a visible outward and public symbol of water baptism by immersion. These ordinances are an outward expression of what God has done in an individual.

We believe in the sanctity of the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, and that this day ought to be observed by worshipping God as a corporate  body.  We believe this day should not distract or relieve the Christian from worshipping and serving God on a daily basis, but should be set aside as a special time of worship with other believers.

We believe that all human life at all stages of human growth - the unborn, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death - is sacred. We believe that children are a blessing from the Lord and that life begins at conception. We are therefore called to defend, protect and value all human life. We further state that the Bible is the sole and final source of all that we believe and any current or future conflict in our society with these beliefs are a spiritual battle and not a political choice.

We believe God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as biologically male or biologically female and these two distinct genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one's biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person, and is offensive to God. The Bible is explicitly consistent in equating gender with biological sex. There is no gender spectrum or continuum even hinted at in the Bible.

We believe the term "marriage" has only one meaning: it is a covenant sanctioned by God, uniting one biological man and one biological woman in a single, exclusive union, as set forth in Scripture. God intends sexual intimacy to only occur within the bounds of Biblically defined marriage. Any form of sexual immorality outside of these Biblical bounds within marriage is sinful and offensive to God. Sexual immorality includes pornography, lust, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or any attempt to change one's biological sex or 'identify' as any other gender.

 We believe in the certain and physical return of Jesus Christ, and in the bodily resurrection of the dead.  We believe God will judge all mankind by Jesus Christ; that He will reward the righteous with eternal life in heaven, and that those who reject God will forfeit that gift and suffer everlasting punishment in hell and eternal separation from God.