Our Statement of Faith:
1. We Believe that the Scriptures of the Old & New Testament were verbally inspired by God to the original writers and that the original writings and accurate translations of the original writings are are inerrant and infallible. We believe also that these Scriptures are the supreme, final and only authority in all matters of life, faith and practice.
(2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)
2. We Believe in one God, eternally existing in one essence, yet three co-equal persons, the Trinity or Godhead: Father, Son & Holy Spirit, Who exist in perfect unity of will and purpose maintain individual personalities.
(Genesis 1:1, John 10:30, Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22, 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16,17)
The distinctions and relationships within the Godhead (Trinity), as to operation, is not possible for our finite human minds to fully grasp, because it is unexplained fully in the Bible and because it is related to the Spirit-nature of God which is beyond our human comprehension. (Luke 1:35; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Matthew 11:25-27; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 1:3,4)
3. We Believe that Jesus Christ (The Son) was begotten by God (The Father), conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to the virgin Mary. Therefore, from His Conception as "Immanuel," or "God with us", and for the rest of eternity, He is acknowledged to be both fully God AND fully man. (Matthew 1:23; 1 John 4:2,10,14; Revelation 1:13,17; Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:34-35)
4. We Believe in the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He is the indwelling Life of the believer and He empowers the preaching, teaching and understanding of the Gospel.
5. We Believe that Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, but through their sin (direct, personal rebellion), they incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God, which is separation from Life, and that every subsequent human being is born "a child of the devil" with a sinful (rebellious) nature, making them "enemies of God", worthy only of eternal punishment.
6. We Believe that God, in His perfection, must (and will) justly and righteously pour out His wrath upon those who die in their sinful rebellion, judged by Jesus as "having never known Him". We believe that to receive salvation we must come to Him in repentance, "confessing our sin", turning away from our sin, and putting our faith ONLY in the righteousness that Jesus Christ offers us freely. We believe that understanding this "True Gospel" causes us to count any and all of our good works or deeds as worthless since they are inefficient to bring us any measure or hope of righteousness or salvation.
7. We Believe that, according to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and made himself the voluntary, representative and substitutionary Sacrifice for our sin by dying on the cross in our place, thus satisfying the wrath of God toward those who accept the Gift.
We believe that He paid (in-full) the sin-debt that we owed to God, accepting on Himself the punishment that we deserve...death
(1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21 Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 2:9)
We believe that Jesus thus satisfied the end result of both God's divine justice and and His infinite love... that by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, all who put their trust and faith for their righteousness & salvation in Him alone are guaranteed justification on the basis of His shed blood alone, without any part of our righteousness or salvation being attributed to any of our works, deeds, ordinances, or ceremonies we might perform or in which we might partake or subscribe.
(Hebrews 4:15, 7:26)
8. We Believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, being raised in the same crucified body in which He both lived and died. After His resurrection, we believe that Jesus Christ physically ascended to sit at the right hand of God, the Father where He now dwells as our High Priest, the only mediator/advocate between God and man, the intercessor for those who have rested in His Grace, putting their faith in Him alone for their righteousness and salvation.
(Acts 1:9,11; 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3; Mark 16:19, Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; John 11:25, I Corinthians 15:4)
9. We Believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will return to earth personally, bodily, and visibly, in power and glory, to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.
(Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11-16)
10. We Believe that all men, women, and children, living and dead, who, through faith, have put their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their righteousness and salvation are born again by the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
They are the Church, the Body of Christ ,and Jesus Christ is the Head of His Body. We believe that the faith of one who places his trust in the Savior for his righteousness is manifested by (1) good works, (2) a desire to share the Gospel, and (3) the "Fruit of the Spirit" (Faith without works is dead.-James 2:14-26)
11. We Believe that both the just (saved, sheep, wheat) and the unjust (lost, goats, tares), will be resurrected bodily to stand before Jesus Christ, and that the lost will be judged "guilty" and will depart into an everlasting, conscious suffering in hell. We believe that those redeemed will be counted righteous in Christ and will enter into the fellowship of the redeemed in eternity.
12. We Believe in the existence of a personal devil, Satan, who is still working in the world to destroy the souls of men and that he and all of his angels will eternally perish in the lake of fire.
13. We Believe in the Church, the Body of Christ, whose mission is to preach the Gospel (Good News of Jesus Christ) and teach the Scriptures to all the world, all of its endeavors being guided by godly leadership and supported by the wise stewardship of God's people.
14. We Believe that the ordinances of the Church, given by the Lord, are Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Communion)
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What is our "Life in Christ" like?
We Believe that every believer is called to continually walk in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (to be "filled with the Spirit") We believe that "true converts" will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear that fruit which is a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The end result of the "Fruit of the Spirit" is that believers become a true witness to the lost of the reality of their inward change, which in turn glorifies Jesus Christ and draws the unbeliever to Salvation.
We Believe that those who are in Christ are motivated by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel to the world both in word and deed. (I John 4:16-17).
We Believe believe in the spiritual unity of those who are in Christ (Romans 8:9, I Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 3:26-28).
We Believe that the Body of Jesus Christ is admonished to assemble together regularly:
• For spiritual edification through studying the Bible
• For offering praise and worship to God
• To to pray together
• For fellowship and mutual encouragement
• To share the Lord's Supper
• To baptize new believers
• To make disciples who will take the Good News of Jesus Christ back out into a dying world.
