What We Believe

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What We Believe About:

God

• God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of all things, visible and invisible. God existed eternally before time began and after the end of time. There is only one God, yet in the unity of the Godhead, there are three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Three are One and coequal.
   

Jesus Christ

• Jesus Christ is the Son of God, not created, but with God in the beginning. He is coequal with the Father. He humbled Himself to come to earth as a human being. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit; born of the virgin Mary; lived a sinless and perfect life; was crucified; died and was buried; on the third day rose to life again; ascended into heaven; and there is seated at the right hand of God the Father. There He is our High Priest and Advocate. He will return to Earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
   

The Holy Spirit

• The Holy Spirit was with God in the beginning. He is coequal with the Father and the Son. He is present in the world to convince humankind of their need for a Savior. He also lives within everyone who is in right relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit gives to the believer power for daily living; ability to understand the spiritual truths and written Word of God; and gifts with which to build the Church and His Kingdom.
   

The Revelation of God

• Through all that He made, God reveals Himself as Creator and Provider. His eternal power and divine nature are clearly made visible in all Creation.
• God revealed Himself through the written and spoken Word. The Spirit of God inspired men to transcribe His Word in the form of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The Bible in its original form is the inerrant Word of God. The Bible declares the will of God for humankind and is the divine and final authority for the believer’s faith and life.
• God revealed Himself especially through the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Word become flesh, full of God’s grace and truth.
   

Human Beings

• In the beginning all that God made was in right relationship with Him, with each other, and with all things. All things were created good.
• Humankind was made in the image of God and is the supreme object of His creation and His love.
• Humankind was given the ability to choose to stay or leave the perfect relationship.
• The first Man and Woman chose to rebel against God by acting on their desire to be “like God”. As natural descendents of the first Man and Woman, humankind lost its perfect relationship with God, with each other, and with all of creation. Sin and death were the result of the original rebellion.
   

Salvation

• In His great mercy, God chose to make things right again.
• Salvation is God’s plan to bring all things back into right relationship. God’s means of salvation is through His Son. Forgiveness of sin and salvation from death come only through the perfect sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ.
• Salvation is a free gift but must be accepted. We can never make up for our sin by doing good works. The only way to be right with God is to accept the gift of salvation. We are saved only through believing in and faith in God’s saving plan.  
• At the moment one receives Jesus Christ, a new and eternal life with God begins.
   

The Church

• The church is the Body of Christ on Earth. The church is both universal and local. The universal church is the spiritual organism of which Christ is the Head, and is composed of all believers. God, the Father, keeps His covenant promises with all His people. Now, the way to the Father is through the Son. The local church is a physical portion of the universal church and is composed of a group of believers who have organized to share in the work of God’s ministry and mission. Beyond personal acceptance of God’s gift of salvation, believers are to be a part of the local church.
• As the Body of Christ, believers are to minister to and to serve one another in love. The Body is to share one another’s joy and sorrow and to bear one another’s burdens. Jesus Christ established the local church as a gathering of His people for mutual support, love and service. We are to gather to worship God and to exercise our Spirit-given gifts for ministry to build His Kingdom.
• As the Body of Christ, we are to observe two ordinances as prescribed by our Lord Jesus Christ: believer’s Baptism by water immersion and the Lord’s Supper. In water Baptism, we obediently retell the story of our Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. We publicly proclaim our personal death to our former self and our newness of life in Christ. We proclaim our adoption into the Body of Christ, the Church. In the Lord’s Supper, we, with thanksgiving, proclaim Christ’s atoning death for us until He comes again. In the Bread, we remember that Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, was broken for the forgiveness of our sins. In the fruit of the vine, we remember that Jesus’ blood was shed to initiate a New Covenant with His people. We remember that we have peace with the Father through Christ’s blood shed on the cross. Both ordinances are open to all followers of Jesus Christ.
• As the Body of Christ, we are to reach out into the world with the healing message of God’s love and gift of salvation. This Christ-given mission to the non-believer is to be carried out with understanding, compassion, healing and love.
   

Eternity

• Humankind was created to exist forever.  We will either exist eternally separated from God by our sin, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally united with God is eternal life. All humankind is appointed to die and then to be judged. Those who have accepted the gift of salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ will be judged righteous and will rise again to be with God at the end of this age. Believers will share in a new Heaven and new Earth, the Paradise of God, the place where all is in right relationship, eternally. Amen.