WHAT WE BELIEVE
We Believe in the Holy Bible
We believe in it so strongly, it is our first Value Statement. We believe the Bible is God's Word. It's 100% accurate, authoritative and applicable to our everyday lives. God speaks to us through the Bible. The Bible contains all we need to know about God, about ourselves, and about life here and hereafter. It contains the good news and the bad news.
We Believe in Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, that He was conceived and born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and sacrificed Himself to be punished in substitution for us as sinners. By the blood of His cross and His resurrection from the dead, He obtained for us the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting with Him in Heaven. He was raised and ascended to the right hand of the Father. He will return to the earth personally and visibly to consummate His kingdom. By His actions and love shown to us, we should always work towards being more like Jesus in our everyday lives.
We Believe in The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit regenerates and lives within all Christians. Jesus Christ baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit to empower believers for ministry and witness. We also believe all the gifts of the Spirit described in the New Testament, are operative today and are designed to testify to the presence of the Kingdom and to empower and lift up the church to fulfill its calling and mission. These gifts are subject to judging and are to confirm, and never supersede, what has been revealed in the Bible.
We Believe in Salvation
We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This saving grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, also sanctifies us by enabling us to do what is pleasing in God’s sight in order that we might be progressively conformed to the image of Christ.
We Believe in Baptism, Communion, & The Church
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to be observed until the time of Christ’s return. They are not a means of salvation. Baptism in water is by immersion and a direct commandment of our Lord for believers only. Water baptism is a symbol of the Christian’s identification with Christ in death, burial and resurrection.
Matthew 26:26-29; 28:19; Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-11; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Col 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21.
We believe that the church is God’s primary instrument through which He is fulfilling His redemptive purposes in the earth. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, God has given apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral and teaching gifts to the church. We also affirm the priesthood of all believers and the importance of every Christian being joined with and actively involved in a local community of the saints.
Matthew 16:17-19; Acts 2:17-18,42; Ephesians 3:14-21; 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:4-10.
God has called the church to preach the gospel to all nations, and especially to remember the poor and to minister to their needs through sacrificial giving and practical service. His desire is for us to worship together as a body in His presence.