Statement of Faith
We believe that the Bible is God’s word to mankind. It is without error and is our source of information about God.
We believe that it accurately communicates all that we need to know for our salvation and for living in obedience to God.
Below is a non-exhaustive summary of some of those truths.
The Nature of God — There is one true God, the all powerful creator of the universe who chooses to interact with humans. God has intellect, emotions and a will.
God is “Trinity” — Although this word does not appear in the Bible it refers to the mystery of one God eternally existing as three persons:
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- The Father — He is the almighty ruler of the heavens and the earth, of all that is seen and unseen.God is light. In Him is no darkness at all. God is Love.
- Jesus Christ–The only Son of God, who is also called the Word. He was born miraculously of Mary, a virgin, and became a real man. He is fully God and fully man. He lived on this earth and was crucified on a cross during the era of the Roman Empire. We believe Jesus physically rose from the dead and now lives forever with the Father. Until Christ returns bodily to earth again, He is seated at God’s right hand where he intercedes for all who trust Him by faith.
- The Holy Spirit — the Holy Spirit is also God and a distinct person. The Spirit is given to all those who trust Christ. The Spirit lives within true believers and empowers them to witness to others about Christ, enables them to live in obedience to God’s Word as He guides them through the Bible and gives spiritual gifts to every believer. These gifts are to be used to build up and strengthen the church.
Man — The first man and woman were tempted by Satan, the enemy of God, to rebel against God. They chose to rebel and now all mankind is born with a nature that is in rebellion, or spiritually dead, to the true God. The result is physical death and ultimately spiritual death, or separation from God, for every human being.
We are condemned to Hell and unable to know God or to make ourselves acceptable to Him by any good works or religious rituals. We need to be rescued by God from this predicament. We believe that humanity, though fallen is sacred in God’s eyes and was uniquely created by Him, in His image and for His glory.
We are to exercise dominion over the earth and to enjoy a relationship with Him forever. Every human is created in the image of God and has great value to the Creator. In God’s design for humanity, life begins at fertilization.
We believe in the creation of life and the entire universe as recorded in the Genesis creation record. We also believe in the historicity of the biblical record, including the special creation of Adam and Eve as the progenitors of all people, the literal fall and resultant divine curse on the creation, the worldwide flood, and the origin of nations and diverse languages at the tower of Babel.
Salvation/Rescue — In spite of our rebellion, God is willing to rescue us because He sees our plight and His loving compassion motivates Him to take action. This salvation, or rescue, is a free gift from God–it is not something we can earn. It requires turning from our own way to God’s way, and a personal faith & trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Although the gift is free, it came at a great price. God’s Justice demands that we be condemned for our rebellion.
His Love provides an escape from the death penalty that we deserve. Christ satisfied Justice when he paid the death penalty for all people for all time when he died on the cross. His sacrificial death is the means by which God the Father punished all of our sins past, present, and future. If we place our trust in Christ’s death for us rather than our own efforts, we are completely forgiven and accepted by God and granted direct access to God the Father.
Paraphrasing John 3:18—He who trusts in Jesus is not condemned to Hell but he who does not trust is condemned already. God urges us to accept his offer of rescue from Hell, but he doesn’t force us to accept his offer.
Matthew 7:7 reads: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. We believe that true salvation will be made evident through a changed life.
The Church — God has given the church (believers sharing their lives) two practices that are regular reminders of core truths of our faith: baptism and communion.
Baptism — public confession of faith.
Communion — (also known as the Lord’s Supper) is a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice.
Baptism and communion are for those who have personally received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Neither of these actions of faith can in any way save us nor gives us more of God’s grace. We are saved only by the finished work of Christ’s death on the cross.
Marriage — God ordained the sacred institution of marriage as a spiritual and physical union in which one man and one woman enter into a covenant with God until death separates them. His design for the continuance of humanity is through the procreation and discipleship of children within the marriage union. Marriage is to be a picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church.
The Future — Jesus physically rose from the dead and now lives forever with the Father. We too, shall one day be raised from death to live forever with Him. We believe Christ’s resurrection guarantees that every true believer will also be physically resurrected to live forever in God’s eternal kingdom.