WE BELIEVE that there is only one true and living God, eternally existing distinctly in three eternal persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory; that this triune God created all, upholds all and governs all. We believe He has revealed Himself to mankind through the Bible in this manner.
WE BELIEVE in God the Father the eternal, immortal, invisible, infinite, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, unchanging, righteous, merciful, just, holy, true, and personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love; that He concerns himself mercifully in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He demonstrated His love for us all by promising and sending us Jesus Christ, His Son, to save whosoever comes to Him from what we deserve for our sins against Him: condemnation, death, and eternal separation from Him.
WE BELIEVE in Jesus Christ, in His preexistence as the Word, that He is God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth (the Word became flesh), His sinless life, miracles and teaching, His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into Heaven, His perpetual intercession for His people as our one and only High Priest, and His personal, visible return to earth. We believe that Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies regarding His roles as the promised Seed of the Woman, the Messiah and the Suffering Servant and that He will physically return to earth to complete the prophecies of His reigning as the King of kings and Lord of lords on His father, David’s throne.
WE BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit, who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower for ministry all who believe in Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher and Guide. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, His being the One who determines and provides the gifts of the Spirit, and in the proper exercise of all the those gifts as defined by the Word of God.
WE BELIEVE that the Bible, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, are the Word of God, fully inspired without error in the original manuscripts, and the infallible rule of faith and practice containing all a person needs to learn to understand God’s plan for their lives and for humanity and the world. It is the command of God that His people read and study His Word so we may know Him, His will, His directions for how we are to live our lives in a way that pleases and glorifies Him, and how we all can obtain the blessings He gives his children: faith, salvation, eternal life, wisdom, hope, understanding, comfort, discernment, and so much more.
WE BELIEVE in the universal Church, the living spiritual body, of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. The church is not just a building or denomination, but the entire body of believers who come to faith in Christ Jesus from the point when the church was started when the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place as Jesus told the disciples (taking place as recorded in the 2ndchapter of the Acts of the Apostles) and will end when Jesus receives the Church to Himself at the end of the church age, before the start of the Great Tribulation. The purpose of the church is to glorify God; to develop, teach, correct, and edify the believers; and to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ and make disciples of them.
WE BELIEVE that all People are sinners because of our corrupted human nature and our individual choices, and therefore, have earned and deserve God’s righteous condemnation. We also believe that God regenerates, by the Holy Spirit, anyone who repents of their sins, places their faith in completed work of Jesus Christ – His sinless life, sacrificial death in our place, and His bodily resurrection. And that if they confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead, they will be saved, and that they will, as a new believer, be baptized with the Holy Spirit and empowered and gifted for service.
WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ committed two Ordinances to the church: the Lord’s Supper (communion) and baptism (in water). We believe in baptism by immersion, unless it would be unreasonable to accomplish in that manner.
Baptism is done when an individual’s conscious decision is made to make a public and external declaration of the faith they hold internally and signifies their dying to themselves and their “old man”, their original sinful nature, by joining in Christ’s death on the cross by faith, and their rising up again in new life in Christ through their faith in Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus commanded us to observe baptism, and we do so to honor His command and to show our love for Him in obedience. Immersion in water is how the early church instituted Christian baptism, and unless there is no reasonable means to do so, this is the practice we follow. We do not believe the baptism of an infant is actual baptism as it is not their personal choice or decision.
Communion was instituted by Jesus when He completed the Passover meal with His disciples the evening prior to His arrest, illegal trials, and crucifixion. He utilized the elements of unleavened bread and wine as symbols for His body that would be beaten and broken for us and His blood that will be shed for the forgiveness of our sins and to initiate the New Covenant. Communion is only to be observed by those who are in Christ by faith and who take it in a worthy manner. We are to examine ourselves, confess any unconfessed sin, and have our hearts made right with God prior to taking communion together. In communion, we do as Jesus instructed, we remember the sinless life He, our Good Shepherd, laid down for us, taking upon Himself the judgement, penalty, punishment, and wrath of God we deserve for our sins, becoming our substitute as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and granting us His righteousness in its place. Communion is something the Word of God tells us we are to do until the Lord returns. It also acts as a bridge for believers linking us to the suffering and the cross of our Messiah that brought us salvation and to the soon return of our King and High Priest.
WE BELIEVE in the pretribulation rapture of the church and the subsequent, personal, visible, physical second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth accompanied by the church and His holy angels, the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom, the eternal condemnation of Satan and all fallen angels (demons), in the physical resurrection of the body, the final judgment of humanity, the eternal blessing of the righteous, and the endless suffering of the unsaved.