The Bible
We believe the Bible in its entirety is the inspired and infallible Word of God, supremely and exclusively authoritative in all areas of belief and practice of our faith. (2 Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:20-21)
Therefore, we approach the Bible as the one source of revelation from God that we are to believe, trust, and obey, in all matters of our lives.
God
We believe there is but one living and true God, eternally existing in three Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These Persons are the same in substance, and equal in power and glory. (Gen 1:26, Matt 28:19)
Therefore, we strive to give all honor, worship, and obedience to the Triune God alone, and reject any and all claims of obedience or worship that rival that of the Triune God.
The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the unique, eternal Son of God, fully divine and fully human, and that He came to earth as an infant born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and voluntarily died on the cross as the divinely appointed and accepted substitute for sinners. We believe that He rose bodily from the grave on the third day after His death and now He sits enthroned in heaven, from where He intercedes on behalf of His followers and rules over His Church. (Matt 1:23, Isa 53:4-6,John 10:17-18,Luke 24:1-7, 1 Cor 15:1-4, Eph 1:21-23, Heb 7:25)
Therefore, the sole passion of all we say, do, and will is that of worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ, and appealing to all to join in the worship of the Lord of all, Jesus Christ.
Man
We believe that human beings bear the image of God, retained despite the utter ruin and lost condition of the entire race. We believe that apart from the divinely provided gift of salvation in Jesus Christ all people are truly and rightfully lost and eternally alienated from God. (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:23; 5:14-15)
Therefore, respecting the image of God in every person, we strive to introduce every person to the gospel ofJesus Christ, that every person might escape the eternal punishment due for their sins.
Salvation
We believe the single condition by which a person can be saved from his/her sin, declared righteous in the eyes of God, and receive the promise of eternal life is belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on their behalf. (John 3:16; 5:24, Rom 5:1; 10:13, 1 Tim 2:5)
Therefore, we neither offer nor suggest any means of salvation, hope, or truly sustainable improvement of human conditions other than faith alone in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all believers, sealing them before God in the certainty of their salvation, enlightening them to the will and word of God, and in cooperation with their obedience, producing in them a life marked by a godly, Christ-like character. We believe that the Holy Spirit bestows unique gifts of ability to all believers, enabling them to accomplish ministries of service, which would be impossible to do without His enablement. (John 14:16, 26, Rom 8:16, Gal 4:6; 5:22-25, Rom 12:6-8)
Therefore, we both ask for and anticipate the sustained work of the Holy Spirit on our behalf and the special, regular filling of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of accomplishing the desires of God in our lives.
The Church
We believe in the Church of Jesus Christ, both a physical and a spiritual community of members who are joined to Christ and to one another by a common faith in Jesus Christ—unbounded by distinctions of nationalism, ethnicity, denominationalism, or time itself. We believe in the local church; the community of followers of Jesus Christ gathered together in fellowship and obedience to His Word at a specific place and time. We believe the church exists in loyal, loving submission the Lord Jesus Christ, and is to seek the guidance and empowerment of His Spirit in every aspect of its function. (Matt 16:13-19, 1 Cor 12:12-13, Eph 3:4-12, 1Tim3:14-15)
Therefore, we join together as the Church, the community of God’s people, carrying out His will as His people, by the leading and the power of His very Spirit, proclaiming the gospel to all who will hear, and extending Christian fellowship to all people, everywhere, who share faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Future
We believe in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will conclude the history of the present age, fulfill all promises made to Israel and the Church, release all Creation from its bondage to decay and ruin, resurrect both the just and the unjust, and judge the living and the dead. Those who have been saved from sin by God will be resurrected to an eternal, sinless experience of joy and fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Those who have died in sin will be physically resurrected to face judgment for their sins before the Great White Throne, from where they will be removed from the presence of the Lord and consigned to suffer eternal punishment for their sins. (Gen 12:3, Ezek 37:21-28, John 14:1-3, Rom 8: 19-21, 1 Cor 15:20-25, 2 Cor 5:10, Heb 9:27, Rev 20:6-15).
Therefore, we live in confident expectation of the blessed hope of His return—seeking in all aspects to live lives that please Him, and we soberly call on people to place faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in the mercy of God, so as to be delivered from God’s wrath and to gain eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Two Ordinances of the Church
We believe there are but two ordinances commanded of the church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that baptism is an ordinance to be administered upon a personal profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and is to be done by immersion, except in cases where such a mode is physically impractical. While we do not believe that God’s grace and salvation are mechanistically dispensed to any who simply participate in the ordinances, we do acknowledge that He consistently pours His gracious blessings upon all who by faith, in obedience and trust, sincerely observe them. (Matt28:19,Luke22:19, 1 Cor 11:23-26)
Therefore, we treat the ordinances of baptism and of the Lord’s Supper with the utmost seriousness and attention to biblical detail, and enjoin all who participate to do so only after prayer and personal, spiritual preparation.