WHAT WE BELIEVE

 

We believe in the Bible as God's only inspired, inerrant, and authoritative revelation of Himself to man in written form. And it declares His design and plan for mankind. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22; 1 John 5:7)

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1), His virgin birth (Matthew 1:18), His sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21), His miracles (Acts 10:38), His vicarious death as the only sacrifice for the sin of the world (1 John 2:2), His bodily resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:39), His ascension to the right hand of God as our intercessor (Hebrews 4:14), and His future return in glory, first to rapture His church (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) and second, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth (Revelation 20:6).

We believe in the new birth as the only means of receiving eternal life. The new birth involves a cleansing and deliverance from the penalty and power of sin. It is effectuated through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance from sin. (John 3:3, 5, 7; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 1:18-20)

We believe in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as an endowment of power for all believers, and the initial physical evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues as experienced on the Day of Pentecost and referenced throughout Acts and the Epistles. (Acts 2:4; Acts 2:38-39; Acts 10:44-46; Acts 19:1-6; Ephesians 5:18). This baptism results in a deeper expression of spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), a greater growth in Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18), a genuine manifestation of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), and a more effective prayer life (Romans 8:26-27).

We believe in the process of spiritual development (sanctification) wrought in the believer’s life by the Holy Spirit. The growth involves daily dying to sin and living unto righteousness (Romans 6:1-23), finds expression in a holy life (Hebrews 12:24) and will be culminated at the return of Christ (1 John 3:2).

We believe in divine healing for the total person--spirit, mind, and body--and that this healing is accomplished in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and appropriated in the believer’s life through prayer. (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24; James 5:13-15

We believe in and practice two ordinances: (1) water baptism by immersion after repenting of one’s sins and receiving Christ’s gift of salvation (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47-48; Romans 6:4), and (2) Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper) as a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s suffering and death for our salvation (2 Peter 1:4; 1 Corinthians 11:26).

We believe the Church has a mission to evangelize all who are lost in sin. We believe “the Church” is the Body of Christ and consists of the people who, throughout time, have accepted God’s offer of redemption (regardless of religious denomination) through the sacrificial death of His son, Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:22; Hebrews 12:23)

We believe that Christ will return to the earth and rapture His church. At this future moment in time, all believers who have died will rise from their graves and will meet the Lord in the air, and believers who are alive will be caught up with them, to be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

We believe in the resurrection from the dead, first, the righteous unto eternal life and second, the ungodly unto eternal damnation. (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 20:11-15)

We believe marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one biological man and one biological woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only within the confines of marriage. Because marriage is a covenant between one man, one woman, and God, the church has the responsibility, in its sole discretion, to evaluate the readiness of those seeking to enter into the marriage covenant. The church may decline to solemnize or host a marriage ceremony that is contrary to the church’s beliefs. (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:1-10; Ephesians 5:22-33; Hebrews 13:4)

We believe that children are a blessing from the Lord. Thus all human life is sacred and worthy of protection from the moment of conception. (Psalm 127; Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 24:11-12; Jeremiah 1:4-5)